The Last of Us: American Dreams (2024)

Houssein H

1 review

January 22, 2014

Hello, I would really like to clarify something as many people were left unfulfilled after reading the graphic novels of "The Last of Us: American Dreams". So, to start off the first thing that the company made was the award winning game "The Last of Us", which is the story of Ellie and other interesting characters that I won't mention. In that story, Ellie speaks briefly about Riley and what happened to them.

Now, Dark Horse comics approached Neil Druckmann (the writer of the game) with the idea of producing a tie-in comic book for the game. From there, was born the idea of exploring the past of Ellie and how she ends up in the game story and her relation with the unknown Riley (in the game you only hear about her once and never get to see as she is ....).

So, My advice, as many of you might not be gamers I would say try one of these links below and you will learn many things about that world, Fireflies and will truly experience something amazing.

Link 1. All the cut-scenes of the story and some important gameplay of The Last of Us (3 hours) http://youtu.be/0q-SKmb_QBg

Link 2. This one not only includes all the cut-scenes of the story but also all the gameplay of The Last of Us (6 hours) http://youtu.be/ZkLPKd-Vs8g

Sit back on your couch, get cozy and Watch them on HD. Though, the experience will not be as when played, you people will really enjoy.

You can thank me later :)

André Oliveira

171 reviews55 followers

June 6, 2020

It was fine I guess! Too short to be something special.

    dystopia

Ryan Buckby

675 reviews96 followers

December 2, 2016

this comic i have been meaning to read for sometime and i have played the naughty dog playstation game that i absolutely loved and enjoyed playing.

This was back story for one of the main characters in the video game, which is Ellie it followers her journey to a Boston military boarding school where she is transferred to after many different altercations in previous boarding schools. This story is also set 20 years after a virus outbreak and a little bit before the main game storyline. Ellie is struggling to survive and live in this harsh world because its the only she knows as she was born sometime during the early years of the outbreak.

Ellie meets Riley who quickly becomes her friend and Ellie follows Riley as she sneaks out one night to go looking for the fireflies. I love the Ellie and Riley friendship that they have and i love how close they became in a short amount of time to become really good friends. The two do end up finding the fireflies after helping them escape from the Military who has them pinned down, they soon meet up with the remanding fireflies where they also meet the leader Marlene. I've always found Marlene to be a very interesting and complex character because not much is revealed about her in the game or this comic book but i have learnt that she is a very calculated and charismatic women.

I have come to love the last of us world and i really do recommend you playing the playstation game because it really does change the way a story is told and does push the boundaries in the genre. The game is a strong and emotional roller coaster about Joel and Ellie where you follow their journey and see how they struggle to survive in this world.

So before reading this comic i suggest you play the video game first and its DLC game before reading this comic because you will get an understanding of these characters that goes more in depth.

Abdollah zarei

188 reviews66 followers

December 29, 2018

برای طرفدارای بازیش جالب خواهد بود

Kobi

396 reviews22 followers

Read

February 21, 2023

Neil Druckmann... I owe you my life and you owe me the funds for my therapy bills!

    graphic-novels

Mykhailo Gasyuk

785 reviews10 followers

September 12, 2021

Для фанатів відеогри, яких цікавлять найменші деталі. Події відбуваються до першої частини The Last of Us, і йдеться здебільшого про бунтарський характер Еллі та її прагнення до свободи. І це все дуже коротенько, пригода на пів години часу читача.

Еллі бачить спочатку перевикористану сцену з самої гри, далі має боротися з суспільством у військовій школі і стикнутися з реальністю поза її межами. І ось у цьому плані відчувається, що автори більше концентрувалися на міжлюдських відносинах, ніж на атмосфері постапокаліпсису. Загрозу в основному становлять люди, бо Еллі ж знаходиться всередині зачищеної зони. І якщо не знати сюжету оригіналу, то поява заражених видаватиметься більше аномалією.

Ніхто нікому нічого додатково не пояснює. Чогось нового в лор не завозять. У Еллі вже той самий характер, без змін, що й під час першої зустрічі з Джоелом. Це зафіксований персонаж. Їй дали волкмен та ще одну штуку, бо вони були в сюжеті гри. Ще фігурує лист від матері, але він настільки простий, що його й можна було б не додавати. У невеликій кількості те, що було сказано в грі, тут повторили.

