Stranger Things: Erica the Great

Stranger Things: Graphic Novels #4.5

by Danny Lore, Greg Pak, Valeria Favoccia (Illustrations)

In this Middle Grade foray into the 80's-nostalgia hit series from Netflix, when Erica's frenemy loses track of her mother's prized Parakeet, the two will have to work together to return the bird safe and sound, or deal with the consequences. They learn that even the toughest and smartest people need a little help now and then.

Hawkins Indiana has been plagued by strange events for years now. With the Starcourt Mall's recent destruction, Erica has lost her favorite hangout spot and her "free Ice cream for life" deal at Scoops-Ahoy. To make matters worse, her brother is too busy for her and her mom won't let her play Dungeons and Dragons anymore. This is the story of an ambitious, bossy, brilliant ten-year-old dealing with boredom and the complexities of maintaining friendships through tough times.

Written by Greg Pak ( Stranger Zombie Boys , Stranger The Bully , Ronin Island ) and Danny Lore ( Queen of Bad Dreams , James Bond ) with art by Valeria Favoccia ( Stranger Zombie Boys , Assassin's Creed ), colors by Dan Jackson, and letters by Nate Piekos.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

72 pages, Paperback

First published February 22, 2022

Reviews

[Miya (severe pain struggles, slower at the moment) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't spell American without Erica.
If you love Erica and need a bit more, this is a fun and sweet graphic novel. It is on the shorter side. I would say more for kids, but I enjoyed it. More girl power for Stranger Things fans. I would recommend it for big fans, and littles as well.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lucas's little sister gets her own comic where she attempts to get her friends to play Dungeons & Dragons and things go sideways. This was made for middle school children but it's still pretty inconsequential. Anyway reading a Stranger Things comic wants to see some monsters or paranormal activity.

Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss.

[رزی - Woman, Life, Liberty · Rating 2 out of 5]

اين کميک داستان اريکاست، خواهر لوکاس، اما اصلاً شبيه اريکاي سريال نيست! من اريکاي سريال رو به‌خاطر اين‌که اون‌قدر تميز و حرفه‌اي ملت رو ديس مي‌کرد دوست داشتم:)) اين اريکاي کميک فقط يه دختر خيال‌پرداز و دور افتاده از جامعه بود که زور مي‌زد توي تنها نقطه‌اي که درباره‌ش دانشي داره، (بازي دانجنز اند دراگونز) قدرتي داشته باشه. داستان تماماً درس اخلاقيه و عناصر ويژه‌ي استرنجر ثينگز رو نداره. البته مخاطب‌هاي هدفش هم کودکان هستن ولي بازم من دوست نداشتم چون خب طبيعتاً وقتي کميک استرنجر ثينگز مي‌خونم انتظار محيط آشناي استرنجر ثينگز رو دارم. چه دليلي داره يه داستان تيپيکال کودکانه بخونم که صرفا اسم شخصيت فرعي استرنجر ثينگز رو دزديده؟...

[Evangeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just really really loved this! Erica is one of my favourite characters and ahhh this was just such a cool magical awesome lil read

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's gratifying to see a graphic novel about four little Black girls playing Dungeons and Dragons, but watching them learn lessons about selfishness and teamwork while looking for lost pets seems more suited to the Baby-Sitters Club franchise than a Stranger Things graphic novel. I guess this is intended for elementary school book fair sales?

I'm happy that we're only a month away from the next season of Stranger Things. Once I get a hit of the good stuff, maybe I'll be less inclined to pick up all these watered-down tie-ins.

[Leeann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cool story. We learn and see more Erica as well. Plus D&D, nice. Liked the art as well I love how this connected to the end of season 2 when Will gets ride of his D&D things, so thats was cool.

[Nev · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - This was a very cute graphic novel about Erica trying to convince her group of friends to play Dungeons & Dragons with her. But when things don’t go to plan they end up on a real life adventure. I really love Erica’s character in Stranger Things so I was excited to see more of her in this story. While it did capture her boldness it didn’t really have any of the humor that makes her such a fun character in the show. But it was still a very enjoyable read!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow Erica crept up and became one of my favorite Stranger Things characters, so much so she made the list of Those That The Duffer Brothers Had Best NOT Kill Off (Steve, Dustin, Erica and Joyce and Hopper). And this graphic novel gives Erica a chance to be the star. The only thing missing from the story is that special spark Priah Ferguson brings to the character of Erica- but it's her voice I heard in my head while reading this last night, so maybe it was there?

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stranger Things: Erica the Great is a Dark Horse Comics graphic novel written by Danny Lore and Greg Pak with art by Valeria Favoccia.

Set shortly after the events of Stranger Things Season 3, Erica convinces her friends to plays a game of Dungeon & Dragons which quickly goes sideways.

