MARIJUANAMAN
GRADE: C+
STORY BY: Joe Casey
ART BY: Jim Mahfood
COVER BY: Jim Mahfood
PUBLISHER: Image

SYNOPSIS:
Marijuanaman is a strange visitor from another world who uses the powers he is granted through marijuana smoke to defend the peaceful denizens of Exodus from the evil corporation called Pharma-Con in this comic written by Joe Casey (Gødland) with art by Jim Mahfood (Grrrl Scouts) and based on a title character that was created by Ziggy Marley (son of Bob).

THE GOOD

This book came out on April 20, 2011 (420) but I didn’t get my hands on a copy until last year’s New York Comic-Con. The first thing I realized when finished reading Marijuanaman #1 was how appealing the overall goofiness of the book was. You can tell that everyone involved had a good time creating this and it wouldn’t shock em to know that they were all lit up during the process. Some of the little touches were fun like Marijuanaman coming to Earth in a bong shaped rocket ship; Marijuanaman getting his powers from weed smoke just like Popeye got his strength from eating spinach; and I made a little game out of finding every instance where a Bob Marley song was used as part of a character’s dialog.

THE BAD

There were some instances where Mahfood’s art got a little too trippy and muddled to the point that it was hard to distinguish just what was going on in the scenes.

THE UGLY

The preachiness was a bit too heavy-handed for my taste (hemp being a miracle plant and the villains of the piece being Mr. White and Cash Money…not subtle at all). I am all for marijuana and hemp being used by everyone and their mom and I have respect for the Rastafarian faith as well as those who practice it but bludgeoning readers over the head with the main message of this book is not a good way to proselytize. Reading this book was like reading a less judgmental version of The Watchtower comics. Everyone may not have died and gone to hell at the end Marijuanaman like what happens at the end of every Watchtower story but the delivery was a bit too similar to be fully enjoyable.

FINAL VERDICT

If you are a High Times subscriber and follow Phish around on their concert tours then you are likely to consider this book to be on par with Watchmen but if you are not going to partake of a bit of the Mary Jane before reading this then you’ll likely appreciate the overall wacky factor of the story and Mahfood’s quirky art but that’s about it.