FEATURE: JHONEN VASQUEZ

Jhonen Vasquez is the twisted mind responsible for such first-rate comics as Johnny The Homocidal Maniac and Squee along with mini-series like I Feel Sick. Though his comics often make light of murder and child neglect, there is always the perverse pleasure of going somewhere that no one else has gone before - from murderous dust mites to the complete insanity of the Happy Noodle Boy comics ("Bring me Mentos! You deny me Freshmaker?")

Vasquez mocks certain sub-culture staples, such as goths and comics fans, with a deadly aim that only one who would know the scenes intimately could achieve. His fascination with madness is a little frightening in of itself but the repeat blasts of black humor, often random, prevent anyone from getting too disturbed.

Of course, reading about Vasquez' work is nowhere near as good as reading it for yourself. I can't seem to find any kind of official Jhonen Vasquez website, but this site has some good stuff to look at, so you might want to look there. It's not exactly comprehensive - it's mostly about JTHM - but it does have some character bios, comic book covers and neat stuff like that. Or you can just go ahead and order the books directly from his publisher, Slave Labor Graphics.

You can also now catch Jhonen's work on TV! Although maybe not as dark as his comics, you can still watch his perversely comic Invader Zim animated series on Nickelodeon. The show follows the adventures of an alien invader (Zim) forced to go to grade school on Earth, while fighting against suspicious fellow classmate Dib and dealing with his robot servant (in dog disguise), Gir. They keep changing the time slot, but find out when this show is on and WATCH IT.

(BTW, the thingy with the shades up there is Little Dermy, the angry skin mite. Quote: "I'm coming for you, skin tree! For yoooooooooo!" He can be found in the Squee book. Aren't you glad you found out?)

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Michael O'Donoghue Jhonen Vasquez

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