Entering adulthood is a time of flux that can be fraught with fear. One minute, we aren’t expected to know anything about anything; the next, we’re supposed to be an adult with all the clarity of purpose and responsibility that role suggests. A day, a second, literally separates the types of expectations thrust upon us.
What happens when you add the gift and/or burden on top of those expectations? That’s what co-creators and writers Seth Green and Hugh Sterbakov and artist Leonard Kirk explore in their uproarious, poignant, clever-as-Hell comic Top Cow series Freshmen. In Freshmen, we get to know a crew of socially backward teens as they attempt to navigate the quagmire quad that is college life.Those students’ lives are made that much more interesting when an accident gives them superpowers that reflect their inner thoughts at the time.
After 20 years since the original run, Green and Sterbakov recently launched a Kickstarter through Top Cow Productions and Rocketship Entertainment to bring the Freshmen: 20th Anniversary Hardcover Edition to life! Included in the collection is an all-new story that sees the cast reconvene at a 20-year reunion. More Freshmen? Sweet campaign swag? Sign us up, y’all!
I had the opportunity to interview Hugh Sterbakov and Seth Green recently about the idea behind Freshmen, the Kickstarter itself, revisiting that world for the first time in two decades, and how time has affected how they tackle the newest Freshmen story.
Freshmen is a very special book. It’s filled with high hilarity and dynamic, novel action, sure. However, what really makes the comic sing is that it speaks to the awkwardness and uncertainty that many of us feel on the precipice of childhood and adulthood. What makes it endure is that those feelings are universal and that grappling with them is an ongoing process. We come to Freshmen for the fun; we stay because we’re Freshmen.
FreakSugar: Before we get into the comic and the Kickstarter itself, what is the origin of your partnership? How did you two come together to create Freshmen?
Seth Green: Hugh and I have known each other since we were little kids. We met in first grade. And we have come together several times over the years to create all kinds of things, one of the most exciting of which is Freshmen.
Hugh Sterbakov: We’ve been creating stories together since we were on the playground in first grade, zooming our action figures around. And we’re always talking stories, whether it’s in collaboration, our projects that aren’t together, or even arguing over movies we’ve seen.
FS: Following up on that, what can you tell us about the genesis of Freshmen? How did the idea of the comic arise and eventually head to print?
HS: We’ve talked about this a lot, and the story never gets less mundane. We were in my garage in the middle of a weekday afternoon, playing ping pong, and I had a bunch of bananas that weren’t ripe yet. For whatever reason, at that moment I really wanted to eat one, and I said I wish I had a mutant power to ripen bananas. From there, we started discussing the most ridiculous mutant powers one could have, in a world where most mutants are known for telepathy or telekinesis.
SG: But then it became about, “How would these strange abilities affect you?” Back then, Hugh was right out of college and had just moved to Los Angeles, and that’s a huge culture shock. It’s trying to fit into a larger world, which is difficult for anyone. So we were tapped into that sensation, and found a great emotional story at the heart of this comedic alienation.
FS: For folks unfamiliar with Freshmen, what can you tell us about the conceit of the comic?
SG: It’s Revenge of the Nerds meets X-Men. A bunch of college Freshmen—all away from home for the first time, trying to discover and accept who they really are—are given these absurd powers, and it’s about how they individually go about reacting to them.
HS: Each issue is narrated by a different character, so we could really dive deep into their little parts in this larger story. We wanted to make sure to see where everyone was really coming from when conflict arose, and develop their personalities. Hopefully everybody sees a character who represents themselves within this group.
FS: The comic is filled with such a rich cast. What can you tell new readers about the characters they will meet?
SG: We wanted this to feel like people that you knew. Each one of these characters represents a different kind of kid going through similar but very different shapes of issues.
We’ve got a rich girl who’s the legacy of a very important and powerful man, who’s spent a lot of her time growing up in his shadow and trying to carve her own path. We’ve got an alienated boy who’s never really had any friends because he’s so fearlessly loved all the things that are not cool to love.
We’ve got an Amish character who’s grown up exclusively in very isolated and unique circumstances, experiencing the outside world for the first time. An exchange student who thinks he knows everything about the world, learning for the first time that the world is bigger than his own backyard. We have a young woman who has wrapped up all of her fears and insecurity into outward joy so that no one can see her crying on the inside.
We really feel like all of these characters are people that readers will fall in love with, people they’ll be excited to meet and really excited to get to know.
FS: I know you two have worked on so many of your own projects together, and each has to hold a different place in your memories. What made working on Freshmen special for you?
