FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State of the Art Animation Gives Politically Incorrect Superhero Superhuman Strength
Vancouver, BC – Veteran animator and illustrator Verne Andru launches his epic science fiction series 420 with the publication of the first 13 comic books featuring ‘Captain Cannabis,’ a character that transcends the traditional superhero mold.
‘The story began in the 70’s when I was starting out as a comic book illustrator,’ said Andru ‘I was hanging around the Captain Canuck studios and created Captain Cannabis as a counter-point to the goody-two-shoes characters dominating mainstream comics at the time. Needless to say, I was surprised when I received an official certificate from the copyright office dated April 20, 1977 for my Captain Cannabis character.’
While principally a science fiction story, 420 is a blend of science fiction, dark comedy and gritty realism. With a nod to Cheech and Chong, the Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. and Fritz the Cat. ‘420’ follows the adventures of a down-and-out roadie, Hal Lighter as he gets caught up in the middle of an extraterrestrial turf war over the planet Earth in his attempts to win the favor of his secret desire, Marion Jones. In the process, he stumbles upon some extraterrestrial ‘herb’ that transforms him into ‘Captain Cannabis’, a super hero that’s about as far from politically correct you can get ‘I’ve always had iconoclastic leanings, ‘quips Andru, ‘and if there was ever a time to challenge the status-quo, this is it.’
As far at the production process, Andru explains, ‘I wanted to create a story experience
That uses the best of all modern media – web, print, games and film – not something Created for one, and then conformed to fit on the others. That never works in my opinion. So I used my training as a systems analyst and 30+ years doing book illustrations, animation, video games, film and T.V. to create something that’s integrated from the outset.’
Written as a feature-length animated film for mature audiences, the story unfolds over 13 books. Drawings are prepared to feature film specifications and posted first as black and white ‘Webisodes’ at www.oKee.com and then they get a color treatment before being published in a series of ‘Heavy Metal’ format illustrated books. Once all books have been completed, so will the artwork for the film that will be released on DVD.
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