The Circus of Reefer Madness is about the insanity of the drug war. The story includes elements of homage to the 1930s propaganda film, Reefer Madness. The man in charge of the comics’ pencils and pens is Ray Perilloux, and it is currently live on the popular crowd funding website Kickstarter.
The goal of our project is to provide a look at how crazy this really is. Humans locked in cages for a plant medicine that exists for us to use. The fight to legalize has been long and completely irrational. Financial interests and propaganda prevent legalization from coming full circle, so still the battle rages, favoring a momentum shift in recent years favoring common sense. States are legalizing medical and recreational use. The stigma is falling away, and the emperor wears no clothes. Momentum can be a powerful thing, but there is no assurance of victory. We must charge ahead, loud and proud, waving the flag of legalization. No more private prison taxes, government sponsored charges to financially benefit for profit prisons.
Our hero in the story is Tyler. He walks into the wrong bar at the wrong time. Waiting is the alcoholic clown Sanity. His vibes are as bad as his stench, but he manages to tempt Tyler to his van anyway, using his personal home grown strain of ganja as bait. Insanity Gas! One puff and Tyler is taken to the circus, where he is terrorized and receives the brand of possession. The Circus’ many manic employees are keen to inflict every bit of damage possible while the high lasts. The only thing Tyler can do is try to survive! Madness, Suicide, Kozbo, Sanity, Pig, and Donkey. A familiar cast to all those who carry the brand of possession.
Reefer Madness was released originally as Tell Your Children, and had other titles such as The Burning Question and Dope Addict. These are worked in as dialogue, and the character Suicide goes along with the film’s suggestion of suicide as a potential side affect of the demon marihuana. The film itself is silly at best, yet quite the lens into the time period and its early forms of propaganda. The bartender in the beginning of our story is Harper, name reference Bill Harper, played by Kenneth Craig in Reefer Madness. The story itself isn’t at all a parody on the film, but we did create our own spoof of the 1972 theatrical poster release.
On top of all the collateral involved with the drug war, mainstream views on marijuana are often tainted in favor of primitive federal laws. There is a certain community around this plant that can’t be denied. An entire genre of entertainment and movies, stoner culture! Marijuana persists no matter what. The truth so obvious that a community has evolved around it. Stoner nation, that of which I call on to help bring this project to life.
I hope you’ll check it out. Share with others or pledge to help make this thing a reality. Five bucks gets you the digital version of the comic, nine and I will send you the physical copy. The style is grungy old school horror. The same type of terror that being busted for a gram of the green stuff might inspire. Once completed, I will be able to share the digital version free with anyone dealing with the drug war. I think this will serve as a sort of painfully obvious pointer toward our long awaited victory. In the drug war, only one can prevail. The stoner nation army!
