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Mister V – Mile High Book Two

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Mile High Book Two

You know what has long been missing from any conversation about legalizing marijuana? Nuance. That’s a societal (human?) failing on many issues, like gun control, abortion, climate change, etc. For most of these subjects there’s SOME middle ground to be had, but because of the political environment in this country honest conversations about these topics are impossible. And by “political environment” I mostly mean “Republicans;” let’s be real here. Anyway, this comic is about marijuana and I’m drifting into a political rant, so don’t mind me. What Mister V has done such a wonderful job conveying in these two volumes has been the nuances of the debate. In the first volume V (or do I call him Mister for short?), desperate for some relief from his irritable bowel syndrome, finally went with medical marijuana and dipped his toes into his options for staying supplied. Frankly, he could have used a “previously in volume one” summary somewhere; it’s never a good idea to count on the long term memory of stoners to stay fresh on all the details from a previous volume. Stereotype alert, I know, but it’s a good idea for all comics series. Anyway, in this volume we get to see our hero as he tells the parents of his wife about his pot use (always fascinating to see former hippies become moral scolds on the subject now), his misadventures in trying to get medical marijuana, the hoops he had to jump through to renew his license, and his journey to finally becoming more or less a pot connoisseur. Most stories I’ve seen about legalized weed tend to end right about when it gets legalized (at least for medical purposes), but V shows that that is not remotely where the story ends. He also tells the tale about a former co-worker who worked for her company for 20 years (and was demonstrably one of the best people on staff) and was unceremoniously fired after a different co-worker complained about this lady smoking pot. For her own medical situation. In a state where such a thing is legal. So yeah, there’s a long way to go before we can claim to be remotely civilized about this subject as a society, and we just elected the most famous con man in the country as president, so it seems likely that things will get worse before they get better. In so, so many ways; maybe this is why I’m on the constant verge of a political rant these days. Still, leaving all that aside, this is a thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking tale of a guy who is just trying to get some relief in his life and the various ways that his life throws up roadblocks to keep that from being remotely easy to do. He even managed to end this volume (the second of three) on a cliffhanger, one that leaves more questions than answers, so I’m very curious to see how he wraps all this up. Even if you’re not a fan of weed you could learn a lot from these books, and if you’re one of the moral scolds in question there is really a lot you could learn from these books. $10

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Mister V – Mile High: Adventures in Colorado Medical Marijuana Book One

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Mile High: Adventures in Colorado Medical Marijuana Book One

Hey look, it’s one of those rare occasions where the subject of the book I’m reviewing is topical! Well, for me, anyway. Ohio is voting in a few weeks on whether or not to legalize marijuana, and this book is entirely the story of a young man as he takes his first steps to getting medical marijuana after Colorado legalized it in 2000. Still, the legalization process was a mess, as it was still illegal in the rest of the country and the federal government was still eager to jump in and close down dispensaries whenever possible. Anyway, Matt (the hero of the book; possibly Mister V, possibly not) catches his niece smoking in his garage late one night. She’s smoking an e-cig or whatever it is that lets people smoke THC oil and not the plant itself, but as he’s letting her have it for smoking underage she catches a whiff of something and ferrets out his own pot stash. They take turns smoking using each others preferred method, which leads Matt to go into the story of how he got started. His basic problem was simple: Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This would cause him all sorts of digestive problems, and he takes some time going through the methods that he’s tried over the years to get it under control. He eventually discovers that smoking weed is the only thing that settles his stomach and gets him hungry enough to really want to eat, so he starts looking into the process of getting legal weed. The rest of the book is a descent into various levels of shady dispensaries, countless legal forms, waiting in lines, not being sure at every turn whether or not he was being scammed (spoiler alert: he was a few times). This is the first book out of three, so there’s clearly more to come in this story, but this volume tells a solid and complete story all by itself. If you’re against the concept of medical marijuana and think the “medical” aspect of it is a joke, you really need to read this to see one of the many ways in which it can legitimately be used to help a sick person. If you’re already on board with the concept (medical, recreational or both) then there’s plenty to love here, including his early stories of trying out the edibles in the absence of any indication on how much he should eat or how strong the food was. Everybody who’s ever had an edible has been there, and Matt came out of it better than most. Anyway, I almost said this was highly recommended, then I realized that there was a pun in there, so never mind. It’s just plain old recommended. $9

