Stranger Things: Into the Fire by Jody Houser is a graphic novel sequel to Six as it explores events and characters after that book. Where Six took place before the events of Stranger Things, it has been a few years and this book takes place 3 months after the events of Stranger Things Season 2. The pacing for this story was very good, I was easily able to read this in one setting. I liked how much the characters evolved since the events in Six. This has been my favorite of the graphic novels it was original and yet tied into the series as a whole. Kali (formerly Eight) who has the biggest picture on the cover and from Stranger Things season 2 is only a cameo and helps point are heroes in the right direction, but is not a big part of the book. I do like that we get to see Kali’s gang make an appearance as well. The end of this story is great and gets to show you the danger of these powers. This story had the most action out of any of the graphic novels so far. I liked the characters of Three and Nine a lot more in this book than in Six. Stranger Things: Into the Fire collects Stranger Things: Into the Fire #1-#4. Stranger Things: Into the Fire by Jody Houser was published on July 28, 2020, by Dark Horse Books.

Plot Summary: After the events of Six, Three and Nine have escaped the facility while Nine’s twin sister Ten was left behind. Ten was long thought dead but Nine now believes she is alive. They reach out to Eight who has since escaped and she knows that Ten is alive and was forced to manipulate her mind, to make her feel like a forest princess. Eight has a name on her list of payback that she gives to Three and Nine to track down. They find an ex-employee of the lab in full regret and knows where Ten was taken, a supervised fully monitored building for troubled teens, that they now have to break her out of.

What I Liked: The ending scene was written very well and the best of the graphic novel series it is brutal and right all at the same time, it shows the danger that three is and can be. I liked the sister bond. I loved Kali and her gang being a small part of this story. I love that Eleven was mentioned and discussed briefly. The flashbacks of what Kali did to Ten were great and very visual. I thought the locked-up princess bit worked well. I liked the relationship between Three and Nine.

What I Disliked: The first issue was disjointed and it took me until the second to like the direction of the story. I did not like the deception in the cover featuring Kali so prominently to only me in this book 5 pages.

Recommendation: This book is my favorite out of the three Stranger Things Graphic novels. The novel is both an original and connects to the existing narrative of the TV show. The end scene was so good. I recommend you check this story out.

Rating: I rated Stranger Things: Into the Fire by Jody Houser 4.3 out of 5 stars.

Book Order: The book order for the three Stranger Things novels that I have read are: 1) The Other Side, 2) Six, and 3) Into the Fire

Ranking: I have ranked the three graphic novels from best to worst: 1) Into the Fire, 2) The Other Side, and 3) Six

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