Stranger Things: The Other Side by Jody Houser is a good companion book to Stranger Things Season 1, as it shows what happened to Will Byers when he went to the other side. I have not watched the first season of Stranger Things in a couple of years but this graphic novel took me back and made me want to watch the whole season again. The art is good and captures what the other side of our world looks like really well. Eleven is the only character I felt that did not look like the actor portraying the character (Milli Bobby Brown), I felt like that did a great job on everyone else. This novel starts on the other side with Will already trapped. So if you read this graphic novel and haven’t seen the show you could be a little lost, the graphic novel also doesn’t set up Eleven’s character at all. Will Byers has become the heart of the show and the story did a good job of showing how emotionally scarred the character is and will become. The conclusion is the same as the show with Joyce and Hopper breaking through to the other side and saving Will Byers. I enjoyed this short four-issue graphic novel that is just 96 pages long. Stranger Things: The Other Side was published on May 7, 2019, by Dark Horse Books.

Plot Summary: Will Byers is trapped on the other side, in a dark world with the same houses where everything is run down, and there are terrifying monsters. Will wants to return to the real world but doesn’t know how to break free. He finds out how to communicate with his mother in impossible ways. Is Will Byers stuck forever or will his friends and family find a way to save him?

What I Liked: The artwork was great I felt it captured all the faces except Eleven. The art captured the other side and the epicness of the Demogorgan. I like how well the book matches the first season of Stranger Things. I loved seeing the gang as their Dungeons and Dragons characters. I thought it nailed Will Byers’s character.

What I Disliked: The book did not offer enough new insights. We never see Will cross over to the other side or how that happened, it was a missed opportunity to do something original.

Recommendations: If you like Stranger Things on Netflix then this is a great companion piece to the series. I would not recommend reading this before you saw the show Stranger Things or you would be very lost.

Rating: I rated Stranger Things: The Other Side by Jody Houser 4 out of 5 stars.