SG: There’s so many things about this that are special to me personally. First of all, Hugh and I came up with these characters not for anybody but for ourselves, because we wanted to hear these stories. We wanted to tell these stories.
It’s special because we actually got it published and had really talented artists draw it and bring these characters to life. I’ve seen a lot of things through to fruition, but this is also personal. It makes it very special.
HS: Working in the entertainment industry, even for successful people, is mostly working in the dark—in development. It’s not all that often you get to share your passion projects with the world, and get feedback on how they connect to it. We had one fan who cosplayed as Paula for Halloween, and it meant the world to us, because that’s an archetype in particular that’s generally overlooked in the media.
FS: With a concept like this, I’m sure you’ve thought about Freshmen quite a bit over the years. However, 20 years later, what’s it been like to delve back into the thick of the series?
HS: When Top Cow’s Matt Hawkins first brought up the opportunity, I had to admit I was intimidated. We’d ended the series on a huge cliffhanger, which was too complex to resolve in a single issue. But more importantly, so much had happened in my life—I had just gotten married when we did this series, and now I have a kid who will be a freshman in college next year. I felt like I had different things to say, and the world had changed around our kids to such a degree that it’s almost unrecognizable. But then I had an idea.
SG: Hugh pitched the idea of a present-day reunion, and it made perfect sense. He said, “If we never get to do more of this, I want people to know that the kids had a happy ending.” It immediately felt right, and we got to interweave it with an untold tale that definitely reminds us of what we loved about the series in the first place.
FS: On to the Kickstarter itself, what can you tell us about the campaign?
SG: We’re combining all of the Freshmen material ever printed—including, for the first time, a 1.5 issue of the second series that we created exclusively for the Freshmen website. There’s a digital version and a few versions of the printed hardback, and that includes the reunion story.
HS: And then we have add-ons, including individual copies of the reunion special in traditional comic format. And there are signed editions. We’ve really got versions for everyone.
FS: With 20 years separating now and the original series, did that passage of time impact how you revisited these characters for the reunion story?
HS: For sure. When I wrote the original series, I was only a few years out of college. Now, I have a kid who is one year away from being a freshman herself. It’s crazy. Seth and I felt like we’d learned so much since then, and had so much more to say. But we also didn’t want to lose touch with what we–and the fans–loved about the original series. So I had the idea to flash back and forth from their 20th reunion–set in the present day–and an untold adventure from their past. It worked out great. I think fans of the original series are going to love this new story.
FS: What’s been your favorite part of revisiting the characters? Has how you look at them changed? (Not negative change. I ask because I’m reflecting on the fact I graduated college 24 years ago!)
HS: I graduated college 31 years ago. I cannot for the life of me understand where this time went. My favorite part was to imagine how their lives had gone, and where they’d be today. But I didn’t want to throw in any major disruptions, like someone dying off-screen. It had to be in-character, and not TOO far removed from where we left them, but also represent a lot of growth, and promise the fans that their stories ended well. It was a bit sad to skip over so much story we’d still love to tell, and what could’ve been if the comic had run for the past 20 years, but we chose to look on the bright side.
FS: Do you feel you have more Freshmen tales to tell?
HS: Without question. We left the series on a massive cliffhanger that was too complex to resolve in this one reunion issue. So I’d love to go back and show how that played out. And there are certainly endless other stories to conjure, because this world is so rich. These kids just feel so hard–they’re vulnerable and brave, and they lend themselves to comedy, drama, romance and action so well. I’ve got a pretty cool idea for a third series, so if the fans turn out for this Kickstarter and show us that there’s demand, we’d be more than happy to deliver.
FS: What are you reading right now?
SG: Mostly books more than comics, although there’s a comic adaptation of Dungeon Crawl that I’ve been reading.
HS: I’m reading Fire & Blood, the book that House of the Dragon is based on. And catching up on Absolute Batman, because that seems like the can’t-miss comic of this era.
FS: With this Kickstarter, does this mean we might get more Freshmen in the future?
SG: We’d love to. There are tons of untold tales of these kids, including resolving that cliffhanger.
HS: It’s just up to the fans to jump into this Kickstarter and demand it!
FS: If you had a final pitch for the comic and the Kickstarter, what would it be?
SG: Just that we think you’ll love these kids as much as we do.
HS: For sure. This package is the perfect place to jump on, because it literally has everything. This may not be your traditional superhero story, but I promise that if you give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.
As of press time, the Kickstarter for the Freshmen: 20th Anniversary Hardcover Edition is already fully funded, with one stretch goal unlocked, another nearly unlocked, and 22 days left in the campaign. If you’re looking for superpowered young adults grappling with heroics and who they are, this is your jam!