High school is full of cliques and Savannah High is no different in Lee Loughridge and Marz Jr.’s The Adequates.
The only difference in Loughridge and Marz Jr.’s new Comixology Originals series is that one particular clique (known as the Adequates) acquire superpowers during a haunted house field trip.
We spoke to Loughridge and Marz Jr. all about their new series The Adequates and why field trips never go as planned in this exclusive interview.
What is your origin story for The Adequates?
Lee Loughridge: Read issue one…..haha. A group of high school misfits acquire half-baked powers while on a field trip to the tomb of the Worlds Fallen Superheroes.
Was it difficult to blend the comedic aspects of the series with the supernatural ones?
Loughridge: No, because the supernatural powers they possess are comedic on their face. I mean c’mon, a stuttering kid that can see 15 seconds into the future…..it writes itself.
Marz Jr: I agree, also comedy and horror have similarities with the suspense and timing. Setting up the joke of delivering the punchline, setting up the tension and delivering the scare.
How did you decide to categorize and use your stereotypical high school cliques in the story? Which group is your crowd?
Loughridge: I had all of these cliques in my high school, I hated most of them. I sort of floated between the punk/metal kids and the nerds.
Marz Jr: We set the story in the 90s, so we had to throw the Goths in there, too!
How come field trips always end badly in comic books?
Loughridge: Have you ever been on a field trip that didn’t? The last field trip I went on I got drunk on Sambuca, threw up on my girlfriend, and was suspended from school. We left that one out of this story.
How would you both describe your creative process in creating an issue of The Adequates?
Loughridge: We start with exchanging outline ideas until we finally nail it down. Then Marz is off and running on thumbnails. We take a look at those and make any changes before he moves to layouts. At the layout stage we dial in the dialogue because Marz likes to letter as he finishes. Marz feeds me inks and I lay the color down. Then the pages go back to Marz for any color polish and last dialoguing we think the issue may need. Then back to me for all the formatting etc…Will Dennis, our editor, is overseeing all of this and lending his expertise to all stages.
Thoughts on Comixology as a platform to read comics and experiment?
Loughridge: I love it, it gets our book out to so many more people than a print comic would. It’s much easier to get a non comic reader to download our work than to have them get off their butts and go down to a comic shop.
Marz Jr: The creative freedom has been great! They’re really letting us do our own thing!
Upcoming projects?
Loughridge: Yeah…The Adequates!
The Adequates #1 is currently available on Comixology.
