w w w . C a p t a i n C a n n a b i s c o m®

THE ULTIMATE HITJoin the ride as a stash of intragalactic weed transforms love-stuck slacker Hal Lighter into superhero Captain Cannabis on a mission to save planet Earth from itself!

Veteran animator and comic book artist Verne Andru mixes highbrow comedy and adventure with the rough and tumble sensibilities of the wrong side of the tracks.

Captain Cannabis is a breath-taking roller coaster ride with awesome characters adventuring in an inspired universe. A unique blend of science fiction and dark comedy, it’s a tale that will keep you riveted!

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40th ANNIVERSARY

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CAPTAINCANNABIS

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NO. 1

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No. 1 Book ISBN 978-0-9738851-5-6Digital ISBN 978-0-9738851-6-3

NO. 2

No. 2 Book ISBN 978-0-9738851-7-0Digital ISBN 978-0-9738851-8-7

chapter 001“I can’t wait that long”

WARNING: REQUIRES A SENSE OF HUMOUR. cONTAINS MATURE SITUATIONS, NAUGHTY LANGUAGE, DRUG REFERENcES AND LOTS AND LOTS OF cONSPIRAcY THEORIES.

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©Copyright 1977-2018, Verne Andru, All Rights Reserved, Moral Rights Asserted. Captain Cannabis, oKee.comX and Verne are Verne Andru trademarks.

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© Copyright 1975-2020, Verne Andru, All Rights Reserved, Moral Rights Asserted. Captain Cannabis is a Verne Andru Registered Trademark. www.CaptainCannabis.com

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420@CaptainCannabis.com· COMIC SERIES · FILMS · CLOTHES · GAMES · & MORE ·

INTRAGALACTIC WEEDTRANSFORMS

LOVE-STUCK SLACKERINTO SUPERHERO

TO SAVE EARTH FROM ITSELF

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A s S e e n O n

w w w . C a p t a i n C a n n a b i s c o m®

Continued in Captain Cannabis No. 1 available at www.CaptainCannabis.com

w w w . C a p t a i n C a n n a b i s . c o m

Continued in Captain Cannabis No. 2 available at www.CaptainCannabis.com

chapter 001“I can’t wait that long”

WARNING: REQUIRES A SENSE OF HUMOUR. cONTAINS MATURE SITUATIONS, NAUGHTY LANGUAGE, DRUG REFERENcES AND LOTS AND LOTS OF cONSPIRAcY THEORIES.

oKee.comX

Premierissue

NO. 420-001

Part oF the greatest story ever told

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An OMINOUS FULL MOON lights the diffuse fog this 2011 November night as a foghorn eerily bellows somewhere off in puget sound.

The infamous Space Needle, testament to seattle’s long forgotten 15 minutes of fame, stands silhouetted against a newly smouldering mount rainier.

A SCRUFFY MAN in his 60’s, wearing a SANDWICH BOARD plastered with “Jesus Saves,” “The Savior is coming” and “The End is near” signs, panhandles on a corner. Others belonging to the swelling ranks of the vanishing middle class, victims of the radical Right’s Malicious wars on peace, do their voodoo.

haveyou read the good

booktoday? screenplay and art by:

lookwhat it’s done for

me?

heybuddy - 20 bucks for

a good time!

He strains against a shopping cart overflowing with - well, do we really need to know?

NUKE, a large “HOMELESS” person, lumbers past.

chapter 001:: I can’t wait that long

1

Anybodygot a light,

man?

further on we come to the back of the gaswurks nightclub. a CHEF by the name of jesus, an old hippie WAITER and HAL LIGHTER emerge from the kitchen. rock music pours into the night.

Nothinlike a little 420 time.Any time’s

420 time - it’s a prime directive.

AWhat?

You wouldn’t understand.

betterlet an expert take care of

that.

Be carefulman, it’s super potent shit

and that’s my last joint.

Make it quick, mr. expert - I gotta get back before andre sees

we’re gone.

With a <<CLICK-ShTOONK>> of his trusty Zippo...

...he illuminates an OLD DRUNK in the shadows.

Spare change?

Prepare to be

amazed.

2

Piss off!

The Zippo CLANKS shut the drunk disappears back into the night, echoes of his maniacal GIGGLING the only betrayal of his whereabouts. A BLACK LIMO screeches to a halt! Come

on man, quit screwin’around.

