The comic tells the story of what happened in the valley in the year before the Farmer arrived.
This comic book provides examples of:
- 11th-Hour Ranger: The story reveals in the last chapter that Elliott came to live in Pelican Town during the winter of the year before the Farmer arrived.
- Animesque: The book was illustrated by a Japanese artist, so it is natural that it has this style.
- Call-Forward:
- The Junimos are seen visiting the abandoned farm, and upon seeing that the farmer's grandpa is not there anymore, they restore it and leave the parsnip seeds that the farmer gets as a starter (
unless you select the Meadowland Farm introduced in the game's update 1.6, which instead gives you 5 hay as a starter) when they arrive. - The comic's final chapter focuses on the news that the farmer is arriving next spring.
- During winter, Abigail, Vincent, and Jas get a glimpse of Krobus hiding in a bush and leaving footprints on the snow leading to the sewers.
- The Junimos are seen visiting the abandoned farm, and upon seeing that the farmer's grandpa is not there anymore, they restore it and leave the parsnip seeds that the farmer gets as a starter (
- Continuity Nod: The scenes during spring show events referenced in the game:
- It shows Emily knitting the banner for the festival at the Community Center.
- George is shown solving crossword puzzles at the kitchen.
- We see Willy's out-of-control crab experiment, and Gus buying them all.
- During the Luau festival, we see Sam's prank of putting a pound of anchovies in the Luau soup, and Gus swiping at sandflies.
- Darkest Hour: After the fall chapter, Pelican Town is in shambles thanks to the activities of JojaCorp which have decimated the local economy and damaged the environment; at the end the Junimos are sadly seeing how their home gets destroyed.
- Distant Prologue: The comic opens with the farmer as a child running through the fields of the farm with their grandpa.
- The Faceless: The farmer, naturally; both in the prologue and in the final pages when they are shown riding the bus to Pelican Town, their features are obscured.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The comic shows that JojaMart arriving in Pelican Town was what both directly and indirectly caused the town's woes:
- The changes it introduced in the lifestyle of the villagers were what caused the Community Center to be neglected and fall into disrepair.
- Because of the effects on the local economy, Shane was saddled with debt, which worsened his drinking problem and forced him to find a job at JojaMart.
- The comic implies that someone affiliated with JojaCorp was the one who ransacked the museum.
- Knight of Cerebus: Morris is portrayed this way, as Lewis seems apprehensive when the Governor introduces him during the Luau festival, and it signals the beginning of the valley's problems.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When Lewis is shown struggling to decide what to do for an upcoming visit of the Governor, Emily proposes to have a Luau party, everyone agrees and all the villagers are shown coming together to organize and prepare the event. The festival is a resounding success and it impresses the Governor... who then introduces Morris and Joja to Pelican Town, which causes the beginning of the decay of the town.
- Production Foreshadowing: During the Winter chapter, many characters wear the same winter outfits later used in the game's 1.6 update.
- Show, Don't Tell: There's actually very little dialogue in the comic; most of the story is conveyed through the illustrations and their small details.
- Spooky Animal Sounds: Invoked Trope, the comic book in every chapter has a suggested track from the game's soundtrack to play while reading it, and during the Fall chapter which shows the decline of Pelican Town due to the opening of the JojaMart, it suggests the track titled "Fall (Raven's Descent)
" in which raven caws are heard during it. - Sweet on Polly Oliver: When Vincent and Jas are running through the town telling everyone that the new farmer is coming, Vincent mistakenly thinks Elliott is a pretty woman.
