Back to the Future: Commemorating 80s Sci-Fi Art Thru Retro Reads

It's 2018, and pretty much everyone's got a Netflix account in this day and age. And if you're the cheapskate that doesn't want to shell out the ten bucks a month for an account, you've certainly managed to snag someone's login. I've been harvesting the passwords of my exes parents for at least 5 seasons of Game of Thrones....shhhh. Netflix has certainly been shaking up the scene in the entertainment industry these past few years. They're producing some of the best original content in entertainment history, sweeping up Golden Globe's left & right; leaving network television coughing in the dust.

Every day, more and more millennials turn their backs to traditional telly, dropping cable like a bad habit. Generation Z (those born post-2000) were born into a world of screens; a river of digital content constantly streaming at their finger tips. This is a demographic demolition, and let's face it, cable just can't fight the future. It's not NBC & chill. There's a new girl in town, and her name is Netflix.

The tech-giant is adding to their massive Rolodex of original series every day, with plans to spend one billion dollars on original content in 2018. But through this medley of binge-worthy content, there emerges one front-runner. One fan favorite reigns supreme, and that show is Stranger Things.

via punchdrunkcritics.com

Stranger Things is an American science fiction-horror series created, written, directed and produced by The Duffer Brothers. Set in the 1980s, in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the drama investigates the disappearance of a young boy

who goes missing amidst a peculiar chain of supernatural occurrences. As the town searches for answers, they begin to unravel a string of secrets involving dark government experiments, supernatural forces, psychokinetic powers, and a very strange little girl.

Stranger Things Promotional Art

The show is critically acclaimed for the incredible homage it pays 80s pop-culture and science fiction, creating an aesthetically rich atmosphere of retrofuturism. Retrofuturism is a trend in the creative arts depicting the future as portrayed in an earlier era. If futurism is an art-movement anticipating what will come, retro-futurism is the reminiscence of that anticipation.

The future as seen from the past, and the past as seen from the future. And that's pretty cool, right? That's pretty cool that a modern day web series can spark the interest of millions of young adults; breathing fresh air into an entire artistic genre.

With this revitalizing retrojection, we see a spur in interest around 1980s science-fiction books - both in their cover art and their content. Young readers, writers and artists have newfound enthusiasm and inspiration in these Sci-Fi classics. Books! How full circle is that? A modern-day streaming service that kicked cable to the curb is popularizing books amongst teens! Could you imagine a stranger thing?

In honor of of our dearly beloved Stranger Things, let's take a look at some exemplary pieces of 70s & 80s sci-fi cover art. Each of these featured books along with 400+ other science-fiction titles will be available in our February 20th Premier Auction and our March 21st Books & Works on Paper sale .