CanI have my

joint back, man?

Some-one’s lost

on the wrong side of the

tracks,man.

letme go! I

said...

...I’lltake care of him...

MARION JONES struggles to Get out.

hey man,that’s just not right.

I know,he’s smokin’ the whole

thing!

With a yank, she’s free. No, man,it look’s like marion’s in some sorta

trouble.

Spotting the group, she bolts.

Hi, guys. How’s it goin?

the door gruffly slams shut...

...and The car drives away.

what’sthat all about,man?

oh,Nothingmuch.

3

...anyway,like, you’re Late again,and Andre’s boyfriend is outa town or somethin, and he’s, like, seriously

pissed...again!

Her demeanor changes as the limo disappears into the inky blackness.

Didn’tlook like nothing,

man...

Great, just

what I need.

She’s about to dash...

Ooh,Lucky Lady.

Hey...

Nowwhat about my joint,

man?

Yeah,like, let’s move with a purpose already.

...You’rewith the band?Hal, right?

Duh, I,...

uh, duh...

Uh - what’cha doing later?

Can we talk? After the show I

mean?

Duh, yeah, sure, no

problem-o.

She makes for the door. Hal follows.

Where yu goin wit dat?

Passit along, man...

Silly me. Itappears to have

gone out. Let me see if I can fire it up for

you boys.

with a flick of his thumb, the Zippo

snaps to life.

HeyLighter, what ch’you got dat

we don’tgot?

It’s‘cause you’re with a band,

right? Chicks dig guys in a band.

<<BURP>> no,boys, that’s

an urban myth. chicks dig me ‘cause I got

class.

Jesus, where the hell are

you?

shit!that’s

Andre. Save some for me, will

ya?

I would,man, but there’s

nothin’ left! He smoked the

whole damn thing!

4

Marion rushes into the GASWURKS nightclub. What isn’t painted flat black became that way through years of neglect.

She pauses...

Patrons are a mix of rock and roll diehards.

She rises to tower over bartender Andre, who seemingly appeared from nowhere.

Dick-head?

Hey,dick-head, you spilt beer all over me!

spinning, he bumps a table, spilling a pitcher of beer.

she zips behind the bar.

Ahoy, Captain...just in time.

Will Weston is at the mixing console covering for Hal.

tempers flare as He finds the dj booth.

Meanwhile, Hal stumbles through the back of the bar, almost bumping into a drunken patron.

dumping her stuff, She Snatches a serving tray.

He quickly mounts a

step stoolto confront

her eye to eye.

Their “words” are drowned out by a 4 piece-band calling themselves the “SQUEEGEE CLEANERS.”

5

anytime is 420 time - it’s a prime directive.

Was that Marion you were with?

Chicksdig guys in bands. I’m, like, so in.

And groupies.

Serious about a chick?

Butshe’s so classy and...

That’s right dude. My life’s on the road

serving greater rockdom.

Five bucks says I get her alone

on myboat.

A quick game of truth or

dare and...

You really dig her,

don’t ya?

Your what?

Duh, that’s, like, totally against one of my prime directives.

Primedirectives.

Stay below the radar,

no responsibilities,

and, uh...

But you’re a...

Hal gestures around the room of seedy people zoned on sex, drugs and rock n roll.

...I’m a MUSIC PROFESSIONAL.

...I toldya it was only a

matter of time.

will,my little dude...

6

Not gonna happen!

Will gestures as the band finishes its tune.

FREDDIE THE RIPPER, the lead guitarist, takes control.

This isour latest tune, ‘I’m gonna rock

you stupid’.Freddie steps back, the drummer counts in and the band’s all over a HEAVY ROCK TUNE - their BIG SONG.

I’mGonna

Rock youStup, Stup

StupId.

He mesmerizes them with a blazing solo, Ripping up and down the

guitar neck.

his boot closing on a PLAIN metal BOX with a SINGLE STOMP SWITCH...

Freddie drinks in the adoring audience.

Listen up,assholes - Sitdown and shut

the fuck up!

7

the guitargoes dead!

The solo builds

to a high note

shrieking with

sustain.

Furious, Freddie tears it off...

...and repeatedly pounds the

smoking pedal!

