#demodogs

[mags6422]

It Happened One November

If there was one thing that Steve knew for sure, it was that this was the last time he was apologising to Nancy for ANYTHING. Seems like every time he goes to do so, monsters appear out of the goddamn walls and Steve ends up swinging his bat.

The bat that he never stopped keeping in the trunk of his car. Not when he went to school, not when he took Nancy out on the town, or when he went to parties or basketball games or when he sometimes drove down backroads keeping an eye on the woods.

Just in case.

He’d never told Nancy about the bat. She was having a tough time with Barb’s parents and she didn’t need to also be worrying about him. He was the man, he was supposed to take care of her, not the other way around. Everyone said so.

Maybe he should have told her about it. Then maybe she would have taken him with her wherever she went with Jonathan. But no, here he was in a junkyard, looking after a bunch of rugrats in a reinforced school bus waiting for Dustin’s pet monster to show up so they could avenge his cat or whatever.

“Got a fog rolling in, visibility is down” came the shrill voice of Lucas from the roof. Random Girl (Max, he reminded himself) had gone up there a couple minutes ago after rolling her eyes at Dustin’s lame (but improving) attempts at flirting.

Personally, Steve thought it was a long shot that Dart would go for the trap in the first place. The thing had escaped underground, what were the odds that it would smell the meat in the first place? The thing didn’t even have a nose. But the kid seemed pretty sure and it’s not like Steve had a better idea. Besides, the kids would be here with or without him and god knew they could use some muscle if the thing did end up showing its gross flower face.

“Movement at 11:00!”

Well I’ll be damned, the kid was right. He’d never hear the end of it.

Steve eased to his feet and crouched at the window, squinting through the fog to try and see the cat killer.

There it was, about three feet tall and looked sort of like a dog, if a dog didn’t have a face… or fur. And yup, it sure looked like it was sniffing the air. With what nose Steve didn’t freaking know but there’s another point to the kid.

“Wait, more movement at 3:00!”

Steve swung around and saw something much larger stalking through the mist and his heart clenched. No. Not again. Not another demogorgon! Steve waited in horror for his nightmares to wander in through the fog.

“Maxine! Where are you shitbird?!”

Steve had one heartbeat of relief as the form solidified into the familiar mullet and skin tight levi’s of one Billy Hargrove before he heard the bone chilling chitter of the dog-monster-thing and his veins turned to ice as he watched it turn it’s bulbous head toward his high school bully.

Well. Shit.

Part 2

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Crossover Review

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews. Like, Reblog, and let me know what your thoughts are about the show or the upcoming final season! :)

Stranger Things Reviews/Theories

Stranger Things Comics/Graphic Novels:

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things “The Game Master” and “Erica’s Quest”

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Stranger Things Erica The Great

Stranger Things “Creature Feature” and “Summer Special”

Stranger Things Tales From Hawkins

Stranger Things Tie-In Books:

Stranger Things Suspicious Minds

Stranger Things Runaway Max (Part 1 of 3)

Stranger Things Runaway Max (Part 2 of 3)

Stranger Things Runaway Max (Part 3 of 3)

Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Part 1 of 3)

Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Part 2 of 3)

Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Part 3 of 3)

Stranger Things Rebel Robin Book and Podcast (Part 1 of 2)

Stranger Things Rebel Robin Book and Podcast (Part 2 of 2)

Stranger Things Hawkins Horrors Review

Stranger Things Flight Of Icarus

Stranger Things Lucas On The Line

Stranger Things Episode Reviews:

The Vanishing of Will Byers (Season 1, Episode 1)

Synopsis: Set before the events of Season 3, Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Max take a field trip with Mr. Clarke's class to New York City (with El secretly tagging along) to explore all the sights in the Big Apple. However, when the group gets separated from the class and encounters an old enemy, they're forced to join with some unexpected allies as they attempt to stop a world-ending threat........

Observations:

This is one of those comics where I wish I had been in the writers room so I could understand what their thought-process was.

The premise: Sometime in 1985, the Party is in New York City on a field-trip with Scott Clarke's class (why and how they get this trip arranged is never explained). Along the way, they split from the main group and end up lost in the underground subway. As they try to come up with a plan, they hear sounds coming from the tunnels and go to investigate. Guess who they end up running into?

DEMODOGS...........except with robotic parts attached to them?!

To make this more surreal, the Party gets saved by (you guessed it) the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMMTs for short):

Later on, after introductions are made and explanations given, the kids and TMNTs (with encouragement from their sensei Splinter) discover that:

a.) The robotic demodogs (referred to as Demomousers by Dustin) are being controlled by Baxter Stockman, a mad scientist who's one of the Turtles adversaries.

And b.) There's a gate in NYC allowing demodogs and demogorgons to come through, and the Mind Flayer is preparing to invade.

Realizing they need to join forces, the Party and TMNTs attempt to take down Baxter and the Mind Flayer before they bring ruin to the city.

If all of this sounds weird, you now know how I felt reading it.

I'll admit when it comes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'm not an expert. I have some knowledge of the franchise from when I was growing up, mainly from the 1987 cartoon and the first two live-action TMNT movies (no, NOT the Michael Bay produced ones), but as far as the comics go, I've never read the original ones. In terms of my knowledge:

I know the 4 turtles are named after famous Italian Renaissance artists: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

I know they have a sensei named Splinter, a former human martial arts instructor from Japan named Hamato Yoshi who was transformed into a rat via a chemical mutagen (since the chemical mixes the DNA of living beings who've been in contact with one another, and Splinter had constantly been in contact with rats while living in the sewers).