This is another pre-teen edition of Stranger Things comics. It’s a fun little story of a night where everything goes wrong, friendships are tested, and bonds are forged. These pre-teen books really focus on teaching a message in each book. There isn’t a whole of “Stranger Things” shenanigans in this book, but it’s fun seeing Erica get some more time and character building.

[Alexandra Kern · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gets a 3.5 star rating.

While this is MUCH better than some of the Stranger Things tie-in graphic novels, I still think it could have been better. I love the idea of Erica and her friends playing D&D. It is great to see a graphic novel about four black girls in the 80's busting through stereotypes. Erica's character is just not the same as it is in the show. She has a very distinct personality, and I feel that this really only touches on the side of her that we all know and love.

Overall, a step in the right direction and it held my interest.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

idc if these comics aren't considered canon. it's canon in my heart.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucas' little sister Erica wants to play Dungeons & Dragons but her friends have other ideas, especially when Erica's style of DMing puts her needs above everyone else's. A crisis in the neighbourhood shows her that cooperation is the best way, and that telling the story together is how the game is enjoyed the best.

Cute, cohesive, but ultimately a bit flat. Erica's one of those characters that works best in small doses, as evidenced here by the fact that she's fairly grating for the first half of the story. Once she has her epiphany things come together a bit better, but she's not the best main character. The moral of the story rings true though, and it's brought home nicely in both the A plot about D&D and the B plot about chasing animals through other people's houses.

Valeria Favoccia's artwork suits this book far more than it has any of the other Stranger Things comics she's pencilled. The girls all look cute but individual, and their D&D characters reflect their personalities nicely in their costumes.

Not the most exciting Stranger Things tie-in, but it's adorable and earnest enough to keep you occupied for 20 minutes or so.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite yet! I feel like I actually have more of a grasp of D&D from this one. lol Erica and her party are going to have grand adventures!

[Anja von "books and phobia" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Auch wenn Erica erst recht spät bei Stranger Things mehr in den Vordergrund gerückt wurde, durfte sie neben ihrer Cleverness auch schnell ihre Liebe für D&D zeigen. Um so cooler fand ich, dass mir einen eigenen Comic widmete, in welchem sie genau diese Liebe ausleben durfte.

Wie auch in der Serie hat Erica in Sachen D&D nicht besonders leicht, denn ihr Bruder will sie nicht mitspielen lassen und ihre Freundinnen finden das Ganze einfach nur langweilig. Doch wenn man etwas will und dazu noch die feste Entschlossenheit von Erica hat, dann probiert man eben alles, um vielleicht wenigstens die Freundinnen zu überzeugen. Und das tat Erica auch, aber eben mit vielen Kompromissen. Aber hey, Hauptsache D&D spielen.

Wie auch die anderen Comics zur Serie konnte mich dieser vollends mitreißen. Zwar ist Erica nicht immer die sympathischste Figur, aber sie schaffte es trotzdem mich für sie und ihre Liebe zu begeistern. Besonders gelungen fand dabei, dass der Band neben der D&D-Thematik auch wichtige Dinge wie Kompromissbereitschaft, Freundschaft und Hilfsbereitschaft ansprachen. Dass sich dies nämlich lohnen kann, zeigte das Ende, in welchem eigentlich alle ihren Willen bekommen.

Doch nicht nur thematisch konnte man mich begeistern, sondern auch mit der Optik. Während die anderen Bände zur Serie recht düster waren, schlug man hier den entgegensetzten Weg ein und gestaltete Ericas Abenteuer recht farbenfroh. Und das war auch vollkommen ok so, denn hier wurde nicht gegen Demogorgons gekämpft, sondern man erlebte junge Mädchen beim D&D, die sich z.B. Einhörner wünschten. Man schaffte jedoch den Sprung, das ganze Abenteuer von Erica nicht zu kindlich wirken zu lassen, sodass junge Leser, aber auch Erwachsene ihre Freude haben dürften.

Fazit:

Sagen wir wie es ist, dieser Band macht einfach Spaß. Nicht nur, dass man Erica und ihr Umfeld besser kennenlernt, man darf zudem auch noch ein D&D-Spiel der anderen Art genießen. Da der Band deutlich fröhlicher ist, kann ich ihn auch jungen Lesern sehr empfehlen, zumal eben auch Themen wie Freundschaft und Kompromissbereitschaft angesprochen werden.

[karenbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know Erica the Great is meant for middle grade, but it's definitely on the younger end of that range. It's ultimately a story with a little lesson about cooperation, but I think I pulled more of a "don't be bossy, little girls" vibe from it than intended (which I'm sure says more about me than it does about the book).

