Dark Horse <a href="https://comicvibe.com/dc-comics-no-longer-in-the-lunar-catalogue-for-october-2026/” title=”DC Comics… No Longer In The Lunar Catalogue For October 2026?”>Comics has announced a graphic novel based on Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the Broadway and West End stage production set before the events of the hit Netflix series.
Adapted by writer Rachel Pinnelas (I Know What You Did Last Crisis, Creepshow), artist Jake Bartok (Star Wars, Star Trek), colorist Michael Atiyeh, and letterer Tyler Smith, the book will retell the story of how young Henry Creel (the show’s eventual big bad, Vecna) became ensnared by Dr. Martin Brenner.
The official synopsis elaborates, “It’s 1959 in Hawkins, Indiana. Joyce Byers, Jim Hopper, and Bob Newby are students at Hawkins High School. Henry Creel is the new kid in town, looking for a chance to start over. He thinks he’s found it when he meets Patty Newby and the two fall for each other. But it isn’t long before Henry’s troubled past catches up to him, ensnaring the town in a terrifying mystery. Hawkins is about to become a very strange place indeed…”
The First Shadow, which was the Duffer brothers, and Jack Thorne, opened in London’s West End in 2023 and on Broadway in 2025, several months before the fifth and final season of the Netflix series. Judging from the cover art, the book will mix the likenesses of stage actors like Louis McCartney (who played Henry) and Gabrielle Nevaeh (Patty Newby) with TV show cast members like Matthew Modine (Dr. Brenner)
The First Shadow‘s graphic novelization will retail at 80 pages for for $19.99, and is now available to pre-order for a release on January 19, 2027.
In the meantime, the play’s West End run will conclude on December 27, 2026, and its Broadway one will end on January 3, 2027. A recording of the show has been filmed for Netflix, which doesn’t have a release date set yet, although it would be remiss of us if we didn’t point out Stranger Things Day is held on November 6.
The news comes shortly after Stranger Thingscelebrated 10 years since its premiere on July 15, 2016. For more on new and upcoming comics of the series, head to Dark Horse’s website. A second season of the animated spin-off Tales From ’85 will also premiere later this year.
