Comic Series Trim Season Set on Remote Cannabis Farm

Scout Comics, a publisher rising in popularity, announced on October 26 a new horror/thriller comic series Trim Season—following a group of young adults from Los Angeles, California who migrate to a remote cannabis farm where they encounter the supernatural.

Trim Season is based on an original concept from Megan Sutherland, Sean E. DeMott and Cullen Poythress, loosely inspired by true events such as the story of the  “The Humboldt Five”—five women who went missing in Humboldt County, California during harvest season; however, it’s unclear whether their cases were connected. 

Scout Comics recently debuted several other titles at the New York Comic Con, including Eternus, a new comics series by Venom 2 director Andy Serkis and Andrew Levitas. 

DeMott explained what can be expected in the new comic in an interview with Hollywood Reporter. 

“I immediately thought of old rustic imagery and instantly thought, ‘What if there was a witch in the woods up there running a tweaker cult or cartel type thing?’” DeMott told Hollywood Reporter.

As with any migrant job, “trimmigrants” should be cognizant of potential dangers of working in remote areas. Humboldt County is ground zero for a flux of migrant cannabis trimmers each harvest season, leading to some communities deeming them a public nuisance. Migrants who come unprepared can face dangerous circumstances.

However, in Trim Season, the trimmers’ enemies appear to be more supernatural in nature. While details are limited, the storyline involves a sinister family and human sacrifice.

The idea initially led to a screenplay, written by David Blair and Ariel Vida, which in turn evolved into the comic book, from writer Jake Hearns. The comic book cover art for Trim Season is by Rob Prior, with pencils and inks by Mara Mendez Garcia and colors by Lorenzo Palombo.

Actress Jane Badler, as seen on NBC’s V, was considered for the role of a witch. Badler is now currently behind the comic book project via her MeJane Productions banner along with Execution Posse, a publishing and IP holding company that calls itself a “punk rock Marvel.” Execution Posse previously released Hot Valley Days and Cocaine Nights, about a young woman who becomes involved in the coke trade in 1980s Los Angeles, and Night of the Cadillacs, a supernatural comic set in the dive bars of Los Angeles.

“Execution Posse was trying to combine the two previous genres we had used together into something new. We had done an ’80s drug dealing book recently based on a true crime story, and we had done a supernatural book, but we hadn’t approached mixing true crime and supernatural together,” added DeMott. “We wanted people to see an evolution in our storytelling and this book shows that we can keep coming up with new ideas and finding spaces for them.”

An ashcan (proposed in-house version of an upcoming comic book title) of Trim Season is currently available. The full comic is due for release in Spring 2022.

Beyond Trim Season

Several other entrepreneurs are behind cannabis-related comic book projects lately. Cannabis and psychedelics have been portrayed in comics since the underground comics of the ‘60s.

On October 15, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong announced a new comic book with Z2 Comics called Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed featuring a roster of talented artists.

Creator Ejiro Ederaine is behind the JroMan Comic Book  Universe, which is described as a mirror of America’s current reality—and that reflection is a stark reminder that there is so much work that still needs to be done.

In the comic book JroMan, the hero gains his powers from an unknown strain of cannabis. Ederaine remains a strong proponent of Black representation in the world of comics.