Hey! Remember the 1980’s? Heroes & Villains does!
Stranger Things is one of those…strange things that absolutely nobody saw coming. I remember seeing some chatter about it leading up to the release of the first season but it wasn’t exactly appointment TV for me. Netflix at that time was primarily a Marvel and Star Trek: The Next Generation delivery service for me and I hadn’t fully bought into their original programming. Oh, how that changed a few July’s ago.
I’d like to claim I was there on DAY ONE and that I’m a TRUE FAN but the reality was that I was most likely still moping about more than a week after my birthday, mired in a funk that my 30s were rapidly disappearing. The day after the show premiered, I went to an early showing of Ghostbusters (you remember, the one that the internet had a completely rational response to) and upon returning home, out of sheer boredom, I put on Stranger Things.
As for what happened next, details are scarce. Day became night and night became even later night as I was in the thrall of what I’ve heard the kids call a “binge watch.” It was an odd feeling seeing a decade that I had lived through painstakingly recreated as what was essentially a period piece.
In a previous column I had written a bit about how Stranger Things was the show that I used to introduce my dad to streaming. I had shown him the first episode and as the credits rolled he asked me when the next one was on.
“In about five seconds.”
Somehow, we didn’t binge the full season but managed to parse it out over as couple of weeks and then the countdown to the second season began. I’m not sure which one of us is looking forward to season three more at this point.
Stranger Things: Six #1
Jody Houser (W)
Keith Salazar (A)
Dark Horse Comics
Now that we’ve established what a legitimate phenomenon Stranger Things is, we’re solidly in the merchandising and tie-in phase of its life cycle. Posters, toys, lunch boxes, limited edition “Upside Down” colored vinyl, and of course…comics.
Penned by Jody Houser (who can do no wrong in my book), this issue has a feel very reminiscent of the first episodes of season one. It also features (in my opinion) the most realistic and practical use for a precognitive ever depicted in fiction. I’m not talking about spying on the Russians, either.
The word “prequel” is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary as a dirty word to some people, but this book does more to enrich and broaden the world of Stranger Things than a wholly unnecessary major motion picture tie-in ever could. What I’m getting at is, don’t expect to see the adventures of Eleven, Mike, and the gang in grade school, kindergarten, or preschool. Instead, get ready to learn more about some of the test subjects that came before Eleven and what was really going on in the Hawkins National Laboratory building in the years prior to the first season.
If you’re a fan of the show, this is definitely one worth picking up while you endure the wait for season three.