I know that the turtles were originally ordinary turtles that Splinter adopted in the sewers before they also got infected with the chemical and (because they were in contact with Splinter when he was human) became humanoid turtles.

I know Splinter named and trained the turtles in ninjutsu, adopting them as his students/children.

I know Splinter and the Turtles arch-enemy is Oroku Saki, aka The Shredder. He was responsible for dumping the chemical that transformed them, he runs a criminal ninja organization called "The Foot Clan," and (in the 1987 TV show at least), he has two animal/human hybrid henchmen named Rocksteady and Bebop. Also, Shredder aims for world-domination.

I know Shredder was allied with an alien brain named Krang from Dimension X, and they operated from a station called the Technodrome.

I know there was a scientist named Baxter Stockmam (who's one of the main antagonists in this comic) who created MOUSERS (also present here) that did his bidding and reeked havoc.

I know about April O'Neil, the news reporter who is an ally to the turtles, and Casey Jones, a violent vigilante who wears an ice hokey mask and has a bag of weapons, who is also an ally to the turtles. They make a brief appearance in this comic towards the end:

Finally, I know about this earworm of a song:

Like I said, my knowledge primarily comes from the 1987 show and the first two movies. What little I'm aware of about the original comics is that the turtles all wore the same red-eye masks before later media would color-code each turtle (likely so audiences could tell them apart). In typical 80s fashion, the comics were dark and gritty. Judging by how the Turtles are depicted here in this crossover, it appears they based the Turtles characterizations off their original comic book iterations:

This brings me to one of my problems with the crossover: Because it's dead-set on portraying the characters in a grim fashion, it doesn't leave much room for humorous interactions between the turtles and the kids. What little humor is present is either forced, or just recycled jokes from the show. Stranger Things is rooted in the science-fiction/horror genre, but it balances it out by having funny moments between the characters to level out the tension. Same thing can be said for the 1987 TMNT cartoon: Part of what made that work is the creators realized how absurd the premise was, and embraced the weirdness while having fun with it. This comic expects the reader to take the story solemnly, and all it does is highlight the ridiculousness of its premise.

Another issue I have is the whole crossover aspect. I know this isn't unique to TMNT and characters from this franchise have done crossovers with Batman, Power Rangers, Street Fighter, Transformers, Archie Comics, etc. The difference though is that 1.) These were usually done with other superhero or cartoon characters franchises, and 2.) To my understanding, most of those crossovers weren't usually considered canon in either universe.

This comic on the other hand tries REALLY HARD to make itself canon in the Stranger Things universe by setting it between seasons 2 and 3, before The Battle of Starcourt:

On top of that, when the kids and the Turtles finally confront Baxter at his lab about his motivations, he reveals he was a colleague of Dr. Brenner, which is how he knew about El:

This ends up creating several plot-holes:

1.) You'd think that if the events in this comic took place in the show's continuity, the kids would have talked about it at least once during seasons 3-4. I have a hard time imagining, for instance, that Dustin wouldn't have been chatting Steve's ear off about encountering a bunch of humanoid turtles living in NYC sewers, or the Demomousers they had to fight off.

2.) Same problem with Baxter Stockman and Dr. Brenner's relationship: No mention of it on the show? That's not even including how this relationship is at odds with Brenner's character since he considered other people (even fellow scientists) to be beneath him in terms of intellect. Brenner was NOT a man who saw others as his equal.

3.) Since Stranger Things is a show set on referencing 80s media and paying homages to it, and since the TMNTs were a big franchise in the 80s, does that mean the first volumes of the TMNT comics that came out in 1984 don't exist in this universe? Especially when the kids reactions to first encountering the TMNTs is not knowing who they are:

I get that Stranger Things is a fictional show that requires suspension of disbelief when it comes to its science-fiction elements (i.e. The Upside Down, El's powers, etc), but for the most part, it was grounded in a believable way. By that, I mean its universe was set up to be one that could conceivably take place in this reality. From its references to historical moments that occurred in real life, to its disturbingly realistic portrayals of bullying, bigotry, Cold War paranoia, homophobia, racism, government corruption, abuse, forced conformity, trauma and grief, and other social issues, to the whole dynamic of the Party being outcasts trying to survive middle school and high school. It's a coming-of-age story that also acts as a deconstruction of the 80s, and uses science-fiction elements in service of that goal. I've talked before about the Upside Down being a not-so-subtle metaphor for Hawkins and the 80s as a whole: Things look shiny, bright, and appealing on the surface (especially since the 80s continues to be a decade our current culture is obsessed with romanticizing), but when you actually dig deeper, there is rot underneath.

By setting the Stranger Things universe in the TMNT universe, it breaks that illusion in favor of turning it into popcorn entertainment. Some would argue Stranger Things was already this to begin with, but considering how the Duffer Brothers incorporated the themes I've just described into their work when they could have ignored them altogether, and considering how Stranger Things has a passionate fanbase dedicated to analyzing the show, its characters, and how it acts as a commentary for events and situations in the present, I would argue the show transcends that in a way TMNT never could. This comic tries to achieve this, with the Turtles (and Splinter) preaching about the importance of friendship, how everyone has challenges, not being defined by where you come from, etc, but all of these themes were already examined on the show way before this comic ever came out (and in a much more satisfying manner). Here, it comes off as repetitive without offering anything new to the table.