The friend group the main character plays D&D with is a cool mix of personalities, but they don't seem to like the main character (Erica) much; this might make sense in the Stranger Things universe but I haven't made it past S1 yet so I just assumed that they were frenemies and that Erica is meant to be more of a loner. There's also an older lady who is incredibly mean to Erica for seemingly no reason—again, it may make sense in the world of ST but to me it just seemed too harsh.

The storyline is easy to follow without ST knowledge, no confusion there. It's fine as a standalone, although I suspect it'd be more fun for readers who "know" Erica. It's like a generic kiddie story about cooperation within a friend group ("if it's not fun for everyone, it's not fun") with ST characters pasted on top.

It's decently written and the artwork is pleasant enough, no complaints there. I told my 12yo she might like it, and maybe she will like it more than I did because she's watched more seasons of ST . . . but honestly, I am expecting her to pronounce it mid.

[Ken Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An alright short story about Erica and her friends having an adventure. The overlap between roleplay and imaginative fantasy is fun. I really like Erica's character on the show, but with her as the focus, I wish we got to see some more depth below the spunk and attitude. Despite starting off as kind of a bad friend and being the source of most the problems in this story, we only really get like a panel of her showing contrition and admitting to her mistakes.

[Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.75

This is a cute ST story focused on Erica trying to recruit her friends into a D&D game of her own. But when real-life problems crop up in their neighborhood, she needs to incorporate teamwork into her gameplan to save the day.

I loved the focus on Erica in this spin-off, and the artwork was great. The way the narrative shifts between the real world and the medieval fantasy of Erica's D&D realm is excellent, especially everyone's character designs.

3.75/5 stars!

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,2 of 5 for 5 minutes of glory for Erica)
Following up on D & D story, this one is about Erica making her way into the D&D game. It's a nice, lovely "kid's adventure", sort of fable with a small lesson. And it works perfectly for the ninety-something pages - it feels just enough, which is surprisingly not a common achievement among comics creators.

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story does a good job of capturing Erica's confidence and exuberance it fails to show her wit and humor which were just as prominent character traits on the show.

[meghna :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is just so cuteee!!
love they transitioned problems to a d&d mission
also remember ‘you cant spell america without erica’ (some episode in stranger things)

[amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

[Zanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

OKAY BUT THIS WAS SO CUTE!!! oh my god i'm becoming a bigger erica fan all the time

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun! Erica is one of my favorite characters from Stranger Things. You can’t spell America without Erica.

[Matt town · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute little story. It's really interesting to me how the vast majority of Stranger Things books and comics (including this one) to come out are not actually about anything horrific. They are mostly either about Brenner and the atrocities he put kids through (Six, Suspicious Minds) or simply the relationships and development of the kid and teen characters (Rebel Robin, Runaway Max, the Bully etc.).

Would I love more horror stories? Sure! But these characters have developed to the point to where they don't need the horror aspects to make these characters interesting. To me that's pretty cool.

(Oh and Erica wanting to play DnD like her older brother with her friends is endlessly adorable)

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book doesn’t do Erica’s character justice. Meh.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stranger Things: Erica the Great is a blast!

Erica the Great is everything I want in an expanded Stranger Things story. The story takes place in Hawkins, not some random city. It acknowledges the events from the Netflix series but does not make them central to the expanded story's plot. It takes a character from Stranger Things and builds the world of Hawkins around them - EXPANDING Stranger Things lore but not adding events that contradict the show.

Erica the Great follows Lucas' sister, Erica, as she tries to gather a group of friends to play Dungeons & Dragons. Through this quest, Erica's world is fleshed out. There's more interaction with her mother (a minor character in the show), and we meet three of her friends and a neighbor. The interactions with these characters allow Danny Lore and Greg Pak to expand the Stranger Things world around Erica.

Erica's boisterous personality is on full display in Erica the Great. Because she is so outspoken and demanding, her time as Dungeon Master goes about as well as one would expect. Erica's failure as a DM leads to a real-life adventure with her friends where they must learn to listen to each other and work together as a team. This plot sounds trite, but it's actually quite charming.

Erica sees this real-life adventure through the lens of a D&D campaign, which allows Valeria Favoccia's art to shine. By switching seamlessly from mundane to fantastical, Favoccia's art provides the perfect visuals to Lore and Pak's story.

Erica the Great also serves as a spiritual companion piece to Stranger Things: Dungeons & Dragons.

