Jellyfist
A review of Jhonen Vasquez's weirdest book yet
Jhonen Vasquez is known for his darkly absurd sense of humor. As the creator of the seven-issue comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and the short-lived (but hugely popular) Nickelodeon cartoon series Invader Zim, his humorous misanthropy and stylishly creepy character designs have won fans the world over.
Unfortunately, these same qualities, combined with his cult-popularity, have also earned him unfair derision from readers and critics all-too-eager to write his work off as mall-goth tripe. But with his 2007 book Jellyfist, Vasquez’s talent and creativity as a storyteller is on prominent display, thanks largely to the fact that the illustrations were handled by artist J. Goldberg.
Like a Saturday Morning Cartoon in Hell
Vasquez explains the book’s concept and execution in the introduction; quite simply, he wrote a series of absurd short stories and gave the scripts to Goldberg to illustrate as she pleased. This isn’t Vasquez’s first collaboration with another artist; he previously worked with illustrator Crab Scrambly on the violent picture book Everything Can Be Beaten. But Jellyfist is a collection of stories, so the results here are all over the place; some are darkly funny (“Little Thing Lost”), some are sad and disturbing (“The Grocery Parking”), and many others are confusingly surreal (“Das Bleemp”). A significant number aren’t stories so much as odd exchanges between equally-strange creatures.
Goldberg’s drawing style is what drastically sets this book’s tone apart from other Vasquez works. There’s still an undercurrent of darkness running through the whole thing, but her settings and characters are cartoonish to the point of being grotesque, adding an element of creepiness that would be right at home on an early episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show. There’s a slight retro vibe to it; even the muted color scheme is reminiscent of a faded newspaper comic.
Nightmarish and fun
There’s a nightmare-like feeling that permeates the entire book and while some stories are too out-there to be conventionally enjoyable, Vasquez and Goldberg have provided a perpetual running commentary in the margins to keep things grounded. In some cases, the commentary is more entertaining than the actual stories; Vasquez makes it clear that Goldberg’s artistic decisions often conflicted with his original vision and the two frequently spar over the details in the panels. It’s like listening to the commentary track on a DVD, only without constant awkward pauses.
Jellyfist isn’t the sort of thing that everyone will enjoy. Casual readers unfamiliar with Vasquez’s more obscure work (such as The Bad Art Collection or Fillerbunny) might find it to be impenetrably weird. But it’s interesting to see Vasquez’s strange characters and situations interpreted through another artist’s perspective, and it’s a fun, dreamlike expedition into absurdity for readers who have open minds and ample patience.
Jellyfist cover
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