The audience goes wild.

Hal shitshimself.

Freddie storms

off-stage.

His foot comes down hard on the pedal! Sparks fly, the pedal oozes BLACK SMOKE and...

8

LATER: The band finishes another gig without Freddie.

I can’tbelieve Freddie lost it like that. I never seen

shit like thatbefore.

Don’t sweat- you find ways to cope. That’s why I use my trusty double-Dano. Only way

to “freddie-proof”the band.

Freddie broods in a corner of the makeshift dressing room.

HeyFreddie, you

pissed orwhat?

Lesson 21 - Test

BEFORE theshow.

Justfuck Right off! I’m an artist, not a FUCKING

TECHNICIAN.

Well,well. The

man of the hour his-

self.

I didtest it. At

least a dozen times. Must have been a

power-surgeOr...

We’repaying you for solutions not more fucking

problems!

about getting paid...

Anyone see the record agents?

They splitwhen Freddie pulled his Cobain shtick.

That’sNothin. Wait ‘til he gets really

pissed!

Itgets worse?

What could be worse?

Yeah, wellyou guys didn’t say nothin’ ‘bout this shit when you asked

me to try out.Justhope he doesn’t

do a squeegee call. I hate freezing my ass off on

the I-5 on-ramp cleaning car windows for quarters

every time he smashesa guitar.

Pay?After what you just

fuckin’ did?

9

Discuss?Discuss what?

hey I gotta Idea - let’s discuss who’s gonna pay for my

guitar!

Ah, ‘causeI own the p.A. And

the lights. I haul the gear, setup and tear down. And it’s ‘cause of my contacts that

you get booked. and...

Hope we’re not, like, disturbing anything?

and whythe fuck do we

keep you with the band anyway? Let’s

discuss that,fat-ass!

Youare, like, so kewl. I bet you were a god in

a previouslife...

...without another thought to Hal.

Great show!

Saved by the belles fat man!

Guys?Hey...hello?

my pay?

I got wet just sitting

there...

Listen up, assholes. New

guitar time.Squeegee call

first thing!

The band members quickly gravitate to the inebriated young girls, leaving the room...

Freddiedude - chill...let’s, like, discuss...

Bart?A little help?

I dunno, lets see where this goes...

Knock, knock! Hi guys...

Yo, Jimbo! switch from

suck to blow - lets go, bro!

Aw comeon Freddie,

give us a break will

ya!

Wannabreak? Try

not showing up tomorrow

and...

Good Start, but the night is

young...

canI have a

little lick? No I mean of those...

WITH A <<CLUNK>>, THE dead bolt locks the bar for another day. The bouncer grabs straggling glasses on his way to the back where the other waiters and waitresses busily ready to leave.

Andre winks as Hal abandons the last TROLLEY OF ROAD CASES in the aisle and lunges at the bar in exhaustion.

Good looksonly go so far.

You’ll be paying how..?

Haldear, I’ll be ready once I check the schedule.

beer!needbeer!

WHam!

Andre pours a glass of water.

Your tab runneth over long ago. You want the water

or not?

They didbring in a crowd. You know, Bruce is away all month and if you get rid of the

hussy, we...

...we gota great band...won a battle-of-the-bands

and everythin’.

boysand girls; next weeks schedule is now up in the

kitchen.

Slumming tonight?

I’m sure someone will find that truly riveting, but, oops,

there’s my ride. Gotta scoot!

pant...need beer...

Andre dude, it’s me - Hal. Just put it on

my tab.

Water?After all I’ve done for the GasWurks, this is

how you treat me,Hal Lighter?

SqueegeeCleaners packed the house - told ya - that’s gotta be worth somethin’.

Oh no,don’t start that shit again-water’s

fine. I’ll just close my eyes and

pretend it’s...

...a-ahhshit!

...abeer...

11

Come on Andre, remember my little “problem”? You were going to think about maybe helping me

out?

and that advance we talked about? I could make it worth

your while<<cough>>

<<cough, cough>> why you little

shh...

Come on Hal, let’s get out

of here...

Kinky...

Why’dyou cut my shifts? You

know I really need the money.

Tryshowing up on

time for a change. Shifts go to

people who come to work.

Save yourtalents for someone who cares. You know

I don’t swing that way - oops, look what just slipped into my hand.

dude!

