Posted by Oteil Burbridge on January 30, 2014 Weed superhero comic launches online.
What if nature had its own superheroes? What if they came in the form of marijuana-humanoid, telepathic metamorphic twins? Find out in the new ongoing comic book series, The Adventures of The Green Thumb & Purple Haze, launching digitally at 4:20pm on January 30, 2014. Exploring themes including family, history, science and spirituality, society at large and the government and media specifically, the weed superhero comic book is the brainchild of musician Oteil Burbridge and artist LeVar Carter, and is available for preorder online now at https://gumroad.com/l/thegreenthumb1 .
Part one of six issues covering the origin story called “Kill Them Before They Grow”, the comic will introduce viewers to Herb and Mary Jane Hemphill, seven year old fraternal twins. Their parents, Bud and Sativa Hemphill are botanists and entrepreneurs, running a successful organic fertilizer company called Marvel Grow in public life. In private, on their rural Kentucky estate however, the family is secretly harboring Mama Ganja, a giant, sentient marijuana plant, with whom plant telepaths Sativa, Herb and MJ have direct mental communication with. When Joint Chief of Staff Colonel Henry Paraquat, clandestine leader of a secret security force called Atrazine International, hears about what they are up to, a personal grudge and conflicting business interests(he has ties to chemical and agricultural multinational Santano Corporation) prompt him to take actions against them.
Lifelong comic book fan and co-creator LeVar Carter had this to say, “When Oteil first told me about his ideas for The Green Thumb and Purple Haze, I was immediately floored, because I knew this was a rich tapestry to play in with so many interesting themes to explore and such awesome superpowers to depict!” Oteil Burbrige, a rocking bass guitarist, came up with the concept over 10 years ago, but it wasn’t until his wife Jessica Shouse-Burbridge, a photojournalist, connected him with her old college roommate that the idea became a reality. The two developed the backstory for the characters’ universe and the storyline they would undertake organically over the course of several years through emails, phone calls and visits. The comic is published by their nascent NTR Sentra Productions, LLC., named after an ancient Egyptian term for marijuana, literally ‘divine smoke’.
The final script and the visuals were done by LeVar, who studied illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. “When we first started talking about the Green Thumb, Oteil was thinking cartoon, and I would love to see that one day, or a movie even, but I told him, I can’t make a cartoon by myself, but I can draw a comic book,” the artist laughed, “Making an entire comic book is very hard! But, in the end, I think we’re on to something engaging and entertaining, but also something thought provoking. To be able to channel relevant content through art is a dream come true.”
Learn more on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenThumbAndPurpleHaze and pre-order the first issue at https://gumroad.com/l/thegreenthumb1 .
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Media contact: LeVar Carter, levarcarter@gmail.com (804) 840-2336