Gadzooks is a hybrid from Zookies crossed with Chemmy Sours, bred by Thunderfudge Genetics and run as California indoor flower by Maven Genetics. The seed release circulates under the spelling Gadzookz, so both turn up in the wild. Pine and pungent sweetness up front, rosemary and a soft lavender edge on the way out, and it starts behind the eyes before turning heavy.
Where It Comes From
Thunderfudge is a Pacific Northwest breeder, not a modern brand launch. His roots go back to the 1990s market, with cultivation work through the 2000s, and his name traveled after he worked alongside Exotic Mike at Exotic Genetics during the Starfighter run in 2011.
He documented more than a decade of breeding on THCFarmer, stepped back during the Zkittlez wave when the market went candy-first, and came back with a catalog that includes Chemmy F'n Sours — the parent stock behind this cross.
Maven Genetics is the other half of the story. Founded in 2014 and based in Los Angeles, Maven is vertically integrated: it grows, distributes and retails its own flower. Gadzooks reached most California consumers as a Maven eighth rather than as a pack of seed, which is a very different route than the one Thunderfudge's earlier work took.
The Cross
The genetics are Zookies x Chemmy Sours, with Thunderfudge credited as breeder and Maven as cultivator. Those are different jobs. One selects the line; the other produces the harvest you actually buy, and the second decides more of what ends up in the jar than most people assume.
Zookies is Animal Cookies crossed with Original Glue, which stacks Cookies-family sweetness against Glue's earthy, resin-heavy reputation. Chemmy Sours comes in at Dog Patch crossed with Sour Larry BX2.
Sour Larry is Thunderfudge's long project: a Sour Diesel IBL sourced from Elite Genetics, crossed back to Larry OG, then worked through BX1, BX2 and F-series generations across roughly a decade. That is the part of the pedigree that makes Gadzooks worth chasing — it carries a line most people never had access to.
Maven's own copy points at a pungent, sweet, floral character with spicy and fruity undertones, rosemary and pine on the inhale and a softer lavender-like sweetness on the exhale. That botanical finish is what separates it from the generic fuel-and-cookie read its parentage would suggest.
What It Left Behind
No competition placement is documented for Gadzooks itself. Maven has hardware — a fourth-place indoor finish at the 2023 Emerald Cup, second at the 2023 High Times Cannabis Cup, plus Farmers Cup, Transbay Challenge and West Coast Zalympix results — but those wins belong to French Laundry, a different Maven cultivar. They do not transfer here, and any menu implying otherwise is stretching.
Gadzooks' real footprint is narrower and more interesting: it is one of the few visible commercial outlets for Thunderfudge's Sour Larry work, a line that lived mostly on forums and in private hands.
The High Rise Take
Gadzooks is Thunderfudge's Zookies x Chemmy Sours sold as Maven flower: pine, pungent sweetness, herbs and a lavender-leaning finish over a slide into deep relaxation. Worth pulling for the Sour Larry side alone.