Making Publishing Additive to a Franchise Storyworld
UPDATE: JANUARY 2019 - A great review of the 4 comic series.
“A superb concept and companion to the Netflix series.
Overall this issue is a great ending to a wonderful series that fills in the gaps and takes the reader even deeper into the dark corners of the upside down. It is an absolute must-have for any fan of Stranger Things.” ` Sean Nickerson
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Publishing is an incredible story building vehicle for an entertainment property. Having collaborated with some of the most prolific creatives in the industry it is a passion of mine to expand the story world and the mediums through which fans can experience an intellectual property.
My goal with the Dark Horse Stranger Things comic book deal and subsequent development was to ignite further intrigue and fan discussion around all the open ended details and unsolved mysteries within the series. Taking the time to understand why fans bonded so passionately with the series was important to me, and Netflix has the insights to answer my curious mind. Collaborating with Matt & Ross Duffer and one of the incredible staff writers combined with an informed understanding of the fan mentality enabled us to create newness for an existing season. We chose to explore Will in the upside down during season one, something that had mostly been left up to the fans imagination other than a few highly emotional scenes. It was the perfect story to tell, we had a basic structure but room to add faithful originality and expand the Stranger Things storyworld.
I chose Jody Hauser out of an amazing group of writers that Dark Horse presented because she best captured the core sensibilities of the series, and her initial draft of #1 emotionally connected with me and moved me, something I wanted for fans.
We chose some incredible comic book illustrators to work on Stranger Things but there was one artist that I wanted to add into the mix. I fell in love with Kyle Lambert’s illustrative style in the key art for the marketing of Stranger Things and connected him with Dark Horse to also develop a cover(s). Again, I thought the fans would enjoy some synergy with the core series visuals and I knew it could become an iconic cover.
Here is a LINK to a comprehensive overview of the series from Entertainment Weekly earlier this summer.
And a few promising reviews since the launch of the comic series - LINK, LINK
My goal with the comics was to create interesting and exciting “bridge content” for fans to enjoy between the seasons of Stranger Things. I hope the fans enjoy them!
(c) Netflix