April 25, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team
Leave it up to the five time Grammy winning son of music icon, Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley to create a comic book hero centered around the controversial subject of marijuana.
The 48-page hardcover edition of “Marijuanaman,” (produced by Image Comics) made its debut on what some would consider a religious holiday, 4/20. Though the illustrations come from veteran comic artist Jim Mahfood (illustrator of the “40 oz Comics and “Kick Drum Comix”) and the script was developed by Joe Casey (“Godland” and “Butcher Baker”), Marijuanaman himself came from the mind of Ziggy, who emphasizes that the comic is not what most people will initially stereotype it as.
“It relates to the reality of why the plant is being criminalized and why it’s not being used in all of its facets,” says Marley.
The story opens up to an extraterrestrial being whose home planet is faced with a dwindling supply of THC. Assigned with the ever so important mission of zipping through the galaxy in search of more THC rations, Marijuanaman, along with his squad of herbal freedom fighters, conveniently finds himself crash-landing his bong-shaped spaceship on planet Earth. After stumbling upon the criminalization of marijuana crisis our planet has been plagued with, the masked hero takes it upon himself to prevent the destruction of the psychotropic substance by the evil corporation, Pharma-Con (and it’s seeming endless supply of henchmen), one of whom is a robo-biker assassin named Cash Money.
When the project first reared its glassy-eyed head at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, the comic was represented with a single poster adorned with a simple, flat cartoonish aesthetic that was, shall I say, less than ‘high’ quality. Since then, the comic has been beefed up with sharper illustrations and a meatier script that Marley, Mahfood, and Casey agreed was worthy of an over-sized, deluxe hardcover graphic novel.
Noting the need to put at ease the minds of skeptical comic fans, while also drawing from the musical legacy of the Marley name, Marijuanaman has woven a complex tapestry of musical references and deep plot lines that have been said should impress both comic geeks and Bob Marley aficionados.
It’s fair to say that the Marijuanaman comic book concept really comes as no surprise, especially when one considers who defined the idea. With that said, the comic should actually be a good read with considerable depth beyond the weed. It’ll probably be one of those books that you need to read a few times over to truly take in.
A native of Montana, Charlie is a proud graduate of Washington State University. When he wasn't enjoying his independence from parental guidance, Charlie studied advertising, with a fancy toward social media. If he's not writing, Charlie's gaming online or studying the fine art of karaoke at popular dojos like Ozzies and the Butler.