...before somebody

gets hurt...

Snap!

good night ms. marion...see ya

‘round?

Drop Dead!

Marion slams

Andre’s share of

tips on the bar.

12

Out in the back lane Small groups of night people scurry from place to place. Marion fumes.

What did you say?

Like, I already told you to bugger off, dude.

NUKE drops something beside the tired old school bus.

Give me a lift!

Spare change?

Hey you!Dumpster dude! Get away from my bus!

You paying

for gas?

Nuke leaves his cart in the lane and moves toward a parked bus.

duh, ahh,hey, what’s that dumpster dude

doing to my bus?

What did you say?

The drunk fades into the night, giggling maniacally.

13

Ya gottakeep an eye on ‘em or they’ll rob yA blind.

They’re kinda like turtles. Everything they own is in

those carts. LikeANA-BELL.

Ana-bell?

Myboat. You like sailing, right?

Great for chillin...

She bends

Hey buddy?

...Hey,What a great

idea. We can sail up the coast a

bit and...

Like,over my dead...

Hey!

DUh?

What’s this?

The dumpster dude must

have droppedIt.

Detach yourself.

Duh,I said, ah, um, ‘sure, that would be a

gas.’

That’snot what I

heard.

Hey, didyou catch

that dumpster dude action?

Wounda bit tight,

aren’tya?

14

...kay...

he’s coming! riDyour attachments. Watch for my sign.

the scene around

Nuke gets seriously

weird.

the psychedelic light show is blinding.

hal makes a hasty retreat.

He passes the “thing” to Marion and climbs into the drivers seat. With a lurch of a handle, the door shuts.

Well? What was that all about?

thedumpster

dude disap-peared!

Thingsalways this weird with

you?

you dropped your, your, thing-a-ma-

bob!

Here,give it to me and get

on thebus.

Anyother

options?

What?If you insist.

When he reopens his eyes, Nuke is gone!

well, follow

him.

With a clunk of gears the tired bus lumbers off leaving the last trolley of road cases behind.

Duh... Youknow those

feelings like you forgot somethin’

but can’tremember

what?

and What’s that

horrible smell?

It’s sorta like that, only

different.

I can’t.he pulled a

Houdini!

A what?

15

A CRASH OF GLASS precedes the annoying WAIL OF A CAR ALARM. Homeless, addicts and prostitutes mill about illuminated by the misdirected lights of Hal’s old bus lumbering up the hill.

The “vintage” in-dash 8-track/FM Radio’s announcer comes on as the rock tune ends.

Hey dudes and dudettes, I’m your seattle late nIgHt Host spInnIng news fresH off tHe wIre.

worlds’ banks just auctIoned tHe last of tHeIr gold reserves. bIg deal? not In tHe fIne prInt. all

tHe gold was bougHt by one dude. trIck Is, He won wItH tHe lowest bId <<clIck>>!

... look, I have a biggie

to ask...

Sensing her chance, Marion

makes her move...

I knowwe don’t

know each other...

I mean,we see each other when one of your

band’s plays,But...

Hal turns the radio off. The rattling of the old bus fills the void.

16

Spit it out. No

promises tho.

Isthat any

good? Like they say, I

Mean.

Dude, best bud

ever.

Canyou...

get me some?

Dude,try asking something

tough.

Okay...I need more.

17

he pulls out a 1/4 ounce in a baggy.

<<Snicker>> That’s your best shot?

Actually I need Lots

more. What I need is a, uh,

a pound!

Doh, a pound? I

don’t have that much. I

have to...

We got abig gig comin up and if I don’t fix that pedal I’m in, like, serious

Shit.

OhPlease?

You’re my only hope..

She turns it on thick...

Me?Why me?

John can get something

local...

It’s complicated.

Anyway,You saw

Freddie...

Johnhas shit;

everyone says yours is thebest around.

...’sides, you said you don’t smoke...

18

The bus creaks to a stop outside MARION’S APARTMENT.

Nextstop - Not

gonna happen!

Youcryin’?

I hateit when they do

dat.

Okay, I’ll

Think about

it.

Isthat a tear?

I knew you’d do the ‘right

thing.’

Like I said, no promises

right?

It’snot for me. It’s my moth...oh, Please. You have to

help.

