Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: Mass Murder with a Positive Message

For this week's Manga Management, I chose something a little different. And by different I mean something random and that's not exactly qualified as a manga. But I could care less about it. It's written animation so for all the trolls, I suggest closing the damn window. So for this week's Manga Management, I chose Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasques. If you were a kid or someone that watched Nickelodeon, you might recognized Vasquez's work with the cult series Invader Zim, a dark humored cartoon about a reject alien trying to take over the earth. JTHM was a project that Vasquez worked on before Invader Zim and believe me, the graphic novels are...a bit extreme. There's blood, murder, toilet jokes, and demons from other dimensions. So aren't you glad it's all in black and white?

Don't you just hate being judged by your stuffed animals.Johnny does.

The graphic novel with characters like the ones here is somewhat relative to anyone even though from first glances he looks deranged. I'm not saying to go on a killing spree and stab knives in the mouths of women, but if you do you didn't get the idea from me.The message that Johnny wants to convey is that humans are nothing but filth to this world. Even to the point of having another segment in the series called Johnny the Suicidal Maniac, where depression gets to him in many ways that make him want to end his life. One way involves not being able to get a slushie at 2 in the morning from the store. WHAT A COMPLETE TRAGEDY ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH!! OH THE HUMANITY!!!

Yeah I wasn't kidding about jabbing knives into someone's mouth.

Throughout the series, we dive deeper and deeper into a more sinister plot (yes there IS a plot than just killing). The plot is still weird about how it wants to go about, but has a supernatural feel to it that makes it believable. It's not really one of those "believe in this scientific bullshit because it's science" or "it's magic so don't question". It's more into things you would hear from an occult where Johnny's reason for killing is to use the blood to paint a wall so that an inter-dimensional monster won't enter this dimension. See, he kills us to save us. All this is also circled around Johnny hearing voices from two Styrofoam pigs with one dressed as a Pillsbury Dough boy and the other one named Mr. Fuck. Johnny slowly starts to lose focus on who he really is based on the common sense of a dead dismembered head of a rabbit. This all leading up to a pretty weird climax where Johnny actually dies and has a complicated time in heaven and Hell. Yes, a psychotic maniac who dwells on suicidal and homicidal thoughts got into heaven based on an accident. Things didn't turn out too well in both places so instead the Devil brings him back to life so he can live on earth. The series kind of slows down after this and Johnny even goes on some soul-searching trip to figure himself out. And by soul-searching, I don't know if he plans on taking anyone's soul.

Ain't he just the cutest and horrible thing ever?

The other series like Wobbly Headed Bob is about a reject chibi cartoon whose burdened by his vast knowledge doomed to walk the earth. Not much of an ego when he just whines about how horrible everyone else is and how smart he is. He's a confusing character, but when he interacts with other people it's just cringing and painful. Either way you keep reading for it's entertainment value. The other story that come up is a stick figure named Happy Noodle Boy. I can't really describe what the hell goes on with this one. It's a stick figure whose possibly on crack. Nothing he says makes any sense nor does it have much of a message or meaning. He screams and yells at other deformed people and calls THEM the idiot. And the one thing to remember is that the author of this bi-polar combination of lines and circles is Johnny himself. Go fucking figure.

Do you REALLY want me to explain what the hell he's talking about?

JTHM is a weird read and not exactly something you would want your child to read for fear of suicidal thoughts about how the world is a cruel place and we're just waiting for the infinite end where either God is a lazy fat ass who won't answer questions and where Hell has a giant eyeball in the sky that expects you to be good-looking and attractive. There's plenty I can talk about with the way the graphic novel like the short about Vasquez's actual life that involved rescuing the pope from aliens and defeating the devil who runs a store where he couldn't get a slushie past 2 in the morning (wow I'm getting the weirdest sense of deja vu). Other stories even include Squee's lifestyle to the point where Vasquez even made a spin-off for the frightened little boy. The series is a good read for people who could try to understand the psyche of a deranged killer who has a few tormented issues. The series isn't really hard-hitting but it does want to take you to a different place. Hopefully not heaven or Hell. But the stories are different from anything you would expect. Wait, it's called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. From that title you should expect a hell of a lot of craziness. But I digress. So JTHM for me gets a 4 out of 5 bloody knives (try not to puke on your computer screen). It's good read but not really for everyone enough to be a gem. That's it for this week's Manga Management of if you'll excuse me, I have to be morbid and depressed after re-reading this horrifying and dreadful graphic novel. Have a nice day everyone!!!