The Secret History of the War on Weed #1 – Multiversity Comics

It seems that the stoner comedy might be an artifact of the past. Weed is being legalized across the United States, and the subversive style of Cheech and Chong is now decidedly mainstream. Conversely, America has done the barest minimum to correct the decade long catastrophe that is the War on Drugs. Its the worst of both worlds, with mainstream corporations benefiting from looser regulation, but the same victims still suffering punishment from a victimless crime thats no longer even a crime anymore. What is to be done with that complex situation? From all of this baggage rises: a silly comic book one-shot!

Cover by Scott Koblish

BRIAN POSEHN, GERRY DUGGAN & SCOTT KOBLISH reform Voltron (metaphorically only) from their days on Deadpool (also not appearing) to tell a true story and lost chapter from our nations sad and failed war on drugs.

The year is 1985. The First Lady decides to crush Northern California cannabis farmers and deploys the biggest tool in the armed forces: Scotch McTiernan (collectible first of many hilarious appearances). If it weedswe can kill it. Scotch puts his boots on the ground in Humboldt and does what he does bestbut what happens when he gets high for the first time?

This one-shot has it all: laughs, tears, heart, actionplus, an activity page! A portion of the proceeds from this comic will be donated to organizations dedicated to helping casualties of Americas immoral drug war.

At the top I want to say that I admire Secret History of the War on Weed for being a one-shot. Theres not really enough substance here to sustain an ongoing, or even a miniseries. So I think it takes admirable restraint to realize that youre just working on a goof that would be overstaying its welcome in more than 50 pages. Because thats mostly what Secret History of the War on Weed is, a goof.

This is the story of a cartoonishly aggressive US soldier discovering the joys of marijuana consumption and becoming a warrior for a new cause. Scotch McTiernan reports directly to a parody of Nancy Reagan, fights mutants and dinosaurs, and mostly talks in dad jokes. The first full sentence we hear out of him as hes pumping a dinosaur-man full of holes? Iguana blow your head off. Thats about the caliber of what we are dealing with here, both for better and worse.

The art occupies a similar space. Scott Koblish is probably best known for his Deadpool comics, and thats the energy here. Nothing is ever meant to be taken very seriously. The art is sort of a parody of the excesses of the 90s. It also works if played completely straight as an action comic. Simple horizontal panels are interrupted by splash pages. When the bullets fly, the panels slouch at a chaotic angle. Its perfectly calibrated action-comic stuff.

And as an action/comedy parody, Secret History of the War on Weed basically works. Most of the jokes made me groan, a few made me laugh, one made me laugh like a maniac. Thats a pretty good ratio for a single comic issue. Of course, humor is subjective, and if Garth Ennis comics make you flinch rather than smile, that will probably be the case here. You need to be able to laugh at a stupid guys head being reduced to a fine mist.

Where this light one-shot threatens to get interesting is every time it gets political. Im talking less about SNL-style political parody and more about real political humor. Having the authority represented by a leathery old conservative woman is low hanging fruit. But calling out the actual War on Drugs for its combination of racism and ineffectiveness is kind of bold. On one page you will read the creative team sending funny little notes to each other, then you will turn the page and learn about a stat like how many Americans are in jail for weed crimes in states where it is now legal. Then youll get a full-on Swamp Thing parody where the Protector of the Green focuses on a particular green thing. (Its weed.)

But then you might remember- Swamp Thing has already grown weed in a comic. It happened in Hellblazer #63 (cover dated 1993) where he grew John Constantine some magic herb for his birthday. Its the kind of joke that would be absolutely funny if it was any more absurd than the real thing. And its hard to take a position where you are lecturing about morality while churning out jokes that were daring 30 years ago.

Thats a harsh criticism, and it brings us to a central and very difficult question when assessing The Secret History of the War on Weed. Is this comic smug? Are these creators punching down and expecting to be lauded for it. Thats a subjective question, and maybe some people are sensitive or repulsed by stoner humor. But for this critic at least, Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn come across as humble, good faith jokesters. They want to celebrate 4/20 with a bunch of old-school jokes, and they want to acknowledge the injustices that they hate. What they created was a good-natured comic that lands on the right side of taste, but never finds anything new to say. And maybe thats OK. With stoner culture going so mainstream as to practically disappear, its fun to be reminded of simpler times.

Final Verdict: 8.0 A corny goofball one-shot that gestures towards some deeper themes.

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The Secret History of the War on Weed #1 - Multiversity Comics