Maggie Cole’s Hawkins
Maggie Cole, an artist from Omaha, drew all of Stranger Things—every character you know, every new face. The full cast in her style, committed to paper, and it’s the kind of work that makes you linger when you see it.
I’m watching the show slowly, one episode per week, not rushing it. Stranger Things needs room to breathe—the dread builds better that way. And season two feels real to me, not borrowed nostalgia. These kids are moving through actual terror and regular teenage chaos at the same time, and it reminds me of wanting to be part of a group like that, back when I thought belonging would fix something.
There’s something about an artist taking these characters seriously, getting the details right. The way Bob holds himself. The texture of Eleven’s jacket. Between episodes, I find myself going back to Maggie’s drawings to sit with those faces again, to remember how the last one ended, to wait for the dread to build.