Stranger Things: The Other Side
A Stranger Things graphic novel, Volume 1
Jody Houser, illustrations by Stefano Martino and Keith Champagne
Dark Horse Books
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Horror/Media Tie-In
Themes: Cross-Genre, Dystopias, Games, Portal Adventures, Weirdness
***+
Description
Young Will Byers led an ordinary life in small-town Hawkins, Indiana. The most danger he ever faced was in Dungeons & Dragons as the
wizard Will the Wise. Then one night, riding his bike home in the dark, he somehow takes a wrong turn and ends up... elsewhere. Everything looks the
same, but darker. Emptier. And there's something lurking here - a monster that even a wizard would hesitate to confront, but which stands between him
and the way home.
Based on the Netflix Originals series Stranger Things, created by the Duffer brothers.
Review
I've been enjoying the series, so this graphic novel, detailing Will's ordeal in the Upside-Down during the first season, looked like an interesting read. On some basic level, though, it's just plain unnecessary. Will finds himself lost and alone in a shadowy version of Hawkins (alone save for the Demogorgon beast, that is), surrounded by voices he cannot reach and with only rare glimpses of his mother and the mysterious girl Eleven. He draws on courage and lessons gleaned from his role-playing experiences, striving to become Will the Wise in order to survive... but the story is mostly him wandering (or running) through the Upside-Down, eluding the Demogorgon and trying (and failing) to escape. It doesn't add much to either the story arc or the character, as much of it was self-evident from the show. Some of the illustrations failed to capture actor likenesses, as well. While it's not a bad visit to Hawkins and the Upside-Down, and it conveys some sense of the isolation and terror experienced by Will, it ultimately feels like a needless cul-de-sac rehashing events the viewer already experienced.