Captain Cannabis #1

Comedy, action, and copious amounts of weed, if that’s your thing, then this comic is for you! Captain Cannabis No. 1 40th Anniversary edition is a 16-page black and white comic that is jammed with action and adventure.

Originally produced in 1977 from Verne Andru, Captain Cannabis tells the story of Halburt “HAL” Lighter, who upon discovery and toking a special green glowing joint takes on the powers of Captain Cannabis!

When we first meet Hal he’s awaiting the arrival of his sweetheart, Marion. When she doesn’t show, Hal goes to his apartment where he runs into trouble and witnesses Marion getting abducted.  Shaken and confused Hal, (who even his creator admits isn’t the type of cat you’d expect anything special from) tries to figure out how to save her, but of course, first, he must smoke.

The dialogue doesn’t fall into any ‘stoner’ comedy traps.  Again, taking into consideration that this comic book was originally published in 1977 the dialogue still tracks and this reviewer didn’t have to look up any  “Me Decade” slang. The villains are super serious and very demanding, even though Captain Cannabis’s thoughts and dialogue are written for laughs. In some areas, the story may seem a little fast-paced especially in areas where dialogue explains unseen actions but it’s done sparingly and not at all a crutch.

The art has been “revamped” and polished from its original 1977 release, having been restored from a Xerox copy of the book, creator Verne Andru’s original black and white line artwork was subjected to continuity story passes, finishing it off with airbrushing. Each character is well designed and thought out. Hal reminds me of a 70s era Stan Lee but that could just be me. Readers should have no problem picking up one which character is which. Backgrounds and things around the characters are rendered well with special attention paid to buildings and small details that, to many is a clear display of the care and love put into crafting this book. 

 

Printed in black and white but, the gray tones are used well and avoids descent into a choppy and muddy mess that is always a risk with B&W comics. After seeing the fully colored Captain Cannabis standing triumphantly on the cover to the first issue, you’d be forgiven for wanting a version with fully colored interiors, perhaps something even colored in the style of 1977 comics. We can all dream. I per
The printed version we received of Captain Cannabis doesn’t skimp on the quality. Pristine white paper, slick gloss cover are the earmarks of a professional print job and even a back-up story called Angel (which is beyond the scope of this review) is included.

You can snag yourself a copy of Captain Cannabis at http://Okee.com or  Amazon.47