This isn't to say that the comic itself is bad. It still has cool moments and impressive visuals, and the fights between the heroes and the monsters of the Upside Down are a treat to behold:

The levels of detail put into these images is impressive, and it's neat seeing each member of the Party take up weapons to deliver damage to the Mind Flayer and his monsters.

On top of that, there were elements in the comic that (whether intentional or not) tie into the show and leave a lot to chew on.

For example, the whole fight against Baxter Stockman's forces and the Mind Flayer gives an idea of what we might see in Season 5. Whether it's the main characters dealing with Colonel Sullivan (who's still set on capturing El) or Vecna's impending invasion.

Even Baxter Stockman and his ambush of the heroes reminds me of Colonel Sullivan and the soldiers under his command from S4:

There's also Will's description of the Upside Down being worldwide and how the dimension isn't just limited to Hawkins (which is something S4 also confirmed):

There's also the Turtles speculating that El's powers are tied to the Upside Down, which is something I've discussed in my reviews (specifically Six and Suspicious Minds):

Additionally, the comic introduces the idea that there are other dimensions out there besides the Upside Down that can be traveled to.

While I doubt the Utroms (i.e. the alien brains) that the Mind Flayer possesses will be making an appearance in season 5 (or the TMNTs for that matter), the idea of multiple dimensions is something the Duffer Brothers could explore in the final season. It could also give more detail about what the Upside Down is, and whether the Mind Flayer really was just black particles with no conscious that Vecna formed into his avatar, or it was a multi-dimensional conqueror (as I've seen speculated by parts of this fandom) and it was simply dormant until Vecna woke it up and started collaborating with it:

But like I said, this is all speculation.

Overall, my feelings about this comic are mixed: On its own, it's a decent read and has plenty of cool moments and creative imagery. However, when you look closely at the story and how it's supposed to tie into the Stranger Things universe.........it starts falling apart. I think fans will enjoy this crossover for the sheer entertainment of it, but I seriously doubt this is going to be counted as canon.

[cloverfluffyhoof]

absolutely wild that stranger things decided to give us this sweet innocent character with a cute little nickname like bob the brains and then KILL HIM HORRIBLY IN FRONT OF US and then MAKE US WATCH THE CREATURES FEED ON HIS CORPSE i am in shambles.

[artthoufruity]

The fact all of the upside down monsters are based of DND monsters makes the theory that Will created everything inside the upside down with his imagination and biggest fears make so much sense, like not to sound totally delulu here but like wouldn't it be so cool if the upside down monsters are just Wills biggest fears encapsulated into DND monster form bc that's the scariest physical thing little Will can think of. Cause they don't look spiderish like the mindflayer that 001 created so he likely didn't create them, so someone else (will) probably did.

[morganbritton132]

Steve has no idea what D&D actually is because no one ever says that it’s a tabletop game so he think they’re out in the woods pretending to be park rangers or something.

Which sounds lame.

Plus, his sneakers are white. He’s not doing all that.

[queenie-ofthe-void]

Eddie eventually makes Steve his own battle vest, but with all of Steve's favorite bands.

The back panel is an old Queen concert t-shirt. Robin helped pick out cute buttons and pins, including an ice cream cone, a BMW logo, and a baseball bat (of course)

But Steve's favorite parts are where the kids wrote their names and little doodles in between the patches.

[leesartstuff]

Welcome to my “Steve-Harrington-should-have-a-dog” agenda, for names I’m think Lola? But I’m up for suggestions

[gravegroves]

Okay, little stream-of-consciousness-moment:

Billy, who's mind is like a steel trap, who isn't a scared little child, but a healthy, angry young adult. And the mindflayer doesn't even know what hit it. One second it's infiltrating grey matter, overtaking neural pathways and becoming one with this new vessel and the next second it's burning alive, it's crumbling and shrinking and screeching in agony as the human body does what is does best to foreign invaders: try to kill it.

I've always loved the posts on tumblr that explore how deeply weird humans would be to aliens. Our physiology, our mentality, when spoken of as animal traits they are all deeply disturbing. We're persistence predators. We're built to last. We can survive unimaginable horrors (and also die from the stupidest, most everyday things). Our main predator, is ourselves. A bite from a child can kill another human just from the bacteria alone if left untreated. Our bodies are designed to kill entities both within and without.

Humans are fucking terrifying.

So the mindflayer is so unprepared for an adult human who's been through too much shit already. Not just a tired little slip of a kid, but a healthy, entering-his-prime human and is eradicated with extreme prejudice by nothing more than a good immune system going into overdrive.

But it's too deeply imbeded, so the body again does what it can to protect itself, it encases it. Within the body, but separate. Calcified. Caged.

So here's Billy, who has a rather spotty memory of a car crash and feels like he has a head cold for a couple of days before he gets on with his life. Only weird shit keeps happening to him, now. Like that time he encounters a pack of dogs while out drinking by the quarry, except they look really fucked-up the closer they get, not like any dog Billy's ever seen before, and just as he's prepared for an attack from these things, they just walk up to him and sniff around a bit with their weird flower heads blooming and closing, but otherwise leaving him unharmed. And Billy's just this side of drunk where terrible ideas seem kinda brilliant and he tells the things to sit. And they do. Amazed, he tosses his beer bottle and tells them go fetch, and again, one does.