Малюнок. О, він непоганий. Заплутатися в екшн-сценах важко, кадри виставлено так, що зрозуміло, де знаходиться персонаж, як реагує, що робить. Є також німі сцени, які працюють на занурення. Правда, занурення не дуже тривале, бо комікс тоненький.

Переклад українською чудовий.

Мало, з атмосферою, але без різкої драми, яка могла би вплинути на головну героїню. Дозований дух постапокаліпсису.

    comics dark-horse horror

Lashaan Balasingam

1,458 reviews4,618 followers

June 29, 2020

Inconsequential in itself, this prequel to the DLC of the original video game barely shocks the world with anything but Ellie learning a couple of survival skills. There's maybe one little item that gets an origin story but we won't know more of it all in the end.

The artwork was a bit rough and instinctively feels like it was a webtoon made for fan-fiction but for how short this story was, I guess you'll also be quick to dismissive about it all.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

    comic-books digital read-in-2020

Ben Brown

486 reviews179 followers

March 26, 2021

"The Last of Us: American Dreams" is what all tie-in comics should strive to be: a standalone story that works as both a promotion of the main material, while also presenting a story that contains enough depth and narrative/character substance to not merely explain, but actively justify its own existence. A prequel to the main game, “American Dreams” succeeds primarily for the same reasons that the game does: simple story + complex characters/relationships + genuine emotional stakes = thrilling storytelling. Throw in a lean art style by Faith Erin Hicks that perfectly complements the spare nature of the story, and you have a piece of tie-in media that is that all-too rare thing – one that is genuinely a must-read for fans of the core material.

    comics

Diz

1,752 reviews115 followers

September 21, 2018

As a fan of the game, I was looking forward to reading this. However, the story is a bit thin in this comic--especially compared with the engrossing story of the game. On the plus side, while the cartoony art style may seem to be a mismatch for the genre, it really works well here.

    graphic-novels

Eli

795 reviews119 followers

February 12, 2016

This was great! It really tied in well with the game. And part of it lined up a little with some downloadable content that I've seen on YouTube. Now I want to play the game!

    2010s graphic-novels horror

Sakebushippo

563 reviews97 followers

November 5, 2020

meh

    comics dystopia graphic-novels

Eman Mostafa

189 reviews260 followers

April 12, 2022

كانت ممكن تبقى أحسن من كده لو كانت أطول شوية.

12/4/2022 ✅
.

    comics

꒰ gabrielle ! ꕤ

5 reviews

May 3, 2023

i'm of course a huge the last of us fan, so i am biased by giving this 5 stars.
it was something! and i really liked it. it gave me more of an idea about ellie and riley, and it was really cute. i would recommend reading it! it was fairly short, so good enough for me as a dyslexic person :D

Ali Ebrahimi

151 reviews

June 3, 2023

خیلی خیلی خورد تو ذوقم واقعا نه طراحی هاش خفن بود نه از کیلیکر ها خبری بود نه از استاکر ها محیط داستان توی این کمیک هم هیچ چیز اضافه بر بازی در مورد الی نتونستم بفهمم

Dave Schaafsma

Author6 books31.9k followers

April 26, 2015

I don't and never have played video games so I am not the primary audience for this one. This is advertised as a prequel for Druckmann's game The Last of Us. I picked it up because I am a fan of Hicks as storyteller of strong girl stories, usually with humor and because I like what she does to make her stories especially accessible for young girl readers. So Riley and Ellie are both really engaging characters, and they develop a strong relationship. The world is darker than anything I have seen from Hicks, but she makes it work with accessible, vulnerable cartoony character features that invite us (or maybe more so girls?) in, help soften, humanize them, against this dark and oppressive world they face. This feels like a story I would like to continue reading, so I think it's good. Maybbe game players will see the tone and story differently, who knows. I aint playin' the game, though, sorry.

    gn-superhero-scifi-fantasy gn-women gn-ya

Jefi Sevilay

698 reviews75 followers

May 6, 2022

The Last of Us'ın ilk oyununun expansion'ı olan Left Behind'ı konu alan ancak özel bir anlam ifade ettiremeyecek ve herhangi birşey hissettiremeyecek kadar kısa bir çizgi roman Amerikan Rüyası. Niye Amerikan Rüyası onu da anlamış değilim.

