Here’s some Top Cow comic book goodness to tie you over until the next Pilot Season review. 
This, my friends, is good stuff.
Freshman: Summer Vacation Special #1
Writer: Hugh Sterbakov
Artist: Sheldon Mitchell
Inkers: Rick Basaldua and Don Ho
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Design: Chaz Riggs
Editor: Joshua Cozine
Cover: Rodolfo Migliari
Summary: “The critically acclaimed hit is back with an all-new adventure! There’s no rest for the weary as the kids’ summer vacation takes a bizarre twist when someone from their past rises from the dead to wreak havoc on Freese College. An all-out, action-packed brawl filled with drama and laughs, told through the sky-high eyes of the Intoxicator!
Co-created by “Robot Chicken” maestro Seth Green and written by the self-proclaimed 11th fattest man on Earth, Hugh Sterbakov, FRESHMEN is an uproarious combination of superpowers and college comedy, featuring art from Top Cow’s latest find, Sheldon Mitchell. Don’t miss out on this deluxe one-shot stuffed full of Ax-Cell-Erated extras and bonus content!”
Holy crap, this comic rocks! I haven’t read something this refreshing, light-hearted, and fun that’s also successful in a while.
Okay, first of all, I’ve never read an issue from this title before—but it doesn’t matter. You can grasp enough from the dialogue and narration to figure things out on you own, and what you’re not certain of when it comes to the characters—the plot is explained pretty well without slowing things down—just makes you more interested in this comic all together.
And it helps that the art is amazing. Like most comics, there are various covers for this issue—but I chose to display the one on the left because it most accurately depicts the artwork inside. It’s awesome! Sheldon Mitchell did a phenomenal job—and the inking is great, too, of course. It all adds up.
This comic is hilarious. It’s kind of like the X-men in that each character has a unique power and that they’re, well, students, so they all know each other. But it takes that concept and totally flips it upside-down. Elwood, the narrator of this comic, was drunk at the time a machine called the Ax-Cell-Erator was activated, granting him an, erm, ability that puts him in what I guess is a permanent state of intoxication. Heh, but it does have its advantages—at one point in the comic, he spews gas from his mouth, getting everyone in the area drunk. Yeah, it sounds utterly ridiculous—and it is. But it’s hilarious, and it’s great. I’m not exactly sure how manages to work, but maybe it has something to do with the overall tone: it’s just fun, so it’s not like it’s cheesy. Cheesy is what happens when something pretends to be serious and it just comes out wrong. But this comic doesn’t take itself seriously. So you just grab on and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Funny enough, Elwood (aka the Intoxicator) actually gives some interesting insight into what’s going on and the characters themselves—in a completely drunken manner, of course. 
I’m definitely interested in this series now; this issue has a TON. So it’s worth the five buck price. Besides the comic, there’s a bunch of cool stuff in the back—satisfying fanboy tastes and serving as some nice eye candy. I highly recommend this series. Freshman is, well, fresh.
You can check out a preview of the comic over at the Top Cow Blog. And while you’re at it, take a look at the main page. TC recently redesigned their site—and it looks awesome. Kudos to Top Cow!
