The biggest flashback to the 80s show in recent years is “Stranger Things.†The success can be seen on clothes, “Funko Pop†figures, a “Dungeons and Dragons†game where they released Mike’s homebrew adventure and of course, the comics. The very first prequel comic is called “Six†by Jody Houser with artists Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne and Marissa Louise.
Make n mistake, there’s plenty of interesting things here. This comic is about Six, a test subject similar to Eleven who also has powers. Her powers haven’t fully developed yet, but that may change due to a supernatural phenomenon that’s about to wreak havoc. At first, some people will think that Six is nothing more than a carbon copy of Eleven. The first issue destroys that idea immediately. We learn a lot more about Six in this first issue than we do with Eleven in two seasons. Six also has a better-developed character than Eleven and her background is a lot more interesting/tragic. Of course, “Stranger Things†is also known for a supernatural element. Here, we don’t see that until the last panel.
Since the Demogorgon was Mike’s idea, this could be a new monster with a new scary world. It would take a lot to top the Demogorgon.
The artwork is OK. There are a few instances where you can tell that this takes place in the 70s, but overall this comic looks like it can take place at any time. While that normally wouldn’t be a big deal, the entire premise of ‘Stranger Things†is that it’s oozing with everything 80s. Here there’s a poster here and those short shorts there and that’s it. Minor nitpicks aside, the character designs look nice and the backgrounds look like the typical holding pen for test subjects. “Stranger Things: Six†has an interesting premise with an interesting character and some decent art. “Stranger Things†fans will enjoy it seeing a new character to latch onto that comes across as a better written and more interesting Eleven.
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