Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez

  

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is a comedy horror, the series tells the story of a fictional serial killer named Johnny C, as he explores the psychological and possibly supernatural forces which compel him to commit a string of murders

 

What it was:

This was a particular favourite of mine during my formative years, a dark, blood-soaked black and white bit of indie-comic brain-mess. With choppy, heavily styalized art, a dark sense of humour an ugly, brutal fiend of a main character and no true moral compass at it's heart it captured my attention and acted as a cathartic outlet for my angst ridden bile. I really did hold this graphic novel in a remarkably high reguard and saw it as a  a rather poetic, funny and accurate reflection of my own inner-demons at the time of reading

What it is:

Frankly, looking back over this for the first time in a good long while, it really isn't the deep introspective work I once believed it to be. This powerful, epic tale through heaven and hell, upon retrospect, is nothing more than a really funny, dark little tale with some rather lackluster art at some points but entertaining as sin. It really is a good read but it's not the important text I used to think it was, ignore the cog-psychology and introspective noise and latch onto the lovecraftian elements, the sly digs at pop-culture (and culture in general) and pure manic, dillusional madness and you'll enjoy it.

In the end:

Give it a read, Johnny, squee, happy noodle boy, it's all funny and entertaining but don't exect to be blown away.

Marks: 5/10