Johnny C. -
"I wish someone would switch me off and fix me..."
Johnny C. - the main protagonist of Jhonen Vasquez's comic series Johnny The Homicidal Maniac that was first published in August, 1995.
A neurotic man who is dead-set on horrifically slaughtering anybody that even mildly irritates him in increasingly comical ways. Though somehow, he is never persecuted for his crimes against humanity due to some sort of 'protection' from demonic forces that also seem to be his driving force for doing what he does. As seen in multiple instances throughout the comic its evident that Johnny, despite getting amusement from his acts of violence, he feels obligated to carry out these acts. He must collect buckets of blood to keep a wall in his house painted lest a horrible eldrich monster burst out and kill everyone, which is seemingly his main motivation.
JOHNNY'S BIO - From the Directors Cut!
AKA... Nny.
Age... Early 20s
Height... 5'9 ft / 175 cm
Weight... 115 lbs / 52 kg (more with change in his pockets!)
LIKES...
Stars, The emotionless function of insects, Watching people get abducted by aliens, Cherry FizWiz, Cherry Brain-Freezies, all kinds of movies, the moon, little chubby babies, Pop Rocks and Soda, Drawing Happy Noodle Boy.
DISLIKES...
Humidity, sleep, the physical and mental need for ANYTHING, being abducted by aliens, people who've "GOTTA HAVE A SMOKE!", certain words, losing his mind, Satan's attitude, getting shot in the head, drawing Happy Noodle Boy.
BACKROUND...
Not much is known about Johnny's history. All we do know is that his parents were killed by an evil man, thus setting the course for NNY's life as masked crime fighter...Or, perhaps not. At