Çizimler biraz "cartoonish" ve Türkçe'ye uyarlama hiç başarılı değil. Aslında bu çevirmenin de problemi değil sadece olmamış.

Link eklenmesini kabul edecek mi bilmiyorum ama şu okuması yarım saat bile sürmeyen 104 sayfalık çizgi romana 90 TL vermekten çok daha iyi bir fikrim var. O parayla kendinize cips, kola, pizza, canınız ne isterse alın. Televizyonun veya bilgisayarın karşısına geçin. Youtube'dan Left Behind'ın gameplay videosunu açın ve 2 saat 13 dakika film izler gibi izleyin. Çok çok çok daha keyif alacağınıza eminim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmDEh...

Herkese keyifli okumalar!

☣Lynn☣

769 reviews219 followers

April 11, 2017

Can't wait to start playing the game!

    awesome-heroine bleeding-awesomeness dystopian-apocalyptic

Miranda

497 reviews97 followers

August 21, 2023

Honestly love this world so much. The games are such amazing storytelling and was thrilled to find a book for it as well. This stems from the prequel and looks to be a part of its story from beforehand. Riley and Ellie I’m sure had a chunk of history with each other before the end of that chapter in Ellie’s life.
It’s rather short clocking in around 100 off pages, the art work within is really nice and has great color and flows well.
I HOPEFUL at some point especially with the show kicking off maybe a novelization form of the series will take off so can collect and enjoy all forms of media of my favorite.

Clarissa

173 reviews

April 2, 2023

as always would die for ellie, loved the origin of her knife and how she got it

Travis Starnes

Author30 books67 followers

October 31, 2013

To be honest, I doubt anyone would have the same experience reading this comic that I did; very few people are going to walk into a book store and randomly pick up the first trade that they come across, but that is effectively how this works for me. Sure, if the cover says ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ then I have a fairly good grasp on what the comic is about. For this one, and quite a few others, half the fun has been finding out what the story was about without any expectations telling me I was going to love or hate it. From the moment I started reading I was fascinated by where this was going with the young girl looking out of the coach window, all the military people milling about and the guy being frisked against the wall.

I have a young daughter, quite a lot younger than the girl shown in this comic, but it has left me open to feeling over protective towards young female protagonists and there are many times throughout this comic that I just want to pick her up and give her a hug. Watching her reaching out to the soldier who I guess rescued her and being gently turned down is heart breaking. The art does clever things with the perspective at times as Ellie is shown being towered over by adults and on a par with younger people, more so than would actually be indicated by her actual height. I do not even know if this was a conscious decision by the artist, but it makes me feel so much more protective towards her at the beginning of the comic, but by the time she takes control at the end, there is never this shot showing how small she is again.

Ellie has been sent to a military school in one of the safe districts, an area where the infection has not spread and they can protect those inside from the parasitic fungal zombies outside. Actually you never seem to find out what has infected the people from reading the comic, that info came from the back cover, and honestly, you do not need to know it. Not knowing makes it feel more creepy and it makes that initial moment where you finally meet one of them, even more unnerving.
Ellie does not fit in at any of the schools she has been to, forever getting into fights, and the moment she steps foot in this school she finds another one. To be fair, this one is definitely not her fault, but it does not stop the principal from dragging her into his office after another girl, Riley, has saved her from a beating. Riley is a definite wild child, waiting to escape from the rigid structure of the military school and into the arms of the ‘Firefiles’ who are an underground group of people fighting against the military and the zombie hoards. It is obvious where this is leading and Ellie and Riley both escape over the fence off in search of rebels and a free life. But what they find is death, murder, violence and the sense that even when you think it is as bad as it can get, it can get worse.

