Note: the link in the title goes to a site where you can offer a fair price for all three issues that are currently available. If you’re looking for single issues Birdcage Bottom Books has them. Onward! I had a really great conversation with Chad at CXC this year (2023, future people), which is what pushed me to get all three issues that he had available rather than sticking with the usual dipping my toe in with one issue. Based on this first one, I’m glad that I did. This is the story of Chad’s life roughly from 2004-2008, or at least the portion of his life that you might have guessed from that title: his time dealing pot. It was a very different world for such things back then, as he so eloquently describes in his afterward, among other things. It’s odd to start a review with the afterward, but between that and the ongoing narration during the comic it’s obvious that Chad is a hell of a writer. This issue starts off with the moment that Chad decides to take over the business, but wait, we don’t know anything about him yet! Not to worry, because he launches into a flashback from there, detailing his time working A/V for Georgetown University (including a hilarious example of the type of work he did, which I would have thought ridiculous if I hadn’t seen that exact same scenario in a college class of mine ages ago) before a chance meeting with a guy smoking pot on campus. He had no interest in ratting this guy out, but the weed smell was so strong that he felt compelled to warn the guy about other people possibly smelling it. A friendship was born from this, and Chad gradually discovers that his new friend wasn’t a casual pot smoker but was instead a big time dealer in the area. Chad helped this guy out with a connection when everything had dried up, this bigger time connection also became friends with the dealer (he was already pals with Chad), and time moved along, as it does. Chad was reluctant to take over the business when his friend left town, but it’s probably not a spoiler to reveal that he got there eventually, what with that being the premise of the comic and all. Chad mentioned that they’re sticking to a strict publishing schedule (that I can’t remember precisely now, of course), and the plan is to collect all of this into a graphic novel when it’s all said and done. I’d call that an excellent idea, as I’m very intrigued to see where it all goes from here. So in other words, yes, I’d recommend that you give this a shot. Pot smokers should know/remind themselves what things were like back then, and uptight squares should know the reality of dealing instead of their cartoon villain version of it. $10
