Can Max Ever Truly Go Home? Life Is Strange #6 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Chloe continues constructing her metalwork art commission while Rachel Amber is getting her teeth whitened. She runs into Max afterwards, and Rachel opens up to Max about how initially threatened she was by Max and Chloe’s close friendship. Max sees the disappearing boy while talking to Rachel, and Max goes after the boy. He eludes her, but not before they talk for a bit. Back at their apartment Chloe and Rachel have a heart-to-heart with Max. They’re worried about her, and Max is increasingly convinced that coming to this world was a mistake.
Life is Strange #6 finds Max wondering if she should be in this world or if the Transect made a mistake. The presence of a fellow traveller piques her curiosity, but she knows this world will never be her own. This Chloe will never quite be her Chloe.
This story does an excellent job of interrogating the nature of identity. The Chloe of this world has had different experiences and reunited with Max in a different manner. She’s just not quite the same Chloe, and, even though this Chloe doesn’t know that Max came from a different world, she knows that isn’t quite the Max she knows either. Then again, Rachel tells Chloe that it might just be due to the experiences Max had while she was away; transdimensional travel isn’t necessary for a person to change.
Some of the conflicts lose their weight a little compared to the universe-hopping nature of Max’s journey. The drama in Rachel’s modeling career just doesn’t quite compare in scope to questions on the very nature of identity and reality.
Claudia Leonardi’s artwork is, once again, top notch. It captures the spirit of the Life is Strange cast while adding a slightly different spin with the style. The fashion is quite grabbing too, and it shows off the different personalities of the characters quite well. Andrea Izzo’s color art is vibrant and striking as well, giving the book an extra vitality and even harshness with every page.
Life is Strange #6 is another compelling issue for the Titan Comics videogame adaptation. We once again return to the question of identity and how much is shaped by experience, and the idea is explored through the compelling struggle of the three interesting leads in Max, Chloe, and Rachel. This one gets a recommendation. Feel free to check it out.
Life is Strange #6 comes to us from writer Emma Vieceli, artist and cover artist Claudia Leonardi, color artist Andrea Izzo, and letterers Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt.
Final Score: 7.5/10