And then when it's time to go home Billy offhandedly tells them to get lost and they run off back into the woods, and when he wakes up in the morning it's easy to rationalise it away. Probably the beer had been rolling around in the car for too long and it went bad and fucked him up. Should just have thrown the whole sixpack out. Those were just regular dogs, for sure. Except the next day, when he's out behind the pool building trying to find a good spot to smoke, he steps onto soft soil or something and falls down into a weird ass tunnel and a bunch of those same monster dogs just appear out of nowhere and pile themselves on top of each other for him to be able to climb out. And a couple of days later when Neil smacks Billy around for being out late again, one of those dogs honest to God comes crashing through the living room window to shred Neil's leg up and leaves just as quickly at the first sign of panic from Billy.

And yeah okay, by this stage Billy's figuring out things are kinda fucky around Hawkins, and so it's just Billy having his own little side adventure in the background while the rest of the gang are running around Hawkins trying desperately to find the Mindflayer, not knowing that Billy unknowingly trapped it within himself and is just living his life, teaching these weirdly obedient alien dogs to do tricks because they keep helping him or seeking him out.

Anyway, upside down is doomed because their leader is literally trapped inside Billy and Billy is just teaching these dog-things to steal cigarettes from the gas station and volunteering for the closing shift at the pool because he can just get the dogs to bring the pool noodles back into the shed.

[spookychiptune]

mer crimmus 🎄🎁✨

[harringroveera]

Cue Billy saving Steve until he finally sacrificed his life for him

[princesssunderworld]

You know how the party are the ones who name the monsters and stuff?

I always thought of how funny it would be since Vecna has been watching the party the entire time and he is just like, “…the fuck guys, my name is One…” when they discuss killing him. He is just like, “these fucking nerdy ass kids…”

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Tales from Hawkins Review

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews. Like, Reblog, and let me know what your thoughts are regarding the show or the upcoming season! :)

Stranger Things Reviews/Theories

Stranger Things Comics/Graphic Novels:

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things “The Game Master” and “Erica’s Quest”

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Stranger Things Erica The Great

Stranger Things “Creature Feature” and “Summer Special”

Stranger Things Tie-In Books:

Stranger Things Suspicious Minds

Stranger Things Runaway Max (Part 1 of 3)

Stranger Things Runaway Max (Part 2 of 3)

Stranger Things Runaway Max (Part 3 of 3)

Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Part 1 of 3)

Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Part 2 of 3)

Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Part 3 of 3)

Stranger Things Rebel Robin Book and Podcast (Part 1 of 2)

Stranger Things Rebel Robin Book and Podcast (Part 2 of 2)

Stranger Things Hawkins Horrors Review

Stranger Things Flight Of Icarus

Stranger Things Lucas On The Line

Stranger Things Episode Reviews:

The Vanishing of Will Byers (Season 1, Episode 1)

Synopsis: Set between the events of Seasons 1-2, this comic chronicles tales from various Hawkins residents as they attempt to survive the daily grind while also dealing with lurking threats hidden beneath the town.......

Observations:

One of the reasons I've expressed interest in the Stranger Things comics and tie-ins is because I see them as an opportunity to expand more on characters, storylines, and other mytharc elements. It's a well of untapped potential that makes for good reading material.

To their credit, they have done this with some tie-ins/comics.

With others...........for whatever reason (whether it's lack of imagination, or being kept on a creative short leash by Netflix and the Duffer Brothers), they've turned out some real disappointments. These range from stories that are contradictory to the show's canon, to focusing on characters that no one cares about (and are likely NOT going to have any important roles in S5), to simply rehashing plots/character arcs that have been done to death without offering anything new to the table, or simply failing to take advantage of characters who have been introduced (i.e. Argyle, Colonel Sullivan, Vickie, Gareth, etc).

In that regard, Tales from Hawkins is a mixed bag. It's an anthology comic composed of 4 different stories. Two of them focus on main characters (Murray and Robin) whereas the other two are about minor Hawkins characters from the show who have dangerous encounters with the Upside Down. The ideas explored in these stories support the show's themes, but the way certain stories were executed left a lot to be desired.

As usual, I will be splitting this review into 4 parts, with each one covering a different Issue from the comic:

Part 1: Dale and Henry

For those who don't remember, Dale and Henry (no, not Henry Creel) were the hunters who disappeared in S1 and were later confirmed dead at the hands of the Demogorgon. We saw them briefly at Benny's Diner, but the audience was only informed about their gruesome fates later.

This is the story from their perspective.

LSS: Both of them were out in the woods "hunting," saw a trail of bleeding animal carcasses, decided to continue investigating in spite of all the warnings that this was a BAD IDEA, encountered something they shouldn't have........and you know the rest.

The artwork for this story is haunting. In addition to capturing the beauty of Hawkins at sunset and the dark horrors of the Upside Down, the pictures manage to convey a sense of gruesomeness and dread as Henry and Dale follow the Demogorgon's trail of destruction:

In some ways, it reminds me of the first Predator movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that story, Arnold played a character name Alan "Dutch" Schaefer who was part of a military team that discovers corpses during their mission in the jungle. When the Predator arrives, it starts picking off the team one-by-one until Dutch is forced to face the monster in a showdown.

