Ziggy Marley performs on the Bank of America Stage on Saturday. (Jefferson Bernardes / AFP / Getty Images)

Two weeks ago, Ziggy Marley released a comic book called Marjiuanaman. But it’s not about what you might think it’s about.

The comic, created by the legendary reggae scion, written by Joe Casey and illustrated by Jim Mahfood, does involve the cannabis plant, which Marley has long been a proponent of legalizing. But if you’re looking for a That ’70s Show or Cheech and Chong-esque romp about wacky dudes getting high and the hijinks that ensue, then you’ve got the wrong book.

"There is a superhero, from another planet, who comes to Earth actually to find a solution to saving his own planet," explains Marley, son of the late reggae superstar Bob Marley, and a performer Saturday at SunFest. "He discovers this plant, the hemp plant, and it means something to him. It transforms him into a superhero called Marijuanaman. He joins forces with a community who uses hemp as a base for life, as they battle a man who runs an evil pharmaceutical empire, called Cash Money, who wants to monetize the plants."

Marley, who came to prominence on his own in the late ’80s with his family group, The Melody Makers, knows that it sounds fantastical. But the intergalactic battles in Marjiuanaman are, he says, just a metaphor for the battle of an activist community that wants to decriminalize a plant whose uses, they say, are far more beneficial than just a little recreational toke.

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"There’s a hypocrisy in criminalizing this plant, with all of the good aspects of it, including medicinal and energy and industrial. It’s time to wake up. I think that this planet is in need of a savior plant, and this plant is it, if used wisely. Yet still we deny it and demonize it. It’s time for us to stop. This could be advantageous to us as a planet."

Marley’s new album, Wild And Free, is due in June. A follow-up to 2009′s Family Time, its songs cover everything from relationships (“Forward To Love”) to his genre itself (“Reggae In My Head”).

He says that more than 20 years after the release of the first Melody Makers album, he still has the same challenge – "How do I get these (radio) guys to play this groove?" he says, laughing. "It’s always been about the music, even though I have to fight to get it played. But if I have to keep fighting to get it out, that’s cool with me.

"That’s why I even did a comic book, because I have to find another medium, to find other ways to express myself. It’s not easy to get my videos shown on TV. It’s always a struggle," he continues. "The music is how I express my art. Coming through the Internet has been another way to get my message out and reach people. But I think that in the next few years, the comic book is gonna be my thing, to fight for this oppressed plant, this oppressed life form. That is freedom!"