Stranger Things #1

by Jody Houser, Stefano Martino (Artist), Lauren Affe (Colorist)

The nostalgia-igniting hit Netflix original series comes to comic shelves. Follow Will Byers into a dimension of decay and destruction where he must use his wits and resolve to dodge the pursuit of the Demogorgon and escape the Upside Down. Written by award-winning comics veteran Jody Houser (Faith, Orphan Black, Mother Panic). Based on Will's unseen journey during season 1 of hit Netflix show Stranger Things.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book, Fiction

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2018

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you always wanted to know what happened to Will on the Upside Down World, this series are for you! And they are eerie good too!

[Mohadese]

فکر کنم اول باید برم سریال رو ببینم، بعد جلد ۲ و ۳ و ۴ رو بخونم. :دی

[AleJandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenido, pero no aporta nada nuevo a la serie de televición.

[Maria Lavrador · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para fãs de Stranger Things. Gostei bastante dos grafismos mas quem não conhecer a série vai ficar um bocadinho a toa, sem perceber muito bem o que se passa

[Maude · Rating 4 out of 5]

c’est vraiment bon/beau/sinistre! on suit ici will dans l’upside down parce qu’on se demandait tous ce qu’il faisait pendant que ses amis le cherchaient... il avait peur c’est ça qu’il faisait.

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inhalt:
Die Zuschauer der Netflix-Serie erleben in der ersten Folge die Entführung von Will Byers in die finstere Paralleldimension „Upside Down“. Während sich das Live-Action-Format auf seine Freunde und ihre Suche nach ihm konzentriert, folgt der Comic stattdessen Will selbst und zeigt, was er im „Upside Down“ erlebt hat. Es handelt sich also ausdrücklich nicht um eine reine Adaption der Serie, sondern ein Tie-In aus der Perspektive von Will Byers.

Meine Meinung:
Das erste Heft erzählt einen kurzen Zeitabschnitt nach Wills Ankunft im „Upside Down“, einem Ort, den er erstmal begreifen muss. Jody Houser zeigt zwar einen (natürlich) verängstigten Will, das blanke Entsetzen seines TV-Gegenstückes und den Grusel der Serie fängt der Comic aber nicht ein, dafür wirkt die Figur zu gefasst und auch die Bilder unterstützen die Atmosphäre zu wenig.
Die Zeichnungen von Stefano Martino sind meines Erachtens durchschnittlich, die Gesichter finde ich sogar wenig geglückt und unfertig, auch wenn sie klar denen der Darsteller nachempfunden sind. Dem fantastischen Artwork des Covers von Clayton Craine wird Martinos Arbeit jedenfalls nicht gerecht.

Darüber hinaus lässt sich gar nicht so viel sagen, außer dass das Heft viel zu kurz ist, um wirklich beurteilen zu können, in welche Richtung sich die Geschichte entwickelt. Auf den ersten 20 Seiten warten wenig neue Erkenntnisse und es stellt sich die Frage, inwiefern diese künftig überhaupt zu erwarten sind. Da die TV-Serie noch nicht abgeschlossen ist und laut den Duffer-Brüdern noch 2 – 3 Staffeln zu erwarten sind, halte ich es für unwahrscheinlich, dass essentielles Wissen vorab mitgegeben wird oder dass der Comic bei der Entwicklung der Handlung Berücksichtigung findet.

Fazit:
Die Comic-Serie ist definitiv für Kenner der TV-Serie gemacht, hat mich als Fan aber trotzdem nicht beeindrucken können. Da das erste Heft sehr kurz ist, will ich aber kein vorschnelles Urteil fallen und zunächst die nächsten Teile abwarten. Jeder Die-Hard-Fan kann und wird natürlich zuschlagen, allen anderen kann ich keine vorbehaltlose Empfehlung aussprechen.

[ᛚᚨᚱᚲᚨ × ᚠᛖᚾᚱᛁᚱ (Semi hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stranger Things Comic, 1/4

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was great but too short!
I wanna read more.