The biggest differences between Predator and this Issue are 1.) Neither Henry nor Dale are military trained, and they certainly aren't the expert hunters they portray themselves as (which the comic spells out):

And 2.) Unlike the movie, where there was at least a chance for Dutch to fight off the Predator........that ain't the case for Henry:

All of which brings me to my first problem with this particular story: Because we already know the fates of Dale and Henry before they happen, it becomes hard to get invested. TV tropes even has a name for this called Too Bleak, Stopped Caring where things are so awful for the characters (or the audience knows things are going to end badly) that readers/viewers emotionally tune out and become apathetic to what's happening. This isn't the same thing as the Eight Deadly Words (I don't care what happens to these characters), but it comes close to that.

It doesn't help that the comic doesn't do much to flesh-out Dale or Henry. We get a brief snippet about how Henry's wife Val is undergoing chemo and how Dale has grandkids, but that's it. It's useless trivia which doesn't factor into the situation taking place, and it still doesn't get me to care. I'm not saying I need to hear their life stories, but you gotta give me more than that.

Adding onto this, there are continuity errors that were hard to ignore. The comic states that Henry and Dale's fatal trip into the woods takes place a few hours after Benny's death, which would mean this would've occurred on November 8th. However, in the show, Hopper is informed by Powell and Callahan on November 11th that Henry and Dale disappeared into the woods the day before, which means the fatal hunting trip would've had to happen on November 10th. I watched the show and took notes on the days certain events occurred, so I know what I'm talking about.

Jody Houser was the writer for all 4 anthology tales, and this isn't the first time she's made continuity mistakes like this. She did the same thing in SIX when she wrote Terry breaking into the lab to rescue El as taking place in 1978 in spite of it being confirmed by people working on the show that this actually took place in 1974. She also did this in two other stories she wrote ("The Game Master" and Dungeons & Dragons) when it came to Will being in the hospital after his time in the Upside Down. "The Game Master" claims Will was discharged from the hospital before Thanksgiving, whereas Dungeons & Dragons contradicts this by depicting him as still in the hospital after Thanksgiving.

I was willing to overlook these errors early on (let's not forget the Duffer Brothers blunder in forgetting Will's Birthday was on March 22nd), but this has gotten to the point of being ridiculous. If fans are able to better keep track of dates than paid writers can, that's a problem that needs to be fixed pronto.

Despite my issues though, I will give credit where credit is due in that Jody Houser kept one thing consistent: Will finding a dying Henry in the UD and comforting him in his final moments. This is an event that also took place in her other comic, The Other Side:

It's a small moment, but a heartwarming one which highlights Will's empathy and willingness to look out for others, and I'm glad it was kept in.

Part 2: Murray Bauman

I know fan opinions about Murray are all over the place. Some like him, some hate him, and some are completely indifferent to him. I'm in the third category.

I've never hated Murray, but out of all the main characters, he is the one who could die and I wouldn't bat an eye. I've never connected with him the same way I did with other characters, and he's always felt like an outlier in regards to his relationships with everyone else. Even Erica (who's been a controversial character for certain fans) has had more organic interactions with the others, as well as a subtle but effective character arc on her part that's been interesting to watch. Murray doesn't have that, and has pretty much remained the same person he's been since his introduction in S2.

It doesn't help that there are times Murray comes across more as a convenient plot device to make certain events happen. For instance, I've never liked how he acted as matchmaker for Jonathan/Nancy in S2 and Hopper/Joyce in S3. Whenever the show wrote him that way, it always felt like he became the writers mouthpiece for which romantic relationships they were shilling, which is something that annoyed me. Even Murray coincidentally speaking Russian came off as a quick and easy way to bypass the language barrier and all the other plot-related hiccups the other characters would've struggled with during the Russian arc in Seasons 3-4 had he not been present.

So when they announced that one of the stories would focus on Murray, I was genuinely interested because I was hoping we'd get more insight into his character, mindset, and backstory that wasn't just about him getting the other main characters from point A to point B. In some areas, this Issue delivered on that.

The story takes place after the events of season 1 when Murray comes to Hawkins after being hired by Barbara's parents to investigate her disappearance.

From there, it follows Murray integrating himself into the Hawkins community, picking up tips and clues, and spinning his own theories that would eventually lead him to discovering the truth about Eleven, Barb's death, Will's disappearance, Hawkins Lab, and (of course) the Upside Down.

For whatever problems I have with Murray, I do appreciate how the comic depicts what he's doing as authentic "investigative journalism" as opposed to depicting him as a conspiracy theorist who just happened to stumble on the truth and have his claims validated. I knew they likely wouldn't go that route since he's established on the show as working for the Chicago-Sun Times (which gives his character credibility) but considering we're currently living in a climate where peddling unfounded conspiracy theories is a thing (whether it's from right-winged pundits like Tucker Carlson or Alex Jones, groups like QAnon, or even Leftist antisemites spewing blood libel, Holocaust inversion/revisionism, Hilter apologism, and a bunch of other antisemitic garbage designed to hurt the Jewish community), it's refreshing to see Murray putting in the hard work of researching instead of spouting unfounded claims and trying to act like the smartest person in the room. There are certain Tumblr users who could take a leaf out of Murray's book instead of falling into this pattern:

(Credit to @sethshead for posting this quote because this really sums up the problem with Conspiracy Theorists in a nutshell.)

