This week we go back to April Fool’s Day, 2012, for a show that has taken on a bit of a bittersweet aura. This episode presents Coalfinger, a film by Johnny Rock, whom we lost a little over a year ago.

“Adventure Comics Shirt” was a special episode of Radio Free Charleston, dedicated to presenting once-thought-lost scenes from The Lower West Virginia Contemporary Light Opera Stage Players film production of the James Bond film, “Coalfinger.” All prints of this film were destroyed after MGM, EON Productions and the Ian Fleming estate won a permanent injunction against the tiny, Southern West Virginia theater company Luckily, a few scenes were preserved in filmmaker Johnny Rock’s long-supressed documentary on the making of “Coalfinger.”

It was April Fool’s Day, and it was time to show the world this short film that Johnny and Tim Rock came up with, with a little help from Stephen Beckner, Jason Ashworth, yours truly and other members of the Go Van Gogh inner circle. The premise was that a Southern West Virginia theatre troupe somehow wound up with the rights to make a James Bond movie, and potshots were taken at lots of local creative types. Making this film remains one of the most fun times in my life.

As with most of our April Fool’s Day specials, the original production notes were written in jest. You can read them HERE.