The Pull List – Stranger Things: Six #4
Suffering from the constant experiments and witnessing one of the twins put into a coma, Francine is determined to escape the Hawkins Laboratory at all cost. Dr. Brenner’s attempts to connect with the strange, opposite realm is causing too much damage for the subjects to handle. Working with Ricky, they hatch a plan to leave together but may have to leave the others behind. Francine’s abilities will push her further to an uncertain future for herself and the rest of the test subjects.
When Francine realizes the danger of Dr. Brenner, she makes a stand to take back control of her life. Tried of all the lies and abuse, escape from the laboratory is the only options left for Francine. Dr. Brenner pushes his subjects into perilous situations, treating them less like humans and more like tools. Francine had been used by her parents to make their dreams come true, and refuses to let Dr. Brenner reign over her. Her visions of a dark future are getting stronger, further motivating her to leave, but she soon realizes she can’t save everybody.
Stranger Things: Six explores just one of the mysterious experiments that lead to the events of a twisted realm stepping closer to the other side. Jody Houser crafted an entertaining story that introduced the forgotten casualties the sinister Hawkins National Laboratory. Houser gives plenty of backstories to build up Francine as a standalone character while giving a preview of later parts of the Stranger Things lore. Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne, Marissa Louise deliver superb visuals that add create some emotional weight to the story. The muted color palette keeps the cold gloomy feeling of Francine’s captivity, the hallucinations of the Upside Down are nightmarish and there are some creative layouts that add impact to the narrative.
While Eleven maybe the subject that caused the most problems for laboratory, Six was the first to make a bold stand against their captors. Stranger Things fans shouldn’t miss out on this solid prequel that reveals just some of the dark secrets within the Hawkins National Laboratory.