The Dark Mind of Jhonen Vasquez
Johnny C., Squee and…Dinosaurs?
This article discusses the works of Jhonen Vasquez such as his most memorable - Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
He is the sound in the basement or the moving shadow that you only see out of the corner of your eye. Jhonen Vasquez’s writing and images gives a face to the bogeyman.
Born in 1974 in San Jose, CA, Jhonen Vasquez began drawing as a pre-schooler. As a child his interest focused on dinosaurs. As he developed and grew he had sketches of one of his most famous characters, Johnny C., completed by his graduation.
First published in Vasquez’s high school newspaper, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (JTHM) depicts Johnny C. (nicknamed ‘Nny’), a young man who keeps numerous victims in the caverns beneath his house in various stages of torture. When not killing Nny spends his time in the company of a dead bunny named Nailbunny, who Nny nailed to a wall 24 hours after bringing him home from the pet store. This action set Nailbunny’s fate as the angel on Nny’s shoulder and his voice of reason via hallucinations. Mr Eff and Psycho Doughboy, two Styrofoam figures, serve as dual devils to counter Nailbunny. They also speak to Nny; alternating between attempts to convince Nny to commit suicide and encouraging bad behavior toward Nny’s ‘guests’, the people being held in various dungeons by a variety of torture devices.
Throughout the JTHM comic Nny’s own creation Happy Noodle Boy spouts his discontent to whomever is around whether they want to listen or not.
The JTHM spin off Squee, features Nny’s neighbor, Todd (nicknamed Squee because of the sound he makes when afraid), his neglectful parents and his toy bear Shmee. Shmee, much like the doughboys in JTHM, serves to point Squee in the wrong direction. In this comic Squee has the misfortune of living next door to Nny, the Devil and the Antichrist.
In yet another JTHM spin-off, I feel sick; we find Devi D. (Nny’s “one that got away”), her dysfunctional mind, her talking doll named Sickness and a talking painting. JTHM readers first met the introvert in Johnny the Homicidal Maniac where she served as a kind of romantic interest for Nny. The idea of romance disappeared when Nny attempted to kill her in an effort to preserve their moment forever.
Created in an effort by the author to meet a publishing deadline, Fillerbunny the story of a genetically enhanced bunny who was created to entertain and not allowed to die, was completed by the author in a 24hr period. Fillerbunny appears in both Squee and I feel sick as a section divider and in its own comics Fillerbunny in "My Worst Book Yet!" and Revenge of the Fillerbunny.
Vasquez broke the mainstream seal crossing over from paper to television with Invader Zim. In this story Zim is banished to Earth while under the impression that he is there to complete a mission. Essentially sandwiched between peanut butter and jelly, this taste of acid didn’t go over well with the channels demographic (ages 2-11), as the reports of nightmares would testify. Though Jhonen Vasquez had established his reputation as an artist and writer, Nickelodeon cancelled the show after one season due to creative differences between Vasquez and Nickelodeon. Due to its cult status, great effort has been made by the fans to bring back the show to no avail. Invader Zim continues to live on in the occasional rerun on Nickelodeon and MTV2 as well as on DVD.
With the creepiness of Cronenberg and enough violence to bring a tear to Dahmer’s eye, what is next for Jhonen Vasquez? Who knows, but we should be afraid.
* Current musings by Jhonen Vasquez can be found at his LiveJournal blog or at his website QuestionSleep.com
* For Jhonen Vasquez comics and graphic novels go to SLAVE LABOR COMICS
