Stranger Things: Science Camp #1: It’s About Damn Time!

The stellar team of Houser, Salazar, Champagne, Louise and BLAMBOT are back with another Stranger Things mini-series from Dark Horse and this time we are FINALLY seeing our boy Dustin in the spotlight! Don’t get me wrong. All of the kids are great in their own rights but if we’re all being honest with ourselves, Gaten Matarazzo’s character Dustin is a major reason so many of us fell in love the series and he has hardly gotten any attention yet in the comics form.

This series flashes back to Dustin’s time at science camp (where he will eventually meet Suzie and hone his rendition of “The Never-Ending Story Theme Song”). Houser takes this opportunity to highlight a phenomenon that I have been noticing with increasing regularity lately– the trope of the bully geek. Whether this story element is drawn out of a lived experience or is tapping into a 21st century zeitgeist (more on this concept in a Commentary piece coming soon!), it will be incredibly interesting to watch it unfold over the coming issues.

As always, this team delivers on all levels. Piekos is one of the best in the business when it comes to spacial awareness of lettering. Louise’s color palatte is divine. The symbiotic relationship between Salazar’s pencils and Champagne’s finishes produces an end product that is an incredible blend of realism and cartooning. And if Jody Houser wrote a phonebook, I would read it purely for the prosody that I’m certain it would possess. Once again, high recommendations all around for fans of the show and people who just like good comics alike.