Stranger Things: Six By Jody Houser is a prequel graphic novel in 1970s Hawkins, Indiana centering on Doctor Martin Brenner and the character Six not featured in the show Stranger Things. Through Six’s eyes, we get to see how obsessive Doctor Brenner is about children’s powers and amplifying them. Six can see a glimpse of the future but not the whole thing, Brenner wants her to see more. At first, I thought this was a novel about Eleven’s mother, but it is quickly shown not to be. A young 7-year-old Eleven is shown briefly but acts as a catalyst for Six to go to the extreme that leads to the finale. We meet other special-ability kids one with the power of suggestion and pyrokinesis. We see a glimpse of the Demogorgon as Six is pushed with her powers to show the future. The graphic novel is a fast read since it was so loosely tied to the show it added that what will happen factor to the book. The climax was good and unexpected. The story is told out of order which worked well and added to the intrigue. The portrayal of Doctor Brenner was intense in his balance of caring and pushing to get results. The Six graphic novel is a short easily readable 96 pages. This is the second graphic in the Stranger Things world with the first being Stranger Things: The Other Side also written by Jody Houser. Stranger Things: Six was published on November 26, 2019, by Dark Horse Books.

Plot Summary: Francine moves to Hawkins, Indiana in the 1970s and has the power to see a glimpse of the future. I was a power she discovered young but the power is getting stronger. When her deadbeat dad finds out he keeps her trying for the lottery, but she is one number off. This causes her dad to drink more and abuse her. She meets a neighborhood boy that she has an instant connection with. The novel jumps to the future with Francine now Six in an underground testing lab with other kids with abilities run by the stern Doctor Martin Brenner. Six is more miserable than when she lived with her abusive dad. She gets really upset when the neighborhood boy is at the facility and he is known as Three and had a and in her coming here. Dr. Brenner pushes Six to the limits but she starts seeing a future full of horror but one that Dr. Brenner gets put in his place. Six is going to test her abilities to the limit and see if she can not only predict the future but change it.

What I Liked: The glimpse of the stranger things future for Hawkins was cool to see since if you watched the show you know what some of the images mean. I liked that Six hid the images she saw and only told Brenner she saw waffles that were being served for breakfast. The story told out of time led to a lot of surprises that wouldn’t have worked as well if told in order. I liked the brief cameo by Eleven. The climax was good and left me surprised.

What I Disliked: I wanted to see more of Dr. Brenner’s personality. The Three and Six romance angle was just okay it felt like three was too easily forgiven. Six took me a long time to like as a character. I like the ending, but I don’t know if it was necessarily earned.

Recommendations: The story Six is interesting and a quick read. It offers only a slight window into the Stranger Things Netflix TV show, but I like that it expands the Stranger Things Universe. I will slightly recommend this story but also staying you could skip this story as well. I like Stranger Things: The Other Side quite a bit more.

Rating: I rated Stranger Things: Six by Jody Houser 3 out of 5 stars.