Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons #1

Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons #1

Dark Horse Comics/IDW Publishing 2020

Written by Jody Houser & Jim Zub

Illustrated by Diegto Galindo

Coloured by Msassyk

Lettered by Nate Piekos

Epic Adventures, Lifelong Friendships! Follow the crew from Hawkins, Indiana, as they discover the legendary monsters and epic adventures of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game together. Long before the dreaded Demogorgon took one of them to the Upside Down, watch Mike, Lucas, and Will bond with Dustin for the first time over the game that would define their childhood. See the party come together as a team through communal stories and perilous quests to learn important lessons about friendship and find the courage to stand up to the bullies that challenge their everyday. D&D and Stranger Things together in comics! Comics/gaming powerhouse writers join forces!

I have been waiting for this and I am not disappointed in the slightest. I love the fact that Jody and Jim are working on the writing together because she’s a genius with these kids and he’s the master of the game so together I can already see how gosh darn good this is. With only one issue under my belt I am already super excited to see more of this and I cannot wait for their adventures to continue. Also it is interesting that this is the first meeting of Dustin to the guys and how that friendship forms as well as adding a different dimension to him that I wasn’t previously aware of.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. I do like that we see them being bullied and that’s one of the aspects that makes their bond stronger, oddly enough to say that but I understand how that can strengthen friendships when you find kids similar to you. The character development is spot on and that we can empathise with the kids and understand them and enjoy how we see their bond grow. Plus I think someone hit on something with the miniatures and history that would be a great learning tool in some classroom. The pacin here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story to us we are in for such a treat that doesn’t involve the upside down but allows us to get to know these kids even better.

The interiors are utterly amazing! There is this sweet almost all-ages style mixed in with such beautiful high end detail work that showcases how effectively the varying weights and techniques are being utilised. The backgrounds are phenomenal and to see the books in that store, to see the battle of Waterloo laid out it just is so amazing and complex that it takes the breath away. The outdoors the kids take to travel is brilliantly rendered and you really feel like you are on this dirt trail in the woods. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is sheer genius and it’s bloody brilliant in how the various hues and tones are being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work. This is such beautifully rendered work it is stunning.

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This is a delightful and extraordinary story and I have only read the first issue. I mean it would be nice if we’d see them in the Dungeons & Dragons world but what get is more than enough. The way this is structured and how we see the layers within being to merge is superb and how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow is stellar. This is why we love comics.