The Pull List- Stranger Things #2
Will Byers finds himself in a nightmare version of home, trying to hide from the monstrous demogorgon. But he finds the bravery to make a stance against his fears and fends off the beast with his grand father’s hunting rifle. After, Will makes an attempt to communicate back to his reality and let someone know where he is. He almost gives up hope until his mother, Joyce Byers makes contact and the two set up a system to talk. However, this also draws out the demogorgon for another hunt.
Issue two picks up after Will has explored the Upside Down version of his hometown and comes back to the one place he thinks would be safe, his bedroom. It seems like time moves slower in the Upside Down world, what feels like a day or two for Will is actually a week or so in the regular world. This issue goes over the episodes two and three in the Stranger Things tv show. Will hears echoing noises that come from those episode’s events, covering the Joyce receiving phone calls of static sounds and consequences from Steve Harrington’s party. While Will is frightened, he discovers the strength to confront the demogorgon when he can, using memories of his time with his friends as inspiration. The bond that he shared with Dustin, Mike, and Lucas greatly help Will deal with this current situation.
Jody Houser delves to great detail to how Will survived so long on his own. Will’s knowledge about his surroundings and courage to face the demogorgon, fills in the important backstory of WIll’s previously unmentioned experience in the first season of Stranger Things. Stefano Martino, Keith Champagne and Lauren Affe do an excellent job of capturing the eerie setting of the Upside Down, showing the vast empty existence but hiding the many looming dangers that creepy in the dark. Fans of Stranger Things should not miss out on this series and hopefully get so involved in it, they should be checking under their bed at night.