The series that could out-Stranger Things <em>Stranger Things</em> was released the same year as the Duffer brothers’ hit show. Stranger Things became a global phenomenon by perfectly tapping into a collective longing for 1980s nostalgia with a hefty dose of supernatural mystery. The element that ties everything together is its young cast, which grows up together as the central mystery develops.
Stranger Things isn’t the only story of its kind. The landscape of 1980s supernatural adventure is vast. Worlds of suburban mystery and growing pains with a growing scope and a wide assortment of supernatural threats are shared by other childhood adventures.
Key Insights on Paper Girls for Stranger Things Fans
- Release Year: The series Paper Girls debuted in the same year as Stranger Things.
- Nostalgic Elements: Both shows tap into 1980s nostalgia, but Paper Girls adds a unique twist with time travel.
- Main Characters: The story revolves around four twelve-year-old girls navigating supernatural challenges.
- Thematic Depth: Paper Girls explores friendship and self-discovery against a backdrop of sci-fi adventure.
Paper Girls Is A Supernatural 1980s-Set Friendship Drama
Paper Girls, written by Saga writer Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Catwoman: Lonely City artist Cliff Chiang, follows four twelve-year-old newspaper delivery girls who find their mundane route interrupted by a temporal war between rival time-traveling factions. Erin, Mac, KJ, and Tiffany venture into a surreal odyssey through the future of 2019, where the girls encounter bizarre creatures and giant mechs, as well as their older, disillusioned selves.
Paper Girls excels by blending nostalgic 1980s aesthetics with a brutally honest portrayal of pre-teen friendship. It dives into the complicated lives of its protagonists and their both exciting and disappointing realization of what the future holds. The supernatural elements serve as a catalyst for the young girls’ collective strength and wits to survive a world that has become unrecognizable overnight.
Like Stranger Things, Paper Girls features a tight-knit group of outcasts navigating 1980s suburbia on bicycles while stumbling into a conspiracy involving supernatural threats and bizarre technology. While Stranger Things leans into 80s horror and interdimensional monsters, Paper Girls tackles high-concept science fiction and time paradoxes. However, both share the same essence in the feeling of being a kid against the world, where the bond between friends is the only shield against the apocalypse.
Paper Girls’ TV Show Adaptation Fell Short Of Its Potential
Amazon’s Paper Girls Doesn’t Live Up To The Graphic Novel
Paper Girls is a technicolor explosion of high-concept sci-fi, but Amazon’s TV adaptation struggles to capture the same ambition on a streaming budget. Brian K. Vaughan’s graphic novel is famous for its no-holds-barred approach to sci-fi, featuring giant tardigrades and towering mechs. The Amazon series feels visually constrained, as it lacks the surreal, neon-soaked energy of the panels. Without the necessary financial backing, Amazon’s Paper Girls plays it too safe, without the awe-inspiring scale that makes the comic a masterpiece of the genre.
Beyond the visual hurdles, Amazon’s adaptation suffers from a rushed plot that doesn’t allow the story to develop naturally. In the graphic novel, the tension between the girls and their adult selves, as well as the mysterious Old-Timers, is a slow-burn drama despite all the surrounding action. The show hurries through pivotal plot points, sacrificing character-building for a faster pace. A truly successful adaptation requires patience to allow the audience to grow with the characters rather than sprinting toward the next temporal anomaly.
The most tragic aspect of Paper Girls‘ adaptation is that it absolutely nails the casting of the four leads. Each of the titular paper girls perfectly embodies the spirit and chemistry of the original squad. Despite the child actors’ undeniable talent, the production simply doesn’t come together to support them. Just as the show was beginning to find its footing, Amazon canceled the series far too soon.
Paper Girls’ Adaptation & Stranger Things Suffer Opposite Problems
Paper Girls Needs Streaming Prestige While Stranger Things Lacks Source Material
Paper Girls is practically custom-made for streaming. The graphic novel boasts the narrative structure of a perfectly paced television season. To truly do justice to Brian K. Vaughan’s vision, a Paper Girls adaptation requires the kind of blank-check support typically reserved for tentpole franchises. It demands a high production budget for its surreal VFX, top-tier marketing to establish a place in pop culture, and elite talent behind and in front of the camera.
Stranger Things lies at the opposite end of the spectrum. Without the grounding influence of completed source material, it grew too massive. By Season 5, it becomes a non-stop spectacle of high-octane action and CGI set-pieces that sacrifices small-town mystery charm that made its first season a phenomenon. Because its creators lacked a defined roadmap, its endgame felt bloated and directionless compared to its tight beginnings.
The irony is that both sci-fi mysteries possess exactly what each other needs to be perfect. Paper Girls, if granted marketing machine and financial backing enjoyed by Stranger Things, would have become a global cultural pillar. Conversely, Stranger Things, would have benefited immensely from smaller scope and clear ending found in Paper Girls. While one struggled to breathe, other suffocated under weight of its own success.
Paper Girls Has Everything It Needs To Surpass Stranger Things
Paper Girls Could Outdo Stranger Things On The Small Screen
Paper Girls is based on finished thirty issue graphic novel with definitive beginning middle end. This existing roadmap prevents aimless expansion affecting later seasons of other series like it. A properly paced adaptation can maintain relentless high-stakes momentum ensuring every mystery answered every character arc earned avoiding messy action-heavy pitfalls directionless finale.
Paper Girls offers deconstruction of nostalgia using this era springboard explore existential dread meeting one’s future self while offering varied library characters creatures right off bat interactions between child characters adult counterparts add unique dynamic rarely seen type series second adaptation attempt could truly make it next big thing.
