Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Stranger Things: Graphic Novels #1

Stranger Things: The Other Side

Rate this book
The hit Netflix series from the Duffer Brothers is now a spine-tingling comic that recounts Will Beyers' harrowing survival in the treacherous Upside Down!

When Will Byers finds himself in the Upside Down, an impossible dark parody of his own world, he's understandably frightened. But that's nothing compared with the fear that takes hold when he realizes what's in that world with him!

Follow Will's struggle through the season one events of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things ! Written by Jody Houser ( Mother Panic, Faith ) and illustrated by Stefano Martino ( Doctor Who, Catwoman )

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2019

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Jody Houser

648 books276 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
1,240 (26%)
4 stars
1,467 (31%)
3 stars
1,477 (31%)
2 stars
410 (8%)
1 star
78 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 593 reviews
Profile Image for Mischenko.
1,021 reviews96 followers
September 8, 2019
I was super excited to read this book which contains Stranger Things: The Other Side comics #1-4. Stranger Things is one of my favorite Netflix series (all three seasons), so I grabbed this as soon as I saw it.



These four comics are basically Will’s story from the Upside Down, which is something you don’t get much of in the series. It was neat seeing some of the different events that were happening with Will, but some of it seemed like speculation to me; for instance, I don’t remember Will finding Barb’s glasses or helping her in the Upside Down. Maybe I’ve forgotten some flashbacks in season two, but I don’t think so. I also don’t remember Will having his gun in the Upside Down once he was taken from home either. Little things like this niggled me, but it’s neat to see someone else’s perspective. I may need to rewatch the first two seasons to see if I missed some things because these scenes are thought-provoking. Other parts in the book are exactly like the series.



There wasn’t any plot to this because the story starts right when Will is taken. If I wasn’t familiar with Stranger Things, I think I’d be lost and probably would’ve really disliked this book. There’s not much characterization here or any emotion between the characters. There are also important characters missing which makes this feel a bit empty and choppy, but I had to remind myself that this is meant to be solely Will’s perspective. I did appreciate the alternating time frames in between with Will and the gang playing their D&D game.

In my opinion, the artwork is good, but my absolute favorites were the full-page illustrations by Aleski Briclot, Kyle Lambert, and Jen Bartel, because it’s these that closely resemble the series.



It’s easy to overlook anything lackluster about the rest of the illustrations because quite frankly, it’s Stranger Things, and I’m going to love anything about it regardless.

I’m really glad I found this book. If you’re a fan of Stranger Things you might want to try this one.

4****
Profile Image for exploraDora.
602 reviews313 followers
June 30, 2022
***5 stars***

I honestly don't know why this graphic novel has such an average rating, because I think it was great!

I've probably said this before, when I read the other Stranger Things comics, but I am a huge fan of the series. It is by far one of my all time favorite TV shows, if not my absolute favorite. So I knew I'd be reading anything I can get my hands on that's related to it.

This first issue delivered exactly what it promised: it's basically season 1 from Will's Upside Down perspective, only it's a lot more in-depth than the series. It's told in alternating time-frames, from flashbacks with Will and his friends playing D&D in Mike's basement, to a first-hand account of what Will encounters in the dark version of his own world.

There were so many moments I absolutely loved that made reading this very worthwhile, I can only recommend it to any and every fan of the series out there!
Profile Image for Dave Schaafsma.
Author 6 books31.9k followers
May 21, 2019
So snatched this right up when I saw it at the library. It is a kind of cash grab-spin off, but we are big ST fans in this house, so everyone is gobbling it up. My first impression before reading it was that they were dumb in naming it, because it is not called "the other side," but "the upside down," but what they really mean is that Jody Hauser means to tell "the other side" of the story of Will Beyer's disappearance that we who have watched the tv series only know from the perspective of his mother. Since the series is still going on, they were prevented from telling new stories that might spoil the tv story, so the story, such as it is, is quite constrained.

We don't really learn anything new about the events; we just see it from his perspective, and know what he is feeling, which we already pretty well imagined. I suppose we can now understand a bit better how uneasy Will feels when he gets back, in that he is not really fully back in his old world. The art has that unfortunate spin-off/comics novelization-type challenge (as in the Buffy series, and so on) of forcing the artist to make all the characters look exactly like the tv characters we remember. Some are spot on, some are not so good.