[Itaewon Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guau! Me ha encantado necesitaba saber desde que vi la serie, que habia sentido will al estar en el mundo del reves y no se a sido lo maa, y joo necesito mucho más

[Isabel ✰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been interesting if it contained anything more than the events we already saw strung together with Will being scared and flashbacks of the gang playing DnD. But it wasn’t.

[chloe ! · Rating 3 out of 5]

very shot but still good ig

[Nikki Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comic based of the very beginning of Stranger Things, when Will first enters the upside down.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like it was ages ago that they announced a Stranger Things comic series. In reality it was only a few months to a year. Still! I’ve been very excited for the release of this series, and I’ve got to say that it held up surprisingly well to my expectations.
I don’t want to go into too many details though – this is the sort of series where you can so easily spoil a big reveal, without even meaning to. I will say that I love the chosen perspective, as well as the shifting back and forth between different points in time. It’s doing wonders for the suspense and pacing.
The artwork was perfect too, so that was another plus. It looks like the Netflix show – but not so much so that it felt like they just printed out still images, if that makes any sense.

[Simeon Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a really disappointing read for me. I was hoping for a mostly wordless horror comic that let the art and panel structure tell the story of Will's time in the upside down for the most part, but instead it was more of a flash back heavy book that over explained stuff and often felt like it was just killing time to get to the next bullet point of times Will interacted with the rest of the show. Don't think I'm gonna keep on with it.

[flaams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stranger Things season 1 was the best season.
Change my mind

[Monika Kilijańska · Rating 5 out of 5]

To w zasadzie historia Willa w momencie, kiedy znika z miasteczka. Tego nie było w serialu, więc tym ciekawiej czyta się ten komiks. Choć może niektóre wydarzenia bywały spekulacjami, to jednak zgrabnie łączyły się z późniejszymi zdarzeniami po znalezieniu chłopca. Choćby wplecenie Barb w historię po drugiej stronie, w momencie, kiedy jej tam jeszcze być nie powinno. Dzięki temu wydaje się, jakby Will był nie tylko przeniesiony pomiędzy wymiarami, ale i w czasie.
Poza tym podoba mi się podwójne znaczenie samego tytułu: druga strona nie musi oznaczać drugiego świata, Upside Down, ale też drugą perspektywę. Dotychczas wszak nie mamy wizji Willa, a tylko relacje jego mamy. Teraz możemy trochę lepiej zrozumieć, jak nieswojo czuje się Will, kiedy wraca do miasta.
Więcej na: https://www.monime.pl/komiks-stranger...

[Morgan reed]

Wills PoV

I love the idea of exploring the Stranger Things show be creating lore snippets through graphic novels. This series starts by showing what Will had to go through in the upside down alone, confused, and scared. The art is also great old-school mixed with new school gives it a very Stranger Things Vibe. Awesome idea to add sections of lore from the show that we did not get to see on the screen. Just finished season 4 and this series help connect so many dots. Must read for Stranger Things fans 100%

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will Byers, scared and running from the monsters stalking him doesn't understand the realm he's found himself in. Hearing his mother's voice helps so much in calming him and giving him hope to fight and not give up. Wanting to get to his family keeps him going. Terrified this nightmarish place he tries to be brave but he's just a boy.....and he's afraid.

[Pilkofan1552 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This just wasn't necessary, it fills in gaps that didn't really need filing and doesn't add to the lore or character arcs in any way. The full page artwork is beautiful, but the actual panel art is mediocre and at times kind of ugly. Don't read this if you're looking to fill the void between season releases, it just isn't worth the price tag.

[Lady Earth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hát ettől se rágtam le a körmöm! Pedig a sorozat 1.évada rendesen beparáztatott. De ez a képregény nem nagyon adott hozzá, csak megnéztük ugyanazokat a jeleneteket Billy Will szemszögéből is, csak rövidebben. Hű! Ha legalább valami plusz csavar kiderült volna Tótágasról vagy valami, de nem. Szóval megy a „kissé felesleges volt, de elolvastam” kupacba. Bocsi hardcore rajongók!

[rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the same story to the show and I like that but why so short, I read books that have either 199 pages to 221 pages

Why is the book so short, I love the story though, because it's sticking to the original show, good job on that😀😀😀

[Evelyn Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luv it

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

First In The Series

The story set the stage for an interesting adventure. The characters introduced and the party has been split. I highly recommend this series.

[alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Season 1 💖

[Darth Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this. Since the first season of this show, I've been wondering what Will did to survive in the Upside Down. I thought it was so cool that they decided to share his part of the story in comic form rather than just leave it up to the imagination of the viewer.

Unfortunately, I kinda wish they did just that. This was such a let down. I don't know why they chose the writer they did, but they were not at all good for this story. The style was...strange. Very, very strange. I guess they were trying to come off as D&D like or something, I'm not sure, but it wasn't suiting for the story being told. And, rather than answer questions, this comic just created way more questions and left them pretty much all unanswered.

This is also why I kinda think that the show doesn't really do into explaining the Upside Down at all. In the first season, it was this cool, mysterious place. In the second season, there was this promise of having it all pay off. Yet, three seasons later, we know really nothing more about the Upside Down than the first and, in fact, the "laws" the Upside Down has keep changing.

I really wish this comic did more for the show, and I really wish they actually thought about what the Upside Down really was because it's kinda obvious that they (by they I mean the Duffer Bros.) haven't really thought that far into the Upside Down's lore or mythos or explanation. It's just this ethereal other world place where all the Big Bads come from.

[Jordan Leverett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big time fan of the show. Watched it multiple times over and consider myself more than your average, run of the mill fan.

That being said, I picked up issues 1-4 at my local comic shop to see if there was something worthwhile that I may have missed to build on the ST world. Sadly, don’t think I missed much.

While it is cool to see what went on with Will while he was trapped in the upside down, I think this was nothing overly cool or interesting. It’s primarily just internal monologues that connect scenes everyone is already familiar with from Season 1.

Since I do love the subject matter, it wasn’t a total waste. The images were above average and this is of course an alternate view of one of my favorite stories ever told. It just doesn’t do anything really special or new.

Worth a read for sure, but I probably wouldn’t pay cover price for them again. Read it or not, that’s up to you but know you won’t miss a ton either way.

(Posting this same review for issues #1-4 as I read them all at once and none stood out over the others.)

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't actually read much of what this 4-book run was going to be about, but just pre-ordered it on a whim because... well, it's Stranger Things. But now that it's out, I'm really excited to see that it's going to be some of the Season 1 story from Will's POV in the Upside Down. It's not really something the show explored much, so I'm definitely intrigued to see where it goes.

This issue was mostly setting up that plot and connecting it back to their D&D games, so it was a lot of explaining stuff we sort of already knew. It was still interesting, though. The only thing I'm not super fond of is the art style? It's very detailed in some panels and more of sketched in others. I wish it was a little more consistent and a little more in-depth. Hopefully we get that with the next 3 issues. I look forward to them!

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Li esta BD hoje e gostei muito. Mostra um lado que não é tão explorado na série, The Other Side. Ficamos a conhecer a experiência do Will do outro lado e como lidou com a situação. *

Maaas, queria mais, queria que tivesse sido mais explorada. Soube a pouco, mas valeu muito a pena. 🤗 *

Adorei todas as ilustrações, ficamos com a mesma sensação estranha que temos ao ver as temporadas de Stranger Things. *

Aconselho a toda gente que goste desta série, é um bom complemento. 👌 *

4,5 ⭐

[Wu Adrianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

i watched this tv show on netflix and it is a great show.So i have a thought that i have to watch this comic too.This comic is about a kid name Will is kidnapped by a ‘demogorgon’.This ‘demogorgon’ is extremely dangerous because it kills people.Will’s mother,Joyce is very worried about Will so she investigated the case of the missing Will with Hopper who is the police chief.The story is exhilarating and i really like it.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the art and the way the difference between our world and the Upside Down was done with flashbacks. As someone who has never seen the show, I thought it was the right amount of back story info to get the scene set. The suspense is good, and I like the character Will. We had to get the second issue right away after reading this one to see where the story went.