Burn the Orphanage: Born to Lose #1 Cover
Like many of us, Sina Grace and Daniel Freedman grew up on side-scrolling brawlers like Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, and Final Fight. In the era of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, these games were king. With their new Image Comics series, Burn the Orphanage, Grace and Freedman aim to recapture the magic of the 16-bit era with an action-packed romp through the streets of the world they've created.
The series is a bit a change of pace for both creators; Grace is the artist behind Image's Li'l Depressed Boy and the mind behind the great graphic novel Not My Bag (more about that here), while Freedman's first Image book was the vampire action-horror series Undying Love.
Burn the Orphanage: Born to Lose #1 hits on August 7th and can be pre-ordered from your local comic book store now. To get the skinny on the project, I had a chat with its creators.
IGN Comics: What’s your best one-sentence pitch for this series?
Sina Grace: Burn the Orphanage is a revenge story about a guy named Rock who -- with his friends, Bear and Lex -- fights his way through the mean streets to find out who destroyed his childhood home.
IGN: This is a totally different kind of book for you. What led to the change?
Grace: I’ve always had a fun/action side in me. My first comic was actually about a bunch of roller-derby gals fighting cannibals. Li’l Depressed Boy and Not My Bag are both fun projects to work on, and they definitely tap into the more emotional side of me... but there was still the Joe Mad/Final Fantasy nerd that loves drawing big brutes, hot dames, and fun fight scenes. I consider this series as sort of the pallet cleanser to all of my more heavy-handed comics!
IGN: You’ve mentioned that this is a story inspired by 16-bit fighters. What kind of sensibilities are you borrowing from that genre for this book?
Grace: We aimed to honor the aesthetic of like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and Street Fighter. There’s going to be a lot of ‘90s style and fashion, so definitely get excited for acid-washed everything. I’m a big fan of those classic fight settings, and we worked hard to jam every single type in this first book.
Daniel Freedman: Yeah. Both of us grew up SNES and Sega Genesis. I had a Nintendo, but really Super Nintendo and Genesis were my two systems of choice (GameCube and Dreamcast were close runners up, nothing beat 4 player Super Smash Bros. on slow-mo or mastering Soul Caliber).
I’ve spent more hours side scrolling and brawling then I care to admit. And I feel like those games and my experience playing them has really shaped my story sensibilities and taste. Even Undying Love has a classic video game structure. Start at the bottom and fight your way to the top.
IGN: Any particular favorite 16-bit fighters from back in the day?
Grace: I always loved Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, and my favorite girl was Chun-Li (sorry Cammy).
Freedman: For me, it’s a long list, but top would have to be: Guile and Ryu from Street Fighter. Axel from Streets of Rage. The Belmonts from Castlevania. And I’ll take Cammy over Chun-Li any day. Bigger stronger legs…
IGN: How long is the mini-series, and are you looking to take it beyond this initial chapter?
Grace: The Born to Lose trilogy comprises of three single-issue chapters that follow Rock’s journey. They’ll all be over-sized and action-packed. Part one is very grounded and literal -- lots of hand-to-hand combat; bar fights, back alley hobos getting thrown around, et cetera. The second part gets a little zanier, and the third part is out of control crazy. Definitely consider your favorite SNES and Sega games when pondering where Born to Lose goes. We’ll release one every two or three months, and compile them in a book in time for Comic-Con next year.
IGN: Can you talk a little about your creative relationship and how you guys got involved in this project together?
Grace: Daniel and I had become friends after college... we’ve known each other since high school, but we weren’t BFFs back then. We really bonded over our love of the band Sleigh Bells, and would chant “Burn the Orphanage” when something dope was about to occur.
We would joke about making a comic called Burn the Orphanage... and that joke turned into me making doodles, Daniel coming up with characters, and both of us agreeing on story points. It’s the best kind of way to collaborate -- Daniel always knows how to steer things in the right path, and always tells me when I’m adding too much splatter.
Freedman: Agreed. I think the catalyst for our friendship and this book was the moment the shred guitar kicked in when we went to see Sleigh Bells together. The rest is history.
IGN: Daniel, how does working on Undying Love for Image compare with working on Burn the Orphanage – your first Image project compared to your second? Any lessons learned?
Freedman: The two projects could not be more different for me. While Tomm Coker and I took Undying Love very seriously (story-wise). Sina and I are having too much fun with this one. It’s a love letter to the games and movies of our youths. Like Sina said, it started out just us riffing on our childhoods and then he just started drawing. And I was like, “Wait, are we doing this?” And he was like, “YUP!!!”
As far as working with Image, they are still the only place to be making comics. With both Undying Love and Burn the Orphanage, we’ve had complete control over the books and you just don’t get that anywhere else. I couldn’t be more comfortable and happy.
IGN: Sina, any plans for a follow-up to Not My Bag?
Grace: There are plans indeed for a follow-up to Not My Bag, but I’m not quite ready to say what it is, and when it will come out.
IGN: Anything else you’d like to add?
Grace: I also have an Adventure Time back-up this month (issue #16), check it out!
Check out an early look at issue #1:
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. After Man of Steel comes out, his life will lose all sense of direction and purpose.