It is strange because in every way, I should hate the art in this comic. Everything I have ever said about neatness of lines, clarity, and repetition of shape when it comes to characters goes straight out. This is not your usual comic art and nor should it be. The art is ‘cute,’ grainy, dirty and I love every frame of it. It is punctuated with fully painted pages between the chapters and this break of style, even for a single page at a time, is beautifully done; well except chapter three, which is horribly, but still wonderful. What you are most drawn to are her eyes; throughout the entire story you could hide everything apart from them and you would get every emotion and thought that you need to. The middle panel on the second page sums up how well this comic portrays emotions without a single word and it is a haunting picture that makes me want to go and hug my daughter as a surrogate for Ellie.

http://cmro.travis-starnes.com/blog/2013/10/the-last-of-us-american-dreams-review/

OmniBen

1,250 reviews33 followers

October 22, 2022

(Zero spoiler review)
I assure you, I will not be allowing my disdain for significant aspects of The Last of Us Part II to influence my opinion of this book. I might have had my work cut out for me too, if this story was anything but an abjectly awful slice of bleeding asshole. Had this had anything approaching some redeemable qualities, I might have felt conflicted over the absolute panning I'm going to give this poor excuse for supposed entertainment. Luckily for me, I don't have to worry, because this book will be wholly deserving of everything I intend to say about it. First of all all, the art is atrocious. I know that Neil Druckman will self implode if he didn't have a woman collaborating on the book with him, but surely it wouldn't have been difficult to scrape up one with more talent than whoever helped to write and draw this dreck. This book doesn't look like Ellie (Just like TLOU2). It doesn't sound like Ellie (Just like TLOU2). It doesn't force to reminisce back to the days of TLOU1, and the beloved CHARACTER that Ellie once was. Instead, we get a bland, boring, bargain basement zombie story, with virtually no zombies in it whatsoever. Think of what the runners and infected look like in the game, and then have a look at them in this book and I challenge you not to laugh. Its amateur hour extended indefinitely. I understand this is a prequel to TLOU1 in the form of DLC, although every interesting character from the first game is notably absent. The one character featured (excluding Ellie) was the most generic effort that game offered up, and they've only doubled down on her averageness here. The dialogue is as dull as dishwater. The book looks like vomit with a dystopia filter applied, and is about as appealing as a bad case of pubic lice. Some day they will teach university classes about how to annihilate a popular franchise, with most people choosing to major in The Last of Us, despite the wealth of competition it has in the 'shit the bed and destroy your fanbase' stakes. Nothing about this book makes me reminisce for that great initial game, and the great characters it once contained. This book just makes me sad and angry, although not necessarily in that order, at how you can take something wonderful and so quickly and thoroughly flush it down the shitter. A TLOU comic could have quite easily been a big ongoing hit, although with this as its opening salvo, no wonder there was no follow up. If you have any love for what this franchise used to be, avoid this book like the plague. I'm really annoyed as I had the pleasure of reviewing numerous 5 star books in a row, and then I had to go and read this, although more fool me for my optimism for anything with Druckman's name on it nowadays. 1/5

OmniBen.

Wendy

614 reviews140 followers

October 20, 2013

Nineteen years ago, a parasitic fungal outbreak killed or infected almost everyone. Those that remain are sequestered within military-run quarantine zones. Not everyone is pleased with the arrangements, and various groups have arisen with their own plans for survival.

Among them are the rebel group known as the Fireflies, led by Marlene, whom players of the game this graphic novel is based on should recognize. Players will also recognize Ellie, one of the main characters of the game. Here, she is 13 years old and unhappy in the orphanage. She meets fellow inmate Riley, who has dreams of joining the Fireflies. Ellie reluctantly joins her in tracking them down, a process which involves a few misadventures and dangers for the young teens.

When they do meet Marlene and the Fireflies, it is, unsurprisingly, not what they expected. Moreover, Marlene knows much about Ellie from her mother, adding a bit of mystery to an otherwise fairly straightforward story.

I considered whether the fact that I have not yet played the game would negatively impact my appreciation for this, but, as a prequel, I felt it ought to be able to stand on its own and entice me to get off my guns and go buy it. Having read other game tie-in books and comics, I don't feel there was enough meat in this one.

The art was very gritty, despite its childlike appearance. I'm a fan of anime and manga, so I'm not at all opposed to the large-eyed style that lends itself well to younger characters. It still strongly conveys the necessary emotion.