But I digress. My point is this story gives me new respect for Murray over the weeks and months he spent investigating and chasing down leads despite how tough it was:

Additionally, the comic goes out of its way to paint Murray as a crusader for the truth, but it's also heavily implied that the reason he makes work his life is because, deep down, he is lonely. While he claims he's only interested in integrating himself into the Hawkins community (including signing up for an "all ages" Karate class) for the purposes of the investigation, there are hints that he actually wants human connection, and that he's miserable when left by himself:

This is an interesting angle to Murray, and one that recontextualizes his relationship with Joyce, Hopper, and the other main characters. He makes himself off-putting (whether as a defense mechanism, or as part of his job) and may not know how to go about socializing in a way that doesn't make him seem unpleasant, but he clearly does value these friendships and getting to spend time with the others. I still remember Murray having the strongest reaction to Alexei's death in S3 after hanging out with him at the carnival and buying him a corn dog........only to watch Alexei get shot:

I'll admit I never cared much for Alexei, but the fact that any potential friendship between him and Murray got snuffed out in this moment hits hard.

The story doesn't leave a lot of clues about what direction Murray's character will take in season 5, but I'm inclined to believe that Murray will be one of the casualties in the fight against Vecna, especially if the writers plan on upping the stakes by killing off important characters. As far as Murray's arc is concerned, he's fulfilled his role of getting Hawkins Lab shut down, ending the Russian infiltration of Hawkins in S3, and helping Joyce rescue Hopper from Kamchatka in S4. As to where they could go with Murray in the last season, I see two possible scenarios:

1.) The Russians/KGB come back to Hawkins in S5 to take revenge against Hopper, Joyce, and Murray for destroying their operation in Kamchatka, and to possibly get more UD monsters from the now-opened gate in Hawkins. This could lead to Murray having a role in stopping the Russians once and for all. If the writers decide to bring back Enzo/Dmitiri (please make that happen) or even Yuri, they could have Murray form a comradery with either character, which I wouldn't mind seeing.

2.) Murray will play some kind of role in keeping the government (primarily Colonel Sullivan) off El's back as she deals with Vecna's impending invasion.

Either way, I'm predicting things are going to end badly for him.

Part 3: Robin

I'm just gonna say it: This was my least favorite Issue out of all 4 of them.

The story focuses on Robin working on a class project where she's a writer/director for a horror film starring Tammy Thompson. During all of this, Robin is pining after Tammy, expressing her frustration with Tammy's shallow crush on Steve (as well as Steve's douchebag behavior), and struggling internally with being a lesbian in good old 1980s homophobic Hawkins.

Sounds familiar? That's because both Zombie Boys and the Rebel Robin book/podcast already covered these ideas and plot points. Zombie Boys was about Will and his friends making a horror movie that was a metaphor for Will's unresolved trauma/PTSD (similar to how Robin's horror movie is a metaphor for feeling trapped in Hawkins and never breaking free), and Rebel Robin already explored Robin's crush on Tammy, her initial dislike of Steve, her desire to graduate high school and leave Hawkins for good, and her coming to terms with the fact she likes girls and how revealing this would turn her into a social pariah.

Look, I like Robin and I find value in her story, especially as someone like me who identifies as gay and lives in a small conservative town where you keep your mouth shut about certain things. However, this tale isn't breaking new ground here. It's just retreading the same story beats without offering anything we haven't seen before. Rebel Robin already did this, and did it so much better.

If they really wanted to make Robin the centerpiece for this particular Issue, why not cover something different? We could have gotten a story about Robin and Steve working at the Video Rental Store, or Robin telling Steve about "Operation Croissant" and inviting him to come with her to Europe once she saves up enough money and graduates. There were even opportunities to explore her relationship with other characters outside of Steve, the Scoops Troop, and Tammy. They did this with Robin and Nancy in S4 (which was one of my favorite character pairings from that season) and Lucas on the Line even had Robin and Lucas forming a close friendship as Lucas was struggling to figure his life out, so I don't see why they couldn't have done this for other characters that Robin hasn't gotten much screentime with. Hell, since they're already planning to push Robin and Vickie as endgame for S5, why not have a story about Robin first meeting Vickie?

Better yet, since this is an anthology comic that's supposed to focus on various characters, why not go more in depth with others? Jason. Patrick. Chrissy. Fred. Vickie. Scott Clarke. Dr. Owens. There's a plethora of other characters from the show who could be (and deserve to be) expanded on as opposed to a character like Robin who's already had an entire book and podcast dedicated to her. We could even be covering main characters like Jonathan (do a comic showing how he met Argyle and became friends with him), or Steve for that matter. I would rather see a story about Steve, his internal perspective on the events from the show, his relationship with his parents, or something that ISN'T just rehashing this again:

WE. GET. IT. Steve was an asshole at the beginning. This is not news. Please stop exploring Steve's character from this angle, and actually do something original with him.

This isn't the first time I've expressed my frustration about this. My review of The Bully was equally scathing about how they dedicated an entire graphic novel to two loathsome characters while pushing other characters with potentially interesting arcs/perspectives to the side. It frustrates me to see writers/creators retread old ground that the audience has long grown tired of. I like the comics and tie-in materials, and I am more than happy to defend them from fans who consider them a waste of time, but that doesn't mean I'm above calling out the material if it's not contributing anything meaningful.

Part 4: The Pumpkin Patch Rivalry

This one pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't expecting to care about the story, and I wasn't as big of a fan of the artwork (especially in comparison to the first 3 stories which, in spite of their flaws, were colorful and well-drawn). Regardless of that nitpick though, I ended up embracing it. I would even go as far to say that this is my favorite Issue out of the 4 of them.

