OVERVIEW

Survive an apocalypse on Earth in The Last of Us, a PlayStation 3-exclusive title by Naughty Dog. Here, you will find abandoned cities reclaimed by nature. Here is a population decimated by a modern plague. Here, there are only survivors killing each other for food, weapons, or whatever they can get their hands on. Here, you find no hope.

Joel, a brutal survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together if they hope to survive their journey across the US.

MULTIPLAYERS

There are several qualities any video game tie-in comic needs to succeed, few of which are apparent in any given project. One quality that is so often overlooked is the need for a tie-in to exist and thrive on its own merits. If it's the sort of story that could be read and enjoyed even if the video game itself didn't exist, then the tie-in is a success. This is a quality The Last of Us: American Dreams personifies more than any other video game tie-in I've read. I have no idea when or if I'll play the video game. But regardless, I'm enjoying the heck out of American Dreams.

Picking up where issue #1 left off two long months ago, American Dreams #2 sees Ellie accompany her new friend Riley on a little hooky excursion to the mall. Not that hanging out at the mall has exactly the same appeal in a world where fungal zombies roam and the military maintains an iron grip over the remainder of humanity. But that's largely the focus of the issue. Co-writers Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks spend a lot of time illustrating the gulf between our world and the terrible nightmares these two girls live in.