[Brina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Da ich ein großer Fan der Netflix-Serie „Stranger Things“ bin und nicht nur sämtliche Staffeln gesehen, sondern auch die Vorgeschichten gelesen habe, mussten auch nun die Graphic Novels gelesen werden. Nachdem mir bereits die ersten vier Bände gefallen haben, wollte ich auch unbedingt "Erica die Große" lesen, das ein Zusatzband und zwischen Band 4 und 5 angesiedelt ist. Obwohl meine Erwartungen aufgrund der Kurzbeschreibung nicht allzu hoch angesetzt waren, war ich am Ende doch enttäuscht, denn mir hat das gewisse Etwas gefehlt, was die Reihe bislang immer ausgemacht hat.

Dies kann auch daran liegen, dass Erica bislang nie wirklich zu meinen Lieblingsfiguren im "Stranger Things"-Universum gehört hat, denn obwohl sie eigentlich recht cool und loyal ihren Mitmenschen gegenüber ist, kann sie auch sehr egoistisch, arrogant und vor allem auch anstrengend sein, was man in "Erica die Große" deutlich zu spüren bekommt. Dazu sind die Dialoge teilweise nicht gelungen, denn diese strotzen nur so vor Wiederholungen und kindlicher Naivität, dass es phasenweise echt nicht schön ist.

Erica spielt zuhause alleine Dungeons & Dragons, wo sie sich selbst als große Heldin darstellt. Da es alleine jedoch schnell zu langweilig wird und ihr Bruder Lucas und dessen Freunde nicht mit ihr spielen möchten, versucht sie es bei ihren Schulfreundinnen, die jedoch schnell das Interesse an dem Spiel verlieren, als sie merken, dass Erica nur sich und ihren Spielcharakter gut darstellen möchte, aber nicht ihre Freundinnen. Aus einem Streit heraus geschehen auf einmal fast schon zu viele Dinge auf einmal, denn es verschwindet nicht nur der Vogel von Tanyas Mutter, den Tanya aus unerklärlichen Gründen mit zu Erica gebracht hat, sondern auch der Hund einer Nachbarin. Die Freundinnen sind nun gezwungen, trotz ihrer Streitereien zusammen zu arbeiten, damit die Tiere wieder heil nach Hause kommen. Dabei muss Erica auch feststellen, dass es wichtig ist, dass es nicht nur eine Heldin gibt, die alles im Alleingang macht, sondern diese auch immer ihre Freundinnen und deren Unterstützung braucht.

Da "Erica die Große" ein wenig anders als die bisherigen Comics ist, sollte man auch eine gewisse Affinität für "Dungeons and Dragons" besitzen und sich auch ein wenig mit dem Spiel auskennen, damit man Ericas Spiel folgen kann. Gleichzeitig muss man sich auch mit dem Gedanken anfreunden, dass dieser Zusatzband rein gar nichts mit den anderen Bänden zu tun hat und somit auch außerhalb des ganzen "Stranger Things"-Universums hätte spielen können.

Für mich ist "Erica die Große" insgesamt leider eine Enttäuschung und ein Zusatzband, den es nicht wirklich gebraucht hätte und der rein gar nichts zum eigentlichen Geschehen beiträgt. Für Fans von "Dungeons & Dragons" und besonders von Erica ist der Band sicherlich einen Blick wert, ansonsten kann man den Comic auch überspringen, ohne etwas verpasst zu haben.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erica, Luca's little sisters, got the Dungeons & Dragons bug but since her older brother doesn't want to spend even more time with her, she needs a crew. Can she convince her friends to join her?

At this point, I am more a fan of the graphic novels than of the main series. So many topics get adressed, most centering around friendship and growing up, using Dungeons & Dragons as a read thread to tie them all together.

While the graphics are great, what I am really into is the story telling and character growth that is achieved on so few pages - this one had 74 pages total.

In this particular case, you don't even have to watched the Netflix series to get some understanding on what's going on, which is nice, because this is a fun story I'd recommend to many readers of all ages.

I am always happy if I see a new one plopping up on Edelweiss, and hope more are coming my way.
So, let me close with my usual words: The arc was provided by the publisher.

[Lindsey Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just such a cute little story. It’s geared toward younger children and the story is unimportant to Stranger Things canon but a group of black girls playing Dungeons & Dragons, learning to work together and build each other up instead of dragging each other down and one-upping each other, and bringing their adventures into the real world is just super heartwarming. If you like Erica’s character and want some more backstory on her, this is worth the quick read. I enjoyed this much more than Science Camp, which is Dustin’s little solo story. The art style in this is also one of my favorites in the comic series.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little story about Erica trying to get her friends to play D&D, and learning about herself and them by doing so. There's a bit of character growth, some hijinks with animals and an elderly neighbor, and a slightly moralistic ending. It's more after-school special than Stranger Things, but Erica's character does come through pretty well. The art is effective and the story's fun, but it probably won't stick with you for long after reading it. If you want a better Stranger Things/D&D mash-up, go for the better 'Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons' collection. But if you're here for Erica, I think you'll enjoy it.