The story takes place in season 2, and centers on Merrill Wright and Eugene McCorkle, the two Pumpkin Patch owners who briefly appeared at Hopper's precinct to accuse the other of sabotaging their fields, which would later lead Hopper to investigate and discover the Upside Down spreading underneath Hawkins.

The comic expands on Eugene and Merrill's history, revealing there's always been a family rivalry between the Wrights and the McCorkle, starting from harmless pranks that eventually turned hurtful:

Furthermore, the story puts a heavy emphasis on how the rivalry is rooted in the patriarchs of the families as opposed to every individual member from one family hating the the members of the other family.

All of this cultivates with the destruction of their pumpkin patches, the two men confronting each other on a decaying field, a vicious fight breaking out.......and both men getting more than they bargained for:

While the story is simple on the surface, it struck a chord with me given recent world events. I know this particular Issue was written a month before the October 7th Massacre and the Israel-Hamas War, and the fictional rivalry between Eugene and Merrill pales in comparison to the real life horrific onslaught that is occurring in this conflict, but for me, it was hard not to see some parallels between Merrill and Eugene's years of bitterness and anger over their rivalry vs the decades worth of grudges, wars, bloody conflicts, massacres, old wounds, and hatred that has festered between Israelis and Palestinians and exploded in the worst possible way. Eugene and Merrill thankfully stop short of trying to murder one another (or targeting rival family members), but it very easily could have gone in that direction. Hatred is a powerful emotion that leads to tragedy.

And just like with those in Israel and Palestine who desperately want peace and are sick of the decades of fighting and their respective governments falling down the pipeline of extremism while continuing to destroy more lives, the members of both the Wright and McCorkle families want their respective conflict to end.

The difference is that Merrill and Eugene get that opportunity to mend fences, but it takes them being put in a life-threatening situation and almost dying at the hands of demodogs before that happens:

Stories like this give me hope that things can change for the better. That people can put aside grudges and old wounds and be there for one another when it really counts. We need stories like this more than ever, especially with how scary the worlds gotten and how people who put on a mask of being "tolerant" and "progressive" and "looking out for the well-being of others" have revealed themselves to be just as hateful, cruel, hypocritical, patronizing, and vicious as those they claim to oppose.

Eugene and Merrill may have started their rivalry over pettiness, but when the chips were down, they were willing to put that aside and work to fix relationships and create a better future for their families:

Regardless of how they acted, or how they started out, I have more respect for them as opposed to certain people in REAL LIFE who are pushing their own agendas, spreading lies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories, and intentionally creating strife and conflict while pretending to give a shit about peace. Those who follow this blog know exactly who I'm referring to.

While I doubt Eugene and Merrill will appear in season 5, their arc about redemption and overcoming old prejudices might factor into the arc regarding the Hawkins residents in the last season. The show has spent multiple seasons showing the inherent problems in Hawkins, from the rampant bullying, to the bigotry, to the government corruption, to how quickly neighbors will turn on one another out of fear and paranoia. Season 4 emphasized this heavily with the Witch Hunt against the Hellfire Club and the desire to create scapegoats (like Eddie and El) for the town's problems without the townsfolk doing the hard work of self-reflection and changing for the better. If the behind-the-scenes pictures for Season 5 are any indicator, it's about to get worse:

I don't think there's any question about whether Vecna will be defeated (he will). The questions are how much damage he'll cause, how many lives he'll ruin in the process, and how the citizens of Hawkins could enable him to get as far as he does. Vecna may be the cause of the main characters' problems, but even if he wasn't there and had never existed, the reality is Hawkins has a personal nastiness rooted in the community that has made life miserable for a lot of people, especially those who don't fit the town's definition of "normal."

Vecna's greatest weapon isn't just his powers, but his ability to see the ugliness in people, and weaponize fear and all the inherent wrongs of society to isolate people so he can pick them off one-by-one. He reminds me of the Joker from The Dark Knight, who thrived on chaos and was determined to show everything wrong with humanity, and even Sauron from The Silmarillion, who exploited the problems and prejudices the kingdom of Numenor had so he could drive them to destruction. Vecna hates Hawkins and despises humanity. What makes him terrifying isn't his army of monsters, but his ability to bring out the worst in people to the point they become the monsters.

Getting back to the story of Eugene and Merrill, their arc about redemption, forgiveness, and working to unify rather than divide is the antidote needed to combat Vecna. If I predict anything, it's this: The battle against Vecna isn't just going to depend on the actions of the main characters, but the action of the Hawkins residents. Some of them have chosen to flee for their own safety, but others will be caught in this conflict, and they will have to make hard choices to either let go of old biases/prejudices that are causing harm, or continue holding on to them out of stubborn pride and allow Vecna to divide them in doing so.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, while this comic had some good elements, it was disappointing in many areas. Like I said, I'm open to exploring the stories of the townsfolk of Hawkins (and other characters), but the way it was done with some of these stories wasn't impressive.

If you still want to check out the comic for yourself, I recommend Issue 2 (Murray's story) and Issue 4 (The Pumpkin Patch Rivalry). Other than that, you're not missing anything by skipping it.