19

Call tomorrow.

Triumphantly, he produces one of his BUSINESS CARDS.

to be Continued.

Right. Now What? Open

Sesame? Come on - I need air! The smell is

killng me.

Butnot too early ‘cause I need

my beauty sleep.

No kidding...

...ButI can’t

wait that long.

20

The book you’re reading is part of a larger story that’s been many years in the making. Raised during the 1960’s and weaned

on such works as fritz the cat, the fabulous furry freak brothers,

Harold Hedd and cheech and chong, I naturally gravitated to the

“fringier” side of life when it came time to develop

my own material. My first original work, and precursor to “420,” was a short, black and white comic titled “Captain Cannabis.” Truth be told, I created Captain Cannabis as a dark counter-balance to the goody-two-shoes Captain Canuck character my “mentors” George Freeman and Jean-Claude St. Aubin were working on.

Sensing I had stumbled onto something good, I filled out the requisite forms, and filed for a copyright. A few months

later I received a certificate from the copyright office for a literary work titled – yes folks – “Captain Cannabis.” Unnoticed by me at the time – actually it held no significance in popular culture of the 60’s

and 70’s I was aware of – was the fact that the certificate is dated April 20, 1977.

Today, of course, popular culture holds April 20 in particularly high esteem. April is the 4th month of the year making April 20, numerically speaking, 420. April 20 at 4:20 PM is known as the “pot-smokers’ holiday,” the “hippie New Year,” “national smoke time,” “national pot-smoking day,” “the holiday,” “pot appreciation day,” “the ultimate session,” or “a day of tribute to the scene.” While making no claim to originating the 420 term, my Captain Cannabis copyright certificate is one of the oldest documented connections between April 20 and cannabis that I am aware of. That reason alone made it a title befitting the Captain Cannabis “origin” story.

It took another 20 years before I set about to realize a story worthy of the character I had created. A well know axiom in writers circles holds that there are no new stories, just the retelling of old. I was determined to scour the earth to disprove this maxim. At the very least I wanted to find a story that hadn’t been told in a long enough time to at least be interesting. I spent the better part of 5 years researching everything from history to law to linguistics to music to politics to religion. The bibliography exceeded 275 books before I stopped keeping track.

I’m pleased to say I believe I’ve accomplished my objective. “420”

is the first part of a story being told through a series of feature films. It follows the trials and tribulations of the evolution of man – not the evolution of the physical shell we equate with self, but the evolution of our consciousness that inhabits and animates it during its cosmic journey.

Prior to 500 BCE, our forefathers viewed life and their place in it far differently from current Western culture. There was an understanding that material life was transitory and the “holy grail” of “immortality” was attainable given the proper training and requisite preparation. Training was given through a complex system of “mystery schools.” They maintained a tradition of esoteric knowledge that was passed from generation to generation. This important light was all but extinguished when early “Christian” zealots destroyed the schools, killed the practitioners and burned, destroyed or spirited away the written teachings and records. Some of the traditions have been maintained in the Eastern schools of thought, particularly Pantheism, Sufism and esoteric Buddhism to which the Falon Gong claims its ancestry.

The Ancients maintained there was only ONE – a singular consciousness from which all else is both a part of and separate from. While time and space are maya [illusion], they provide a mechanism for isolation and individuation from the ONE. Some schools call this ONE “god,” while I prefer the less religiously tainted, and more descriptively accurate, handle of “The Universal Consciousness” [TUC].

Similar to the way light dissipates the further it is from its source, instances of individuated consciousness become increasingly fragmented the further they “fall” from their “Edenistic” bliss of communion with TUC. The levels of fragmentation are similar to strata that are sometimes referred to in terms of “bodies.” We are all familiar with the physical body we inhabit on a daily basis and the etheric body we inhabit in our dream state but are unaware of our “mental” body where our consciousness is currently resident. These bodies are similar to the Id, Ego and Super-Ego coined in modern psychology – Carl Jung being particularly “esoteric” in his leanings.

