If ever there was a perfect date to take a blunt look back at Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back movie tie-in comic book, it would have to be 4/20. While the world was first introduced to the concept of the pot-smoking superheroes Bluntman and Chronic in 1997's Chasing Amy, it wouldn't be until 2001 that the pair got their own line of comics. The three-part trade paperback, rolled out to coincide with the release of Strike Back sees the titular heroes - the "Doobage Duo" - traversing a landscape of characters and adventures that could only have come from the warped mind of Kevin Smith.

The books get meta right from the start, with creative credit being given to Banky Edwards and Holden McNeil, the creators of the (at that point) fictional books in Chasing Amy - played by Ben Affleck and Jason Lee - respectively, with the two actors even penning the book's afterword. The real-life comic was written by Smith, with art by Michael Avon Oeming and Neil Vokes (and designed by Mike Allred). The stories wear Smith's love of comics on their sleeves, with the first issue making overt references to the origin stories of iconic heroes like Green Lantern, Spider-Man, and Daredevil. In the quest for free drugs, the duo even nearly receives a Captain America-esque Super Soldier Serum, following an ad for voluntary drug testing. But they back out, standing by their principles that they don't mess with injectables. "We're Stoners. We get lit. We don't shoot S%*t," Jay says as the pair leave the lab. Bob doesn't say much.

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When the pair hit the lotto, Jay's first thought of what to do with the money is, naturally, to become superheroes, building their "secret base" out of the very same stores they've been famous for lazing in front of since the characters' first appearance in Smith's classic 1994 indie Clerks. The second issue introduces us to Bluntman and Chronic's villains, most of whose names are unfit to print here (let's just say one was originally named Richard Head and leave it at that). It turns out there are apparently a lot of vats of acid in New Jersey for our heroes to accidentally knock people into, inadvertently creating their own nemeses. Smith even works in some not-so-subtle commentary on the monopolistic nature of Diamond Comics Distributors (though it seems like the times they are a-changing there). The third issue opens with Jay realizing he's considered by the masses as a sidekick, and in a very "Spider-Man No More!" scenario, he leaves the team. And then immediately returns when he remembers Bob is holding all the weed. The story concludes in the Bluntcave, with a battle against a villain that will be familiar to any Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back fans (think Mark Hamill).

Smith has never made a secret of his love of comics. He launched the reality show Comic Book Men out of his own comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank, NJ. He's written stories for lines like Daredevil, Green Hornet and on several different Batman runs. Smith and comics are so entwined that one of Stan Lee's final Marvel cameos ever - in Captain Marvel - saw him reading the script for Smith's Mallrats, which featured the industry legend providing sage-like wisdom to Jason Lee's Brody. Mallrats actually provided early hints toward Bluntman, with a scene seeing Silent Bob whip out a grappling gun from the utility belt he'd apparently been wearing the whole time. Never one to shy away from being self-referential, the entire plot of Strike Back revolved around the real-life Jay and Bob stopping a movie adaptation of their comic book counterparts, and the recent Jay and Silent Bob Reboot sees them again trying to foil yet another  Hollywood reboot.

Anyone familiar with Smith's work will understand why it's hard to get into some of the book's more explicit scenarios here while keeping it PG-rated, so to experience the full lunacy on display when Jay and Silent Bob suit up, check out the Bluntman and Chronic trade paperback for yourself. Herbal aids are recommended, but not necessary.

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