About this title: Mayhem and violence rule in this collection of issues one through seven of Jhonen Vasquez's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, as well as material seen before only in Carpe Noctem magazine. Dark and disturbingly funny, JTHM follows the adventures of Johnny (you can call him Nny), who lives with a pair of styrofoam doughboys that encourage his madness, a wall that constantly needs a fresh coat of blood, and--oh, yeah--his victims in various states of torture. Join Nny as he frightens the little boy next door (Todd, known to fans of Vasquez's work as Squee), thirsts for Cherry Brain Freezies, ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Slave Labor Graphics, San Jose, California, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780943151168ISBN:0943151163
Description: Near Fine/Not Issued. 4to-over 9¾"-12" tall 0-943151-16-3 Literature Near Fine copy, Pictorial stiff softcover. 4to measuring 10 by 6 1/2 inches. Profusely illustrated with graphics. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Slave Labor Graphics
Date Published: 1997-10-01
ISBN-13:9780943151168ISBN:0943151163
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780943151168. read more
Description: Good. Corners bent and worn., Used-Good. Sound Copy. Mild Reading Wear. Books uploaded via isbn and stock photos may be different than actual book. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Diamond Comic Distributors
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780943151168ISBN:0943151163
Description: New. Mayhem and violence rule in this collection of issues one through seven of Jhonen Vasquez's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, as well as material seen before only in Carpe Noctem magazine. Dark and disturbingly funny, JTHM follows the adventures of Johnny... read more
"Blood, twisted humor and a look down on society. I absolutely love this book! Johnny C. (or Nny) kills people, not only the ones who deserve it, but people who call him wacky and randoms he meets on the street. He lives in a house filled with torture rooms and a wall with a need for blood, with 2 psychotic doughboys and a floating rabbit head for company. The closest thing he has to a friend is his neighbor, a small boy named Squee, and he writes a comic called Happy Noodle Boy. It's bloody and destructive, but parts of it still ring true.
Despite (or maybe because of) all the torture/death/blood/funny bits/gore/general twisted hilarity of it, I cannot get over this book. Vasquez offers insight into the little part of all of us that just wants to go out and MURDER everyone that's done you wrong. The art is great, the story is great, and you read it again and again after it's over."
"This has lost a lot of the appeal it previously held over time. The social commentary of it is sort of funny, if not exceptionally original or deep. The art looks great in a lot of places, but it gets a bit messy at times. The humor appealed to me a lot more in high school than it does now, where a lot of it just seems sort of forced. But it's still an amusing read. I passed on my copy to a friend a while ago and I don't really miss it."
"If you're not a fan of - or have never heard of - Jhonen Vasquez's work, possibly the first thing you might say while flipping through a copy of this graphic novel is a good, healthy, loud 'what the HELL is this?!' And that is perfectly acceptable! But to the seasoned Vasquez fan, this collection of his Johnny the Homicidal Maniac stories is a goldmine of some of his best work in print form. After having ignored this comic to gather dust on my shelf for a good four years, I picked it up again on a whim about a month ago, and the difference a few years of maturity can make is immense. What one needs to understand, first and foremost, is that ¾ of the time, Jhonen Vasquez does not take his stories completely seriously. In several of his other comics published after this time, he makes this perfectly clear to his readers (who, due to the numerous complaints from him over the process of the comic's production, apparently still didn't understand). The second thing that needs to be understood about Johnny before you read it is that it is very, VERY gory, violent, vulgar, and inappropriate. (And it's a social commentary! What a wonderful combination.) The stories revolve around Johnny, who simply refers to himself as NNY, and his... 'adventures' in a mid-sized town. First introduced to us through an interaction with Todd, NNY's next-door neighbor and probably the most unlucky ten-year-old boy on the face of the planet (whose popularity gained him his own comic series), we learn that Todd (who NNY refers to as 'Squee' or 'Squeegee', due to the sound he makes when he's scared) was born into a family that hates him, and that Johnny makes next to no sense. He rambles, having snuck into Squee's house through a broken window to find Bactine for a cut, scares Todd immensely, and seems to almost have a case of tourette's with the amount of random outbursts. The remainder of the book seems to be an almost blatant commentary on the troubles of society (or rather, everything that annoys Jhonen Vasquez), ranging from pedophiles to aliens, poser Goths to bad parenting, relationships to religion. Most of these end rather violently, due to the plot revolving partially around Johnny's compulsion to kill centered around 'feeding' a wall in his basement with blood, under the orders of two Styrofoam cutouts that talk to him, which we learn later contains a horrible, non-discript and still not understood monster that kills NNY himself, sending him to purgatory where he has a (rather blunt) commentary on all aspects of religion, and then somehow lives again, long enough to wrap up the rest of the commentary Vasquez still has to offer. The language of the comic, as I mentioned earlier, is very vulgar. Very crude, and very vulgar, but for the purpose of the story, the most effective way that he could have gotten his point across. The vulgarity is used very well, which sounds absurd until you've had a chance to read and look at Johnny's character. The rest of the diction that is not excessive swearing is surprisingly varying from character to character. Squee does not have perfect grammar, which is to be expected of a ten-year-old, and the idiotic people whom Johnny seems to have qualms with all have simple, unintelligent diction to the point where you assume that just about anyone other than the main characters is a complete idiot. Johnny, as a contrast, has a surprisingly large vocabulary. It is obvious that he is intelligent, and through close observation, it really shows. It's hard to say whether or not it would be a good idea to recommend this book to anybody. The audience is rather pick-and-choose, for those not shopping at Hot Topic or trying to emulate the 90's goth. While it is perfect for that type, as well as your angsty high schooler, more mature audiences not acquainted with Vasquez' work might have trouble picking it up in the first place. If you are looking for a crude, uncensored commentary on the evils of society, you have found your comic, but if you still prefer to look past it all, JTHM is probably not for you. If you learn anything from the book, about the people in society and what Jhonen has to say, is that "The best some people can hope for is to better manage their damage.""
"This comic book is not for the faint of heart. It chronicles the experiences of Nny(short for Johnny) C., a man who kills people who even slightly irk him. It can be someone who trips him for no reason, or has a tie that he doesn't like. However, the story is way deeper than just ruthless killing. There are supernatural influences behind Nny's killing sprees, making it impossible for him to be caught, even when brutally killing someone in public. Nny says he must kill in order to paint a certain wall in his house with his victim's blood in order to keep a monster from breaking through. Nny also has his internal voices having lives of their own, in the form of two possessed styrofoam Pillsbury Doughboys, and the decomposed body of a rabbit that Nny brought home and fed for three days before nailing it to a wall. The main theme of the story is Nny questioning his place in the world, and why things are the way they are. Recommended for anyone who likes deep thinking and is okay with graphic murder scenes and almost continual profanity. There are also sequels of sorts, called Squee and I Feel Sick, which follow the stories of two side characters from the original comic."
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