In 1988 Chad, Steve and Drew are three friends and high school jocks living normal lives. One night Chad, convinced that the kid he bullies often is up to something suspicious, convinces his friends to follow the nerdy Alvin to an abandoned house. Finding Alvin inventing some odd technology Chad tries to destroy it which unleashes a gas that places the jocks into suspended animation while Alvin escapes, with the three only defrosting 31 years later. Finding themselves dumbfounded by the geek friendly and superhero obsessed world of the future where Alvin is now a billionaire.
This comic contains examples of:
- Abusive Parent: Chad's father would beat him even when he was just showing concern, until Chad finally hit him back at which point he started to beat him. Steve tracks him down when the three defrost in 2019, but all he has to say when he learns his son is alive is that the world was better when he was dead.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: As a teenager Alvin thinks he's the awkward Dogged Nice Guy and from an outside perspective some of his actions while odd can be seen as him trying to genuinely make friends and find a girlfriend. Except his thoughts shows he has an Entitled to Have You attitude who refuses to accept any responsibility for his actions, thought by 2019 he has seemingly grown out of this as he is willing to help his former bully. Except not really as he's still that same person in the 80s except now he has the money and the influence to get whatever he wants, and he only wants to use Chad, Steve and Drew to get people to but his technology for suspended animation even though he has no way of reviving them safely.
- Closet Gay: Steve was secretly gay though he couldn't really admit it to himself in the 80s, instead convincing himself that he was simply shy. The Time Skip at the end reveals he does eventually get a boyfriend.
- Closet Geek: It turns out that Drew was always a fan of comic books and couldn't hide his excitement when he learned there's now a black Spider-Man.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Chad's father was incredibly abusive to him until Chad finally hit him back and realised he was actually stronger than his father, at which point he started beating him up.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: The three protagonists are this but to different degrees. Out of the three Chad struggles the most with life in 2019, while Closet Geek Drew finds himself more at home in this era and Steve is able to admit that he is gay with help from his ex-girlfriend.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Surprisingly Chad purposely freezes himself and Alvin to stop the latter from selling a faulty product that could kill people and protect his friends, which wasn't part of their plan. Steve explains to his boyfriend that prior to this he thinks it was Chad's plan all along due to how he was struggling to accept the 21st century the way his friends were.
- Hidden Depths: Despite his many flaws, it's implied that Chad was accepting of Steve's sexuality and a flashback shows him being aware of why his friends like 2019, having no resentment over it and instead just admitting that he doesn't fit anymore.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Chad represents everything that was wrong with the 80s with his bullying and toxic attitude with him at one point mocking Drew for admitting he likes comics and punching Steve, but he turned out this way due to having an Abusive Parent and when it comes down to it he does care about his friends. He pulls a Heroic Sacrifice at the end to protect them and despite Alvin trying to manipulate Steve by suggesting Chad might hurt him if he found out Steve was gay, it's implied that he did find out as he explains that he understands that Steve and Drew like 2019 because they can be who they really are unlike in 1988 which means he was actually accepting of Steve.
- Psychopathic Man Child: In 2019 Alvin has business meetings online with VR headsets where he and the others look like superheroes/fantasy creatures and his mom works for him as an assistant. He also has no problem with arranging for a female scientist working for him to be threatened and attacked by incels just because she was investigating how he was faking his test results and also doesn't care that his technology will kill people since he has no way of reviving anyone safely.
- Shadow Archetype: It turns out that Alvin is this to Chad despite them having been on opposite ends on the social hierarchy in the 80s. Both are incredibly toxic people who like to bully anyone weaker than them while Alvin is shown to be a Trump supporter and a misogynist meaning that he still lives in the culture he grew up in. The difference is that Chad grew up with an Abusive Parent while Alvin is a manchild who forces his mom to work for him for seemingly no reason, and it's implied that unlike Alvin who tried to take advantage of Steve's insecurity with his sexuality Chad had no problem with it when he found out.
- Shout-Out:
- Drew was a fan of comics with Dragonflyman and Stinger.
- Jenny at one point calls Steve Marty McFly.
- The Resenter: Jenny is this when she reunites with her ex-boyfriend and his friends, hating that they get to live an exciting adventure of travelling to the future while she had to live a depressing life where she gave up her dreams only to end up looking after them as some sort of housekeeper. However this doesn't stop her from being a kind person who genuinely wants to help them.
- Token Black Friend: Drew seemed to be this to Steve and Chad.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Steve's ex-girlfriend Jenny has become this while he was frozen, having given up on her dreams of being a writer after several failed relationships and having to deal with many of the problems that happened since the 80s. However despite this she's still willing to take care of him and his friends.