You can visualize these strata by studying the following: “a higher dimension sees all lower simultaneously and equally.” In other words, if you are outside a fishbowl you can see and describe it in its totality. Conversely, if you are inside a fishbowl [dimension] it is impossible for you to see and describe what the fishbowl [dimension] looks like from the outside. Software programmers, in order to create the illusion of 3 dimensional worlds found in today’s motion pictures and video games, use a software “engine” that is a

420 :: The Story Behind The Story

21

The book you’re reading is part of a larger story that’s been many years in the making. Raised during the 1960’s and weaned

on such works as fritz the cat, the fabulous furry freak brothers,

Harold Hedd and cheech and chong, I naturally gravitated to the

“fringier” side of life when it came time to develop

my own material. My first original work, and precursor to “420,” was a short, black and white comic titled “Captain Cannabis.” Truth be told, I created Captain Cannabis as a dark counter-balance to the goody-two-shoes Captain Canuck character my “mentors” George Freeman and Jean-Claude St. Aubin were working on.

Sensing I had stumbled onto something good, I filled out the requisite forms, and filed for a copyright. A few months

later I received a certificate from the copyright office for a literary work titled – yes folks – “Captain Cannabis.” Unnoticed by me at the time – actually it held no significance in popular culture of the 60’s

and 70’s I was aware of – was the fact that the certificate is dated April 20, 1977.

Today, of course, popular culture holds April 20 in particularly high esteem. April is the 4th month of the year making April 20, numerically speaking, 420. April 20 at 4:20 PM is known as the “pot-smokers’ holiday,” the “hippie New Year,” “national smoke time,” “national pot-smoking day,” “the holiday,” “pot appreciation day,” “the ultimate session,” or “a day of tribute to the scene.” While making no claim to originating the 420 term, my Captain Cannabis copyright certificate is one of the oldest documented connections between April 20 and cannabis that I am aware of. That reason alone made it a title befitting the Captain Cannabis “origin” story.

It took another 20 years before I set about to realize a story worthy of the character I had created. A well know axiom in writers circles holds that there are no new stories, just the retelling of old. I was determined to scour the earth to disprove this maxim. At the very least I wanted to find a story that hadn’t been told in a long enough time to at least be interesting. I spent the better part of 5 years researching everything from history to law to linguistics to music to politics to religion. The bibliography exceeded 275 books before I stopped keeping track.

I’m pleased to say I believe I’ve accomplished my objective. “420”

is the first part of a story being told through a series of feature films. It follows the trials and tribulations of the evolution of man – not the evolution of the physical shell we equate with self, but the evolution of our consciousness that inhabits and animates it during its cosmic journey.

Prior to 500 BCE, our forefathers viewed life and their place in it far differently from current Western culture. There was an understanding that material life was transitory and the “holy grail” of “immortality” was attainable given the proper training and requisite preparation. Training was given through a complex system of “mystery schools.” They maintained a tradition of esoteric knowledge that was passed from generation to generation. This important light was all but extinguished when early “Christian” zealots destroyed the schools, killed the practitioners and burned, destroyed or spirited away the written teachings and records. Some of the traditions have been maintained in the Eastern schools of thought, particularly Pantheism, Sufism and esoteric Buddhism to which the Falon Gong claims its ancestry.

The Ancients maintained there was only ONE – a singular consciousness from which all else is both a part of and separate from. While time and space are maya [illusion], they provide a mechanism for isolation and individuation from the ONE. Some schools call this ONE “god,” while I prefer the less religiously tainted, and more descriptively accurate, handle of “The Universal Consciousness” [TUC].

Similar to the way light dissipates the further it is from its source, instances of individuated consciousness become increasingly fragmented the further they “fall” from their “Edenistic” bliss of communion with TUC. The levels of fragmentation are similar to strata that are sometimes referred to in terms of “bodies.” We are all familiar with the physical body we inhabit on a daily basis and the etheric body we inhabit in our dream state but are unaware of our “mental” body where our consciousness is currently resident. These bodies are similar to the Id, Ego and Super-Ego coined in modern psychology – Carl Jung being particularly “esoteric” in his leanings.

You can visualize these strata by studying the following: “a higher dimension sees all lower simultaneously and equally.” In other words, if you are outside a fishbowl you can see and describe it in its totality. Conversely, if you are inside a fishbowl [dimension] it is impossible for you to see and describe what the fishbowl [dimension] looks like from the outside. Software programmers, in order to create the illusion of 3 dimensional worlds found in today’s motion pictures and video games, use a software “engine” that is a

420 :: The Story Behind The Story

21

TM

Our mind is the single most powerful tool we have. Tragically, we no longer know how to use it. We are taught to shop, consume, attain, covet, hate, fight, and make war on this or that. Most go through life haphazardly creating thought forms and their elemental progeny in a manner not unlike randomly shooting off a machine gun in a crowded shopping mall.

