After a rough first day at a new military boarding school in the post-apocalyptic world, Ellie befriends Riley, a fellow student. Now, the two girls are breaking all the rules for a shot at freedom.

Issue #1 was about establishing Ellie, and Issue #2 is about establishing the world. This time around introduces several organizations, showing the different politics and survival tactics of certain groups even without involving the Infected. It also make a good point of showing what skills and items are valuable in this world beyond the essentials. Characters are friendly towards, despise, and use one another to get to their goals.

I love Erin Faith Hicks’ art. While her style is a little more cartoony than I’d have expected to find in a The Last of Us comic, the contrast between the gritty world and the lighter art lent more character to the world in my opinion. It doesn’t look like a rip off from every other post-apocalyptic setting. Hicks also adds character to her backgrounds by throwing in graffiti, random blood stains, and abandoned bits and babels; this issue even has Ellie and Riley having fun with these abandoned goods, clearly demonstrating the contrast between growing up in The Last of Us world post-infection vs. our modern day.

This series, more than most prequel comics, is serving as a good primer to The Last of Us. Every issue I’m genuinely more excited for the game and feel like they are introducing elements and telling a self-enclosed story that will neither interfere nor override the game’s story, but in fact enhance it.

PS: Also, just look at that preview image for Issue #3!

Four and a Three Quarters Mutated Brawling Pigeons out of Five