- Christopher Smith, Editor-in-Chief
Captain Cannabis
A good superhero story begins with a legend. This legend of Captain Cannabis is that the copyright certificate is dated 4/20/1977, making it "the first link between superheroes, comics and the 420 world."
Captain Cannabis was created Canadian artist named Verne Andru. Verne hails from Winnipeg, which is windy as Wyoming but way colder, and if you don’t love hockey there’s little to do there but doodle.
At the time, Verne the Doodler didn’t like superheroes that “glorified violence” but in the headshops he found his people: "… the masters: Robert Crumb (Zap Comix) and Gilbert Shelton (The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers)."
In 1972 the Canadian Government did something alarmingly cool - - that was under Mr. Handsome’s dad Pierre Trudeau, who was also the world’s most dapper leader“ - - the Canadian Senate recommended the decriminalization of cannabis.”
Three years later, Verne combined the creativity of underground cannabis with the fantasy of legalized cannabis and published the first issue of Captain Cannabis.
"Everyone instantly loved him and his future seemed assured," says Verne
THE DEEP DIVE
But dark forces of evil were assembling to take over Verne’s universe and try to kill Captain Cannabis. First came Tricky Dick Nixon who declared the War on Drugs and was so miffed at the insolence of Canada’s legalization gambit that he threatened to close their border. Then came Ronald Reagan – headshops were closed and High Times was banned, and poor Verne was put surveillance by his own government (a comic book created was considered a danger to society – WTF?) … so there’s probably hundreds of hours of doodling and maybe diddling which is probably why Verne says about the failure to follow through with decriminalization:
"The Canadian government did what it does best: break the promises made to its citizens..."
Which means legalizing cannabis for medicinal use didn’t happen till 2001 and adult use in 2018. But Verne’s still standing and still cranking out good work about our newest/oldest superhero.
THE LOOP BACK
What’s next for Captain Cannabis?
Well, there’s a website: http://www.captaincannabis.com with Captain Cannabis Merch and the third Captain Cannabis comic:
"The Captain Cannabis story is about an intergalactic weed strain that transforms a loveable bum into a superhero who saves Earth. To achieve this mission, the Captain must prevent people from mistreating each other and being jerks."
"Captain Cannabis is the first superhero dedicated to peace, love and understanding. He is the superhero that we all have inside of us."
So only one question remains: When Rico Lamitte is cast in the Captain Cannabis movie, can we have your autograph?