[friendsdontlieokay]

I'm sorry cause I just woke up and started laughing out of nowhere and everyone's scared but this specific image came to my mind so I think my laughter is justified because we get it you're a single mother of seven, but still who the hell carries an inter dimensional creature like a baby? I'm crying oh my gosh

[salamandergoo]

STWG Prompt: Crack Fic

“Eddie, I need you to stay calm.”

Those were always the words Eddie wanted to hear when he was waking up out of a haze, sprawled across his bed with the blankets tangled around his limbs.  He smacked his lips a few times and grimaced at the taste in his mouth before sitting up and rubbing his eyes.  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”  He untwisted his shirt and got out of bed, kicking dirty clothes on the floor aside as he yanked the door open.  “Why are you telling me to be calm?”  He yawned into his fist and froze in the middle of the hall.  “Wayne…?”

A hairless… thing was sat on the floor, pressed in close to his uncle’s leg.  It chirped and whined, sounding like a cat being mangled by a bird.  “I found him by my truck at the end of my shift.  Poor thing’s got a messed up leg, it was limping around looking all pathetic.”

“So you’re telling me, I can’t get a pet, but you get to drag this… this THING into our trailer?”

“I never said you couldn’t get a pet, I said you couldn’t keep a pregnant opossum, Ed.  This is different, he’s a hurt dog.  And we ain’t keeping him, he’s just going to stay a couple days until he’s walking better.”

“That’s not a dog!  Dogs don’t look like that!”  Eddie crept forward and squinted at the thing.  “It doesn’t have a face.  Or fur.”

“It was probably hit by a car.  One of them hairless terriers.”  Wayne shrugged off his jacket and took off his hat.  “Get it a little something to eat, will you?  I’m going to take a shower.”  He stepped away and the creature rumbled, standing up and hobbling after Wayne, head bumping against his ankle.  “I ain’t going far Benny.”  He bent and patted it on the side.

Eddie softened.  “Oh.  You… you’re calling it Benny?”

“Got a better name?”  Wayne didn’t quite meet Eddie’s eyes this time as he kept stroking the thing.  It leaned into the touches, its backside wiggled and, hey, it had a nub of a tail.  “It’s been almost a year.  Thought we ought to honor him somehow.”

“I don’t know what about a weird, naked dog reminds you of Benny, but… okay.  I’ll get it something to eat.”  Eddie made his way to the fridge, giving the thing- the dog- …Benny a wide berth.  He didn’t like the sounds it made, but Wayne was clearly taken with it.  “You keep a naked dog but not an opossum,” he grumbled.

He fixed a plate with some leftover chicken, scraping off as much of the seasoning as he could.  He could hear the shower running as he sat on the couch and set the plate on the floor.  “Come eat.  Dog.”  Eddie squinted at Benny while he sat by the bathroom door.  It was like he was staring at the door, but Eddie could’ve sworn the thing didn’t have eyes.  “Benny, come.”

It looked at him with its empty face before crossing the trailer.  It didn’t walk quite like a normal dog either, and not just because it the damaged leg..  It was like when Eddie would scramble up stairs and put his hands on the stairs like he was an animal so he could go faster.  It looked like it would just stand up on its back legs at some point.  It sniffed at the chicken and then opened its face.  Eddie clapped a hand over his mouth and watched in disturbed horror as it ate.

He didn’t dare move a muscle until Wayne was coming out of the bathroom with damp hair, changed into his lounge pants.  “Wayne.”  His voice was hushed and high pitched.  “Wayne, there’s something wrong with Benny.”

“Yeah, I know.  He was probably hit by a car.”

“His face OPENED!”

“My nana had a dog that was missing half his bottom jaw.  Looked ugly as sin but loved nothing more than a good lap to lay on.”  Wayne filled a mug with water and took a long drink.  “Benny must’ve healed wrong, doesn't make him less of a dog.”

“I don’t think he’s a dog at all!”  Eddie yelped when Benny turned his head to look up at him.  “I think you’ve brought a demon into our home.”

“Only demon in this house is you.”  Wayne dropped a hand on top of Eddie’s head and ruffled his already messy hair.  “We ain’t keeping him long.  I’m sure there’s someone nearby who can take better care of him than me.”  He set up his bed and grabbed his blanket.  “I’m gonna get some shut eye, so try and keep it down, alright?”

“…yup.”  Eddie watched as Wayne got settled and then watched Benny hop up onto the bed and curl up at Wayne’s feet.  He didn’t have a good feeling about it, but… Wayne seemed happy.  Lighter, somehow, with the dog on his bed.  Eddie could live with it for now.

But he’d be keeping a close eye out for any signs of what it actually was.  Because that was no dog.

[sourgummibears]

Spoopy season is upon us! 🎃👻💀

Do the slashmates dress up for Halloween or do they just kind of go as themselves?

[morganbritton132]

Eddie, posting to Tiktok: i just remembered this one time when Steve was on tour with me. He was moving around the bus, not really awake.

Eddie: I was letting him do his thing, monitoring the situation because I’m the best boyfriend - now husband - ever but I could tell he was getting agitated

Eddie: So i said, “Stevie, you’re safe. What’s the worst that’s ever happened to you on a bus?”

Eddie: And that was the wrong thing to say

Eddie: Something bad happened to him on a bus!

Eddie: I don’t remember if he told me but if I find out a jock had something to do with it…

Eddie: Well, I’m rich now and I’ll pay a kid in your neighborhood to slash your tires every day of goddamn week. Tommy.