Every thought we have – good or bad – generates an artificial elemental. The constant generation of angry, murderous thoughts generates angry and murderous artificial elementals. Wars [and the propaganda used to wrongly justify them], torture and famine – in fact all suffering creates elementals shaped by their causation. Over prolonged periods of generation, and man has been heaping suffering on man for a very long time, we’ve unconsciously [to most, not all] created an artificial elemental so strong and persistent, it appears to some as being a life all it’s own. In fact, because it exists in the etheric plane and can manipulate etheric material, some have wrongly come to see this entity as their “god” while others refer to it as “Satan” or the “devil.” Whatever you call it, it is the product of mankind’s collective thoughts over many thousands of years and has become so powerful it is dictating the affairs of state [“god told me to strike out at Saddam”, etc.] and ultimately the destiny of all life on this planet. This negative artificial elemental is known as the “Dwellers on the Threshold” and is the ultimate antagonist.

Closer to home, the military-industrial establishment owes its existence to, and lives to serve, the “Dwellers on the Threshold” whether they are aware of it or not. For the military-industrial establishment, and the businesses and politicians that profit from it, need to perpetuate endless war [long war] as a way of feeding the Dwellers with the hateful thought forms of suffering humankind. Wars are not against “communism,” “terrorists,” “rogue states” or “drugs” but against peace and harmony – the two things that would bring annihilation to the Dwellers dominion over man and an end to our perceived need to maintain the “machine of death” the military-industrial-complex has so carefully built.

There is more – much more – but I trust I’ve whetted your appetite and sketched enough of the backstory to enhance your enjoyment of “420.” I like to think of it as “the greatest story ever told,” not because it’s new, but because it has not been told for a very, very long time.

Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Until next time, don’t forget Hal’s favourite prime directive:

Anytime’s 420 time!

mathematical representation of 5 dimensions or more for this very reason.

It follows that if we are able to “see” our physical and etheric [dream] worlds, our consciousness must reside at a level of abstraction at least one dimension greater than either. This dimension is sometimes called the “mental” body.

Thought forms are an integral part of the story and to understand how they work is to understand the seemingly impossible things that happen to Hal, Marion and oKee. The ancients maintain that thought comes from consciousness that resides in a mental body, the furthest it “falls” into matter. Conscious thought cannot interact directly on the molecules of the physical plane because they are too dense. But what it can do is generate “thought forms” that cause vibrations on the etheric plane, the level between the mental and physical. These vibrations act upon the denser etheric materials that, in turn, cause stronger vibrations that interact on matter in the physical world. In this manner you, in your mental body, are able to raise your physical arm by simply “thinking” it.

An important concept to note is that while thought forms are created by consciousness in its mental body, once created they exist separate from it. A simple analogy is when you toss a ball. Initially, your conscious thought and subsequent actions cause the ball to careen through space. But once the ball leaves your hand, it is separate from you, albeit its “life” as an “object in motion” is causally connected to how you threw it in the first place. The inertia eventually dissipates and the ball comes to rest.

Similarly, when you generate a thought form you “toss” a thought into the etheric plane with a velocity and trajectory causally connected to the thought that created it. This thought form persists until its inertia dissipates, at which time the etheric materials return to the etheric ocean from whence they came.

But, and this is a very big but, this is where our analogy comes up wanting. For unlike our ball example, continued and forceful generation of a particular thought form will cause it to coalesce into a form that becomes persistent. These persistent thought forms are known as “artificial elementals” that both work to serve us and work against us.

We are all familiar with the term “practice makes perfect.” Anyone endeavoring to learn a skill such as playing an instrument,

operating equipment or becoming proficient at a sport is engaged in the willful act of creating artificial elementals.

