Dark Horse Comics Rolls Out ‘Stranger Things And Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise Of Hellfire’

Welcome to the table,

Stranger Things Season 1 rocked my world with its nostalgia bomb of Dungeons & Dragons references, strange otherworldly terrors, and kids on bikes. I lost some steam with it as the second and third seasons came along, but Season 4 pulled me back in with the introduction of Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). I know, he is a fan favorite, and I am a fan, so it makes sense. As someone who was that guy growing up, there is something oddly delightful about seeing something so akin to yourself, warts and all, as they say, showcased on a show as huge as Strange Things. And on top of it all, he was not played for laughs or silliness! Now I was not nearly as brash, as I was coming from an environment that did not allow for much self-expression, but I sure as heck sat behind the screen and ran the games for my collection of wonderfully weird friends.

So it delights me to tell you that Dark Horse Comics is presenting Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Hellfire, a prequel comic series to Stranger Things Season 4 featuring fan-favorite character Eddie Munson, is coming in February of 2025. The title is longer than the Infinite Staircase, and I don’t honestly care, because this seems to have all the makings of a rad reading experience based on these cool covers alone.

First up we have Eddie at the gaming table. The beholder looks almost exactly like the beholder figure I reviewed a few years back that I saw last week on the shelf of a local Target. The dice are colored in a way the classic dice were and the Motorhead Warpig is looming in the background.

Next up we have this kid with an orc warrior mimicking his motions and if I had to guess this is the player with his player-character persona looming large as he freaks and throws up the horns to whoever he is standing in front of. The orc feels less D&D and more World of Warcraft to me, but that is okay, fantasy comes in many flavors and this could just be something primal and barbarian in nature and it works without breaking the meta.

This cover is fantastic showcasing a hoard of goblins surrounding Eddie and I’m assuming one of his gamer pals. I love the use of negative space here and glowing red eyes to show off the goblins gathering on a rickety bridge. It gives a very Hobbit “down, down to goblin town” feel while still being the very stylized D&D goblin shape I typically expect from my TTRPG flavor of fantasy.

This cover is a clear play on the classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Red Box. The orginal was painted by Larry Elmore for the cover of the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set. The warrior could be anyone and in this instance it is a member of the Hellfire club, judging by the hair and guitar sword it’s Eddie, and he’s looking skyward at a glowing D20. The cover even has this super cool distressing effect that gives it a very vintage feel. I love this cover so much and hope that, much like the Stranger Things D&D box set that came out with Season 1 of the show, this art (or something akin to it) is used for a new Stranger Things D&D adventure.

Last up we have a slew of well-known D&D monsters on this cover. The Mimic in the foreground lashes at Eddie, while a Nothic rushes at him from the right side of the page. It’s such a niche choice in this instance so it has me wondering if this creature is going to make an appearance in the show or, much like the Mindflayer and Demogorgon, if this is going to be a name given to one of the creatures in the show. There is also a Bullywug in the background wielding a spear, and what appears to be an oger swinging in with a mace. A massive Beholder looms large in the strange mists of the background, but what really throws me more than anything on this cover is the inclusion of a Death Tyrant.

That skull with the glowing eye is one such Death Tyrant, an undead Beholder — the iconic floating eyeball monster you have probably seen across media. Mimics and Beholders are the Pikachu and Eevee of D&D, so the undead version is like the skeleton of that rad little electric mouse wandering around being an absolute nuisance.

Much like the inclusion of the Nothic, it could just be a cool artistic choice, but honestly, I am just kind of waiting for this to have something larger to it as it is such a weirdly deep cut and there is already a Beholder in the background.

Now the comic itself is a four-issue miniseries is written by Jody Houser and Eric Campbell, and illustrated by Diego Galindo, with colors by Diana Sousa and letters by Nate Piekos. Issue #1 is set to arrive in 2025 and will feature variant cover art by Magali Villanueve, Rebecca Pueblar, Jeremy Wilson, Nimit Malavia, and Kyle Lambert, designer and illustrator of Stranger Things series key art.

“Jody Houser and Eric Campbell have expertly woven together two beloved IPs to spotlight Eddie Munson’s pure heart as he fosters the heroes in all those around him and celebrate how Dungeons & Dragons can strengthen the bonds of friendship,” said Senior Editor Spencer Cushing. “What better way to honor the 50th anniversary of a beloved game than through the nostalgic lens of Stranger Things?”

“As soon as I saw Stranger Things Season 4, I knew the story of Eddie Munson and the Hellfire Club would be a perfect sequel to our Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons miniseries,” added Houser. “Both Eric and I are very familiar with how D&D forges friendships and storytellers, and it’s been wonderful exploring Hawkins through that lens.”

Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Hellfire #1 rolls into comic shops on February 19th, 2025. Issue #1 is now available for pre-order at your local comic shop so go forth and pre-order because that kind of thing matters!

Until next time, I am such a fanboy for this kind of thing. I buy almost everything I see with the ampersand on it because there was a time we had to hide our fandom. I’m very grateful for Stranger Things because it brought a whole new world of players to the table and took the hobby out of the basements and backrooms and made it way more acceptable in the mainstream.