Little Nightmares by Tarsier Studios is a strange, dark, and heavy little indie game experience for Windows, PS4, and XBox One. The comic tie-in from Titan Comics is no different. If you can’t play it yourself, you can check it out on Twitch. The comics don’t venture quite into the same story as the game, which follows a little girl in a yellow raincoat named Six. Instead, we find Six tumbling into a room of other children much like her who have found themselves trapped by the grotesque adults bent on snuffing them out. The others encourage Six to share her story lest she forget it. When she can’t, they instead tell their own in order to help her remember. That is the meat of the story in these comics, if you’ll pardon the pun. If you don’t get it, well, you will after watching or playing the game. And trust me, the context will be necessary.
The visuals here are a good meshing between the game team’s concept art and their final on-screen product, striking a balance of strange and grotesque body diversity in the monstrous adults that the game often couldn’t achieve in the end. While John Shackleford’s writing mixed with Aaron Alexovich’s art and Thiago Ribeiro’s colors are a great combination, it’s definitely notable for me that none of the team from Tarsier Studios seems to have been listed as involved in the comic. The creative team decidedly had a vision for Little Nightmares and specifically Six that I feel played out to the game’s detriment at times. The comic team doesn’t shy away from that vision but instead works around it to create something that works well with the medium.
Overall, this comic is interesting and weaves a haunting story but it runs into the same problem that the game does: it may be too vague and understated for its own good. It leaves the reader and/or player unsatisfied with the few scraps they’re given in terms of lore and world building. However, this comic does give me some hope for the comic shedding more light onto the game for second playthroughs.
Story: John Shackleford Art: Aaron Alexovich Color: Thiago Ribeiro
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0
Recommendation: Grab it if you’re invested, Pass otherwise
Titan Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