But having said all this, I didn't dislike it. I like the ST world and the way a D & D game evolves into real fantasy/horror.
Profile Image for Chad.
9,351 reviews1,012 followers
April 27, 2019
I was excited to get ahold of this. I love Stranger Things and I dig Jody Houser's work on Faith. This was supposed to be Will's story from Season 1 while he was trapped in the Upside Down. If you enjoy watching a boy wander around a ghost town and reflect back on a D&D outing for 4 issues then this is the book for you. This was so boring and without consequence. The art was serviceable at best. I'm not sure if Netflix handicapped Houser or she just phoned this one in. This is what I've come to expect from most tie-in mass media. Nothing more than a cash grab.

Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Profile Image for Ben Brown.
498 reviews180 followers
January 6, 2019
I love “Stranger Things” – it’s a great show. Sadly, I did not love this comic.

I wanted to – badly. But “Stranger Things: Volume I” is pretty much the definition of a “cash-in” – a tie-in comic that exists solely to siphon a little extra dough off of the property’s current red-hot status in the marketplace. Reading these four issues is a little like reading a teaser for a big comic book event – there’s little to no real plot, the art is functional at best, and everything feels slightly obligatory, almost like this comic exists because, well, of course it HAS to, it’s freaking “Stranger Things”!

Honestly, the whole read is slightly depressing, because as anyone who’s watched “Stranger Things” knows, this is a world that’s RIFE with story-potential, that has all kinds of cool and exciting avenues to explore. Yet time and time again, writer Jody Houser seems determined to play things safe, choosing instead to either a.) recap stuff that we’ve already seen play out way more interestingly on the show, or b.) give us extended sequences where characters monologue about this thing or that thing, but overall, nothing of consequence really happens. Maybe it’s not her fault – perhaps Netflix and whoever is in charge of managing the property didn’t give her a lot of narrative leash to play with. But regardless of WHO’S fault it is, it doesn’t change the fact that, at the end of the day, “Volume I” is kind of a bummer to read.

Which, let’s face it: “bummer” should never be seen in the same sentence as “Stranger Things.”
Profile Image for Brittany McCann.
2,449 reviews558 followers
December 29, 2023
This was a large disappointment.

The shading was really strange and the faces looked kind of like mannequins a lot of the time and it was kind of freaky.

The story flow was very stilted and jumped around a lot in a completely confusing way, even having watched and loved the show. Not for me :(

Best thing: The fantastic depiction of the demi gorgon.

2 stars
Profile Image for Nicole D..
79 reviews8 followers
July 18, 2024
it’s stranger things so you know it’s good.
also, everyone who rated this below 5 stars is wrong
Profile Image for Valery Tikappa.
991 reviews542 followers
July 5, 2019
Oggi parliamo della graphic novel Stranger Things - Il sottosopra, dato che la terza stagione è uscita da poco e l'hype è altissimo.

Però, prima di commentare ciò che in quest'ultima stagione hanno vissuto i protagonisti, vi siete mai chiesti cos'è successo a Will durante la sua permanenza nel Sottosopra?
Vi siete mai chiesti cosa gli è accaduto, come faceva a muovere le lucine a casa Buyers, come è sopravvissuto al demogorgone?
Se sì, questa è la graphic novel che fa per voi.

Storia ufficiale, questo piccolo gioiellino, mi è piaciuto davvero molto.
Le domande su Will che erano sempre rimaste in sospeso vengono adesso risolte e il tutto viene fatto in modo coerente e rispettoso della cronologia della prima stagione di Stranger Things.

I disegni sono macabri, tendenti ai toni freddi come tutto il Sottosopra, perfettamente dettagliati e, seppur resi su carta invece che su schermo, rendono perfettamente i sentimenti e le sensazioni di Will.
I suoi pensieri, ciò che vede nel Sottosopra, le sue fughe e i discorsi fra sè e sè sono resi egregiamente e mi hanno fatto facilmente percepire l'ansia del ragazzino intrappolato in un mondo di mostri.
Inaspettate le scene in cui compare Will il Saggio, chiaro rimando a D&D e al primissimo episodio della serie TV.

Piccola grande chicca: le pagine dal bordo rosso che richiamano il famosissimo logo e le illustrazioni che dividono i capitoli del fumetto, che si discostano per stile dalla narrazione principale ma sono così realistici che sembrano saltare fuori dalla pagina!