With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

See more reviews at
The BiblioSanctum
The Last of Us: American Dreams (22)

    comics-manga gaming netgalley

Chris

178 reviews9 followers

July 22, 2018

I only awarded three stars because this graphic novel is too damn short. I really liked the ideas, characters, and story presented in this graphic novel, but was disappointed when it ended so soon. It all felt too insignificant in the grand scheme of the Last of Us universe only because of its length and, by proxy, its inability to expand upon these ideas in any real depth. Don't let the three stars make you think it's a bad read by any means, because it's still really good; it just didn't live up to its full potential.

I really hope they make sequels to The Last of Us: American Dreams that more closely follow up with the video games. There's still an entire world we know so little about that needs to be explored. Although the game works well off of what we don't know and off of what is simply implied, I believe we're entitled to some answers and closure in this one. All in all, great companion piece for the game – I just wish there was more to it.

Also, I thought the art was pretty damn ugly – hardly reminiscent of the beautifully despondent world of The Last of Us. In the video game, everything had somber luster to it despite being set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world. This graphic novel only portrayed the ugliness of that world with none of the nuance that the video game managed to produce. Hopefully we see a new artist next time around.

The funny thing I noticed after all this time is that the trade paperback has a "1" on its spine which would imply there being multiple volumes to this set of The Last of Us graphic novels. So far to date, only the one volume exists with no plans on continuing the series. There must have been more planned for this comic series, but apparently things must not have panned out as intended. Hopefully we get a continuation of the series upon the release of The Last of Us 2.

    dark-horse-comics dystopian graphic-novels

York

293 reviews38 followers

December 27, 2014

The Last of Us fue mi juego favorito de 2013. De modo que desde entonces he comprado compulsivamente todo lo que me he topado sobre esta saga. Su DLC Left Behind, que narra los hechos antes de la trama central del juego, es una historia corta pero tan buena como la original, así que cuando me topé con esta interesante novela gráfica la pagué sin dudarlo.

Aquí relata también los hechos de antes del juego y contrario a lo que pensaba en un inicio, no se contrapone con lo relatado en Left Behind, sino que se complementa perfecto con la trama de los videojuegos. Sencilla, con un trazo perturbador por su planteamiento, de ir de un mundo de dibujos infantiles a otro donde la muerte está siempre latente y un ritmo impecable.

Es una lectura obligada para los que amaron la producción de Naughty Dog, y esa es suficiente garantía para no salir decepcionado.

monica

250 reviews

February 25, 2022

I just recently got back into The Last of Us and decided to replay the games because I had some free time. And while I absolutely adore the game itself and the journey that Ellie and Joel share, I found these comics to be a little bland in comparison to the main story. Although, I really did love seeing how Ellie got to the main arc of the story and how Riley impacted her life. As a fan of the games this was definitely a must read.

ellie

165 reviews1 follower

October 17, 2021

still holds up from my first read

2021-06-24
don't be scared neil, make one for part 2 of the seraphites

2021-10-16
i must like this if i've read it three times XD
still holds up, still have my hopes up for a sequel exploring the other characters we've met- probably wont get it but a girl can dream

    151-challenge graphic-novel

jenny✨

585 reviews903 followers

July 14, 2020

There wasn't anything about this story that particularly stood out to me. There wasn't anything wrong, either—it just felt a little superficial, and didn't show me anything I haven't seen before re: apocalyptic fiction. (And if I'm being honest, I thought the infected would make more than just a single appearance ☹)

Still cool to get a bit of Ellie's backstory, though!

The Last of Us: American Dreams (28)

    graphic-novel-manga horror poc-side-character

Penelope (Penelope’s Picks)

261 reviews200 followers

July 21, 2020

I have to agree with another Goodreads review I just read:

“This is too short to be anything special.”

Also, what they did give us is basically all things we had already learned from the games. Huge letdown for me after finally tracking this one down.

Martin

92 reviews65 followers

June 25, 2020

Not so much horror as coming of age story.

    comics horror

Reza Qalandari

177 reviews6 followers

September 21, 2020

مشتاقم کرد برم سراغ بازیش.

    comic-books horror ویرایش
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