Comics: Stranger Things prequel drops trailer, Batman and Catwoman get joint series, more

Today’s comic news includes longtime favorites and relative newcomers that traffic entirely in nostalgia. Stranger Things, Batman, and the history of the X-Men — what’s not to like?

First up, the strange goings-on in Hawkins, Indiana, get somewhat illuminated thanks to a trailer for the Netflix show’s prequel comic. Stranger Things’ Dark Horse miniseries, Stranger Things: Six, is investing a lot of narrative in the experiments undertaken by Dr. Martin Brenner and his colleagues ... and the poor kids they’re testing on. Writer Jody Houser and artist Edgar Salazar’s series has already introduced the precognitive Francine (known as Six, a la Eleven). But what of the other numbers?

Fans met Eight in the show’s second season, and it looks like they might meet more in the comic, since the trailer teases its laboratory setting.

Take a look:

Houser has already penned a comic about Will’s time in the Upside Down, so she’s well versed in bringing the Netflix show’s world to the medium. But what about bringing this medium to the world of Stranger Things?

Stranger Things: Six #1 will be available on May 29.

Next, Batman and Catwoman are teaming up for a full series led by two of DC’s mainstays. Tom King (the writer behind the super-duo’s high-profile wedding issue) and artist Clay Mann landed a 12-issue series called Batman/Catwoman — bringing lots of adventures to the pairing come 2020.

And we've got some preview art:

According to a release, the series will ship alongside DC’s main Batman book on a monthly schedule starting in January of next year. “We’re making changes to our comic book publishing line to set DC up for continued success,” said DC editor-in-chief Bob Harras. “We’re starting with the bestselling Batman comic after City of Bane wraps up in December. City of Bane is an incredible story and an integral part of our overall ‘Year of the Villain’ campaign, and a new Tom King and Clay Mann Bat/Cat series in 2020 fills the gap once Batman begins to ship monthly.”

The Bane series Harras refers to is one beginning on July 17 with Batman #75, in which Bane has taken over Gotham, and Batman — three years having passed since he was broken and defeated by the villain — is gone. After the series runs its course, King is hopping off the main Batman line.

“Batman and Catwoman is a chance to do what Morrison and Quietly did in Batman and Robin: launch an ambitious, accessible, beautiful, thrilling new series that concludes years of stories and defines what Batman is, can, and will be,” said King. “This will be a comic about what the best Batman comics have always been about, how our greatest hero turns fear into bravery, pain into hope, trauma into love.”

Finally, Marvel has been digging into its archives to provide comic fans with a few documentary videos about the history of the company's infamous mutants. The first episode of The History of the X-Men, covering the heroes' seminal moments, went up a week ago. The second, about the X-Men in the '90s, you can find below:

Focusing on Chris Claremont and Jim Lee's X-Men #1, a legendary book by a few legendary creators, the doc digs into why the event issue was such a bestseller — and why it helped set a gold standard for the future of comics that wanted to amp up the production value.