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Mister V – The She-Ma’am Fella Hatin’ Sorority #2

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The She-Ma’am Fella Hatin’ Sorority #2

The story of these four ladies continues, but without the “Feminazi” bit in the title. Which is probably for the best, as it’s never a good idea, however unintentionally, to give Rush Limbaugh even the slightest bit of free press. Once again, this comic is not for the people who cannot look at naked lady bits (or a strapped-on dildo) without bursting into flames, but the rest of us should get a kick out of it. First up is the Feminazi story called “Jewkkaki,” which you can possibly piece together if you look at any kind of online porn. Which you probably do, as otherwise you would have been offended at my previous warning and quit reading this review. Our heroine is forced to prove that she doesn’t hate Jewish people and that she just wears the uniform because it gives her super powers. Next is Roswella’s story, as she continues on through space searching for a good fuck. Yes, that does seem to the driving force behind her. She thinks she has finally found what she’s looking for, but we all learned way back in Star Wars that it’s dangerous to assume something when you’re only seeing part of a creature. Next is another story of Jungle Jane, this time dealing with a young man who tries to get her to have sex with him, only to have her point out that she’s fucked pretty much everything in the jungle and that his tiny man bits don’t have a thing to offer her. He makes a bargain to change things around a bit, but it’s always dangerous to transform yourself into a jungle creature. Finally there’s Sequential Sally, this time trying to nail down a publishing deal. I sampled the page that had the actual reaction to her work from the publisher, and the rest of the story has her trying to “convince” the publisher to change his mind. So far these stories are a blast (once again provided that you don’t mind a bit of nudity), and I think you people should send the man some money to buy some books. Or be cheap and read through the many free samples on his site, but you know deep down that you should order some comics after you do that. No price again, and again I’m guessing $4.

Mister V – The She-Ma’am Fella Hatin’ Sorority Feminazi #1

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The She-Ma’am Fella Hatin’ Sorority Feminazi #1

Hey wait a minute, that lady isn’t in a sorority! As you can probably guess from the cover, this comic is not for the easily offended. Then again, if you’re easily offended, why are you reading small press comics? All kinds of offensive shit in a whole bunch of these things. Anyway, this is a book of origins by the mysterious Mister V, although it’s not really possible to be mysterious these days, what with the social media and all. The first origin deals with the title character, and that title is long enough that I don’t want to write it again, but our hero in this tale is an abused Mexican maid. She can’t afford to get fired from her job, so she puts up with all sorts of nonsense from her rich boss. Then one day she finds Eva Braun’s strap-on in his attic (which gives the wearer super powers, obviously) and decides to test the device out on her boss. Next up is the story of Roswella, the last Martian, and how her race was wiped out, leaving her to find a suitable mate to repopulate the species. Jungle Jane is next and yes, she fucks a monkey. Her origins are still a little vague, but we do see what happens to people who track her down in the wilderness. Finally there’s Sequential Sally, who is a parody of female auto-bio types who use their cuteness to cover up their utter lack of anything interesting to say. My white male liberal guilt compels me to mention that there are also plenty of male autobio authors who fall under that heading, but this comic is all about the ladies. This particular story deals with her trying to convince people at a comics convention to buy her new book. Mister V was nice enough to send the first few issues of this series, so I checked the covers and these origin stories do have a point, as he tends to stick with the same characters. There’s also plenty of other minis available from the man, several of which couldn’t be considered offensive in any way, in case you wanted to check out his work but hate sexy parts, both real and strapped on. From what I can tell almost all of his stuff is up for free at his website, so check it out for yourself, but I thoroughly enjoyed the stories and the art. No price listed, so… $4?