It is the continued and focused mental activity that creates the thought forms that coalesce into our personal elementals providing us a level of almost automatic proficiency at your chosen endeavor. Musicians marvel as they watch their hands perform

complex movements as though they were outside observers. Long distance runners attain a “runners

high” where their bodies continue to run automatically and they no longer feel any pain. In fact, there is an

important correlation between pain and the level of connectedness between our mental and physical selves that goes to the heart of why oKee’s cosmic pot has the effect on Hal that it does. But that’s getting ahead of the story.

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When an aging rock-n-roll roadie happens across a neurotic ET with a stash of cosmic pot, he finds himself transformed into Captain Cannabis – a reluctant “hero” who must learn how to use his new superhuman powers to stop a crazed global elite and their “machine of death” from turning Earth into the ultimate PRISON PLANET.

“420” is A FresH TAKe ON sCi-FiJoin veteran animator and comic book artist Verne Andru, as he spins a tale that will make even the most jaded conspiracy theorist blush. 30 years in the making, “420” mixes highbrow comedy and adventure with the rough and tumble sensibilities of the wrong side of the tracks. Down-and-out roadie Halburt “Hal” Lighter finds himself tossed into the middle of an extraterrestrial turf war over the planet Earth, where the entire future of the human species is at stake. Hal and his secret desire Marion befriend the messianic alien oKee, much to the dismay of the Vice President of the United States who is working in collusion with The Supreme One – evil lord of another alien race.

“420” HAs A uNiQue VOiCe, ONe THAT is FresH AND eXuBerANTWhile principally a science fiction story, “420” successfully mixes up its genres. It is a hybrid of science fiction and dark comedy/drama. The story is fun and the characters are great answers to the clichés of the genre, adventuring in an inspired universe. More importantly, Verne Andru has a truly original voice and the story is a unique mix of science fiction, dark comedy and gritty realism.

“420” is A muLTi-meDiA eXTrAVAGANZA“420” was designed from the outset as a multi-media experience. Verne uses his vast well of experience in film, print and the web to craft an entertainment extravaganza that is second-to-none.

Written as a feature-length film, “420” unfolds over 13 chapters. Storyboards and book pages are prepared simultaneously, ensuring continuity between media. From these, Verne draws detailed animation layouts that appear first as black and white “webisodes” [www.oKee.com and www.CaptainCannabis.com]. Once all a chapter’s layouts are polished, they are given a colour treatment then published in an illustrated book series. When all 13 are finalized, so will the artwork to produce the “420” feature-length animated film. This is the first time web, print and film are seamlessly integrated into one of the most unique multi-media experiences ever created.

Webisode VieWing

www.oKee.com :: www.captaincannabis.com

Captain Cannabis, oKee.comX, Verne and 420 are trademarks of Verne Andru. © Copyright 1976-2006, Verne Andru. All rights reserved, moral rights asserted. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means - including but not limited to graphic, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without written permission of the publisher, oKee comX.

First printing - October 2006.

Published and printed in the Dominion of Canada - MMVI

“420” creator Verne Andru found his calling when he met the crew from Captain Canuck Comics at a high school “career day.” He quickly became the studio pest, dropping by weekly to show off his latest creations, including “420’s” star attraction, Captain Cannabis.

His career got a boost with his first paid job - cel painting on “Blowhard,” a National Film Board animated short. This was followed by animation assignments for Hanna Barbera’s Saturday morning lineup. At the same time, he continued working in comics, doing covers for Charleton, ink and colour on Captain Canuck and illustrating stories for the independently published Phantacea.

During a feature assignment on Nelvana’s “Rock and Rule,” he worked with a leading special effects team and became intrigued with the opportunities computers held for fantasy creators. Upon completing that project he attended college, graduating on the honour role a few years later as a computer systems specialist.

Verne was early to apply the technology as it came available. Desktop publishing replaced traditional typesetters. He pioneered digital paint for location and character colour styling on television series work. This was followed by a state-of-the-art desktop animation system he used to produce a range of animations for web and broadcast, including the highly successful Kid’s Club commercial spots for Swedish furniture retailer, IKEA.

Verne can be found on the web at www.VerneAndru.com.

PrePare To Be amazed!

ISBN 0-9738837-0-7

90000>

7809739 883701

$9

.95

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© COPYRIGHT 1977-2020, VERNE ANDRU, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, MORAL RIGHTS ASSERTED.Captain Cannabis (registered), Verne and “shield” logos are Verne Andru trademarks.

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