Insomma, questa graphic novel ha soddisfatto la mia sete di conoscenza di fan e contemporaneamente ha alleviato un po' la nostalgia che avevo verso la serie, dato che l'ho letta prima che venisse rilasciata la terza stagione!
Conigliatissima a tutti i fan di Stranger Things... adesso più che mai, per avere ancora un sorso della serie dopo il finale della terza stagione.
Profile Image for Nev.
1,300 reviews187 followers
June 1, 2022
It’s a cool idea to get to see the events of season one of Stranger Things from Will’s perspective when he’s in The Upside Down. But this wasn’t all that satisfying of a read. Some of the art was nice and I love seeing more of Will since a lot of the time he isn’t given enough to do in the show.

HOWEVER, I really hated how this was narrated from an omniscient perspective. It made me feel disconnected from the story and like it was being spoon fed to me. I would’ve much preferred it to be Will’s internal monologue, I think that would have made the story more visceral.
February 11, 2020
That was seriously so good. It was great to see season 1 from Will's perspective. This book really added a lot to his character and made me love him even more. An absolutely great read before I start season 3. I hope that the next graphic novel is season 2, because that would be so much fun.

Highly enjoyed, highly recommend. 5/5 stars.
Profile Image for Ariyan Abidi.
52 reviews12 followers
April 30, 2019
خب سريال رو كه خيلى دوست دارم.
كميكم خوب بود. يه ستاره رو به خاطر طراحى ها كم كردم.
يكى هم به خاطر داستان كه ميتونست پر محتوا تر باشه.
ولى همه اينا به كنار
ممنون از عوامل نشر باژ كه كميك خوندن به صورت فيزيكى رو براى ما علاقه مندان ممكن كرد❣️
اميدوارم اين روند ادامه داشته باشه و شاهد چاپ بهترين كميك ها تو ايران باشيم.
Profile Image for Kate.
2,213 reviews76 followers
July 8, 2019
This was good- covers the time Will spent in season 1. I wish the artwork had been a bit more consistent (half the time Mike's hair is as light as Will's), but it's still worth a look at if you're a fan. Loved that Will heard Barb, and tried to save her. Out of all the characters on the show, Will's the one I have the hardest time connecting to, so that might be the reason this one didn't blow me away.
Profile Image for Abdollah zarei.
188 reviews66 followers
April 29, 2019
3.5
قطعا برای کسایی که سریال رو دیدن به شدت خوشایند و جذاب خواهد بود. طراحی مناسب و کادر بندی نسبتا خوب و راضی کننده. تنها باید حتما سریال رو دیده باشید تا این داستان فرعی رو کاملا بفهمید.
Profile Image for kat (TheBookishKat).
290 reviews70 followers
July 22, 2019
i really enjoyed this comic! as a fan of the show, it was a lot of fun to kind of see what exactly happened to Will during that first season (the dude really went through it). but i really liked this comic and would definitely recommend it to fans of the show!
Profile Image for R..
942 reviews136 followers
June 8, 2019
Your imagination will probably do a better job of filling in with satisfaction the story of the Byers boy's adventures in the Upside Down than this graphic novel. No budget restrictions, and they still delivered what I disappointingly found to be a pretty obvious and bland take on an otherdimensional game of cat and mouse.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
6,583 reviews241 followers
August 14, 2020
I had a passing interest in what happened to Will Byers while he was in the Upside Down during season one of the show, but then it turned out to be sort of dull with lots of running and overdone narration. But now I know.
Profile Image for Lashaan Balasingam.
1,460 reviews4,619 followers
May 16, 2019


You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

We are never safe from ideas of expansion that capitalize on excellent opportunities. When success is tasted for the first time, a dark force takes over some individuals and allows these ideas to germinate and proliferate wildly and without control within them. While many will see this as more of what they love, others will see it as the beginning of a tumble. After all, what good does it do to a franchise to expand in uncharted territory when it was never equipped for it in the first place? While I am all in for exploration, I was also ready for the ship to arrive broken, smaller than expected and with crewmembers missing. To see a franchise getting milked is not always a fun sight, right? Following the release of the Netflix original series, Stranger Things, back in 2016, a gargantuan fanbase came to life and grew at a phenomenal rate, where no mortal could not avoid hearing about it. Thus, right before the release of the 3rd season of the Duffer Brother’s horror series, new comic books and novels are being released to fill in the blank and allow fans to gain more insight into our favourite heroes and the Upside Down. It is now up to fans to find out if they are worth their time.

