I may be dating myself here but when I was a kid comic book adaptations of feature films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones did really well simply because there were no streaming services, there were no VHS tapes or DVDs. Once a movie left the theatre, you had to wait a year or even more before a television network bought the rights and aired those films.
I may be dating myself a bit here, but when I was a kid comic book adaptations of feature films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones did really well simply because there were no streaming services and no VHS tapes or DVDs. Once a movie left theatres, you had to wait a year or even more before a television network aired it.
And when any network did so for the very first time, everyone and their distant cousins twice removed would watch as network television had the replay factor on lock. The only way you could re-watch your favourite movies was to catch them whenever they happened to air on television. Because of this, comic book adaptions were a great way for fans to relive their favourite films.
If one ignores her transparent surface level knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons, Houser does tell an admissible story although an unremarkable one, adding in not only some D&D references but one from the movie Poltergeist and Lord of the Rings mirroring how the Netflix series is a tribute to the eighties and sci-fi-horror icons like Stephen King.
While the story is passable the art work and the colouring are not. Unlike the work he has done on Star Wars, Catwoman and Doctor Who, Stefano Martino’s pencils here look absolutely rushed. They have very little detail, shading to them and the backgrounds themselves aren’t fully developed and neither are the characters’ features. This level of art work is not worth the $3.99 asking price.
The coloring by Lauren Affe makes the art work look even worse. The book is full of pukey pastel colours. It is as if the comic fell into a load of white laundry tinged with bleach before you read it. Everything looks washed out, muted and unappealing, the complete opposite of what a comic book should be.
Though it is kinda curious witnessing what happened to Will, the plot of the show has moved so far past that chapter that the entire comic is completely unnecessary and in this information overloaded, mass media climate, is really dated by now. This comic book adaption has the ear marks of Dark Horse just cashing in on the franchise and doesn’t add anything important or engaging to Stranger Things in any way, shape or form. In the eighties, we would call Stranger Things #1 butt ugly, grody to the max and just not fresh. What a bummer, man.
Summary
Anemic art work. Shabby, hideous coloring. Moldy happenings. Overpriced.
Like the Upside Down, avoid this at all costs.
