phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES AUG 4TH–AUG 10TH, 2022 State Licensed Dispensaries & Doctor Certifications | CANNABIS | Giggle from p 37 happenstance, bumped into a fellow weed and comic book enthusiast. “I was able to experience the Kevin Smith podcast, Fat Man Beyond,” Hall said. “He (Smith) is a big weed advocate and mentioned that after day one at Comic-Con, he was ready to smoke all the weed!” Hall then snapped a selfie with Smith, the creator of the Bluntman and Chronic comic book, which cameoed in the 1997 Chasing Amy romantic comedy-drama movie. “This was also on my bucket list to meet with Kevin Smith.” When asked if Hall smoked out with the Jay and Silent Bob originator, Hall responded, “No, because of COVID still lingering around, and Comic-Con’s strict mask policy, I didn’t smoke with anyone. But I smoked and stayed high the whole time I was out there.” After Hall and Mega Ran wrapped up their interviews about their wrestling podcast, the tag-team rap artists proceeded to geek out with the cosplayers, including some folks dressed as Bluntman and Chronic and Jay and Silent Bob. Afterward, Hall smoked more herb and then sought some comic books to bring back home to the Valley. New Times compiled a list of Hall’s eight favorite comic book titles for stoners. While some contain weed content, others are good reads for those who are on a good trip. Bluntman and Chronic was a trade paperback with three comic book stories released in 2001 by Oni Press. In one story, Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob characters win the lottery and become superheroes, donning the monikers Bluntman and Chronic. Both names derived from how a joint and weed were coined in the 1990s. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers was an underground comic book released in the early 1970s about three stoner characters — Fat Freddy, Phineas, and Freewheelin’ Franklin — created by Gilbert Shelton. The Boondocks was a comic strip featured in The Source hip-hop magazine in the 2000s. It’s about a fictional Black family, the Freemans, who moved into a predomi- nantly white neighborhood. The comic strip became an animated series for the Adult Swim channel, Cartoon Network’s nighttime programming slots. South Park was a circa-1997 Comedy Central adult-natured cartoon that tackled socially relevant issues and showcased crazy hilarious dialogue. One of the aired episodes Gilbert Shelton/1972 The Rip Off Press Left to right: Freewheelin’ Franklin, Fat Freddie, and Phineas, with Fat Freddie’s Cat (foreground). revolved around a medical marijuana dispensary. While there’s no official comic book that features the characters Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman, there is the South Park Guide to Life, a book packed with comic strips and lines from the TV show. Ren and Stimpy originally was a cartoon about the dog Ren Höek and Stimpy the cat, which aired on Nickelodeon. In 1992, Marvel put out a comic book titled The Ren & Stimpy Show #1, which came with a scratch-and-sniff air fouler that stank up then-weed smokers’ rooms pretty bad. Afro Samurai was a manga, a Japanese comic series, in a magazine about a warrior named Afro Samurai who seeks his father’s killer. Hall loved the storyline and art so much that he made a rap album, Number One HeadBand, dedicated to the manga. Batman comic books have some of Hall’s favorite storylines, particularly those that feature the Poison Ivy antagonist. Poison Ivy is a biochemist and botanist with a toxic touch like the plant that is her eponym. She can command plants and weeds to do her dirty deeds against Batman and Robin and the citizens of Gotham City. In a recent “Leaves of Grass” storyline, Poison Ivy connected with Floronic Man, a bad guy in the DC Comics world, to get the inhabitants of Gotham City high. SpongeBob Comics is a comic book series based on the SpongeBob SquarePants animated TV show. Bongo Comics published and distributed the comic book. Hall noted, “You gotta be high to come up with and enjoy that.” 39