What is Stranger Things: The Other Side about? This graphic novel collects a four-part miniseries and revolves around Will Byers’ survival in the Upside Down. The story presents readers with his point of view during the events of the Netflix series’ first season until the beginning of the second season. Unsurprisingly, most of his time is spent in a realm that fans have not roamed in too much, while still giving them short and quick references to the events that occurred in the TV series. The story also draws parallel to the kids’ Dungeons & Dragons board game as they each embrace their fantasy characters to find answers to their questions. This short graphic novel hence looks to fill in the blank by allowing readers to relive the horrors of Will Byers’ life while his friends and family desperately search for him in the most unlikely of places.

Sometimes there are questions that should just remain unanswered for the greater good. Will Byers’ point of view was a mystery that could have stayed unsolved, leaving the viewers the opportunity to speculate on what he has been through and what was going through his head throughout the whole season. To try to cover all that ground within four issues was already, beforehand, an impossible task, or at least one that would come with severe flaws. In this case, the pacing was the biggest issue as the accelerated rhythm does not allow the reader to truly absorb and comprehend the amount of time Will Byers spends in this dark and sinister realm. The pacing does not also allow the reader to understand how much resilience was needed to fight through all the obstacles he faced. To deliver such a story simply takes away the stakes and gravity of what he goes through, even if it is for the sake of finding out what exactly it is he went through.

While the story does suffer from the pacing, there are some interesting angles that were explored. The privileged information for fans of the series that allow them to explain certain things that would otherwise have never been known in the TV series is still an upside to this graphic novel. It is also fun to see how Will Byers’ Dungeons & Dragons character plays a huge role as a defense mechanism to fight the darkness that engulfs his reality. Otherwise, the artwork is decent enough to capture some of the series’ magic while adding more elements of fantasy that would have been impossible to convey in the TV series. The character designs, however, could be a bit difficult to love with the awkward facial expressions, although it does a good job in drawing the actual actors, as you know them, instead of creating surrogates. The colours used are still adequate and rightly distinguish both realities, especially through the use of faded colours.

Stranger Things: The Other Side is an exploration of Will Byers’ point of view during the events of the hit Netflix original series’ first season with darkness, loneliness and hope as pivotal themes of his unfortunate experience.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
Profile Image for Brina.
2,032 reviews121 followers
March 6, 2020
Da ich ein großer Fan der Serie "Stranger Things" bin und nicht nur sämtliche Staffeln gesehen, sondern auch die Vorgeschichten gelesen habe, mussten auch nun die Graphic Novels gelesen werden. Den Anfang macht hierbei der erste Band "Die andere Seite".

Wichtig ist hierbei besonders, dass man mindestens die erste Staffel der Serie gesehen haben muss, da "Die andere Seite" zum selben Zeitraum stattfindet und auf die Geschehnisse anspielt. Hierbei spielt Will, der spurlos verschwunden ist und von der gesamten fiktiven Kleinstadt Hawkins gesucht wird, die Hauptrolle.

Während Will in der Netflix-Serie immer ein wenig kindlich und naiv wirkt, ist er in "Die andere Seite" deutlich mutiger und entschlossener, als man ihn bislang kennen lernen durfte. Auf der sogenannten anderen Seite, die nahezu wie die normale Welt aussieht, bekommt er es nicht nur mit einem Demogorgon zu tun, sondern muss auch einen Weg finden, um Kontakt zu seinen Freunden und seiner Familie aufzunehmen. Dabei zeigt er sich nicht nur als sehr kreativ, sondern überzeugt auch mit einer gewissen Reife, die ich bei ihm bislang immer vermisst habe.

"Die andere Seite" ist nicht nur sehr spannend, sondern auch wunderschön gezeichnet. Die jeweiligen Bilder sind sehr detailverliebt, sondern besitzen auch allesamt den typischen Grün-Filter, der auch in der TV-Serie verwendet wird.

Kurz gesagt: "Die andere Seite" ist eine spannende, gut erzählte Geschichte rund um die erste Staffel von "Stranger Things" und somit ein absolutes Muss für jeden Fan!
Profile Image for Nauris Lukševics.
65 reviews14 followers
July 10, 2019
Ir nedaudz "cash grab", bet, ja patīk seriāls, tad ir tieši tas, ko gaidīju.
Principā pirmās sezonas atstāstījums, tikai par to, kā gāja Vilam upside down pasaulē.
Prasījās drusku vairāk kaut kā jauna - principā visas saskarsmes, kas seriālā bija ar upside down, parādās komiksā, Vilam ir gadījies būt kaut kur fonā tieši īstajā vietā un īstajā laikā.
Bet fan service nolūkiem ir ok, bildes smukas.
Vairāk gaidu Volume 2 - "Six", par citu apdāvināto bērnu, kas nav Eleven vai Eight, tāpēc gaidu vismaz kaut ko oriģinālāku.
Profile Image for Michael.
1,574 reviews192 followers
August 14, 2019
Jody Houser erzählt in dieser Graphic Novel, wie es Will Byers in der anderen Dimension (Upside Down) ergeht, in die ihn der Demogorgon entführt hat. Aus der Fernsehserie kenne wir die Story im wesentlichen aus der Perspektive seiner Mutter, hier nun also sehen wir das Geschehen durch Wills Augen. Leider hat die Story wenig Substanz, es passiert nicht gerade viel und das Erzähltempo ist etwas schleppend. Ich fand das Buch nicht unsympathisch (was wohl daran liegt, dass ich die Serie sehr gerne geschaut habe), aber ich muss einräumen, dass es für mich nicht zu den unverzichtbaren Comics zählt, die man wirklich gelesen haben sollte.
Im Fazit nicht schlecht, aber ähnlich wie beim Roman zur Serie hat es doch den etwas schalen Beigeschmack, dass hier mit einem Spin Off der Rubel am Rollen gehalten werden soll.
Profile Image for zuzu..
150 reviews61 followers
September 2, 2023
First and foremost read this for my bachelor thesis... This is essentially ST season 1 told from Will's PoV... MY POOR BABY - MY HEART IS ACHING. Overall, it was kinda boring and uneventful, though it was nice to see Will as the shining star, being the brave, loyal, and heroic badass we all know he is (this is specifically aimed at all the dumb viewers claiming he's weak and all he does is cry... like ??? this bitch could end you in a manner of seconds so STFU).

Also, that Byler scene in the library? Cute cute cute. I'm thinking many thoughts about it. Oh, and of course, Mike defending Will like the good and (over)protective boyfriend he is (AIMED AT THE EVEN MORE MORONIC VIEWERS SAYING MIKE IS THE WORST, ALSO STFUUUU!!!)

Profile Image for AlenGarou.
1,557 reviews118 followers
July 14, 2019
Adoro Stranger Things, ma ho sempre avuto un po' di riserbo nell'acquistare qualcosa della serie.
Però esiste sempre l'eccezione e questa piccola graphic novel mi ha conquistata.
(E non solo perché è ufficiale)


La storia narrata con magnifiche tavole ci illustra che cosa è successo a Will nel corso della prima stagione. Non è solo un ottimo modo per rivivere i momenti cult, ma anche per rievocare la tensione e le atmosfere dark del Sottosopra.
Questa combo scorre sotto gli occhi del lettore in modo esemplare, al punto che non ho potuto trattenermi: ebbene sì, ho dovuto fare un rewatch.
Vivamente consigliata a tutti i fan della serie!
Profile Image for Chris Greensmith.
854 reviews8 followers
October 8, 2019
"And Will Byers is left to wonder. Is it really over? Can anyone truly face a Demogorgon and emerge unscathed?"
This run along with season 1 from Will's side of things. It was a bit thin on plot, and didn't really add anything, the art wasn't that great, it was more of a cash in, but it did fill one or two, tiny holes from season 1...
Profile Image for Erofan.
109 reviews9 followers
August 20, 2019
This comic expands the universe "Stranger Things". As a fan of the TV series, it was interesting for me to read the story of Will Byers who turned out to be on the "Other Side"!
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 26 books152 followers
December 18, 2021
What a waste of a comic. Jody Houser has the whole Stranger Things mythology to play with, and she spends her effort telling Will's side of Season 1. It's mostly just running around and sending the messages we saw him send. Bleh. There's absolutely nothing new or revelatory here and it leaves me pretty uninterested in more of this series by Houser.
Profile Image for Abbey.
678 reviews36 followers
December 16, 2019
Meh. This brought nothing new to the Stranger Things mythos. Kind of a waste of time. At least the art was gorgeous, which is the only reason it gets 3 stars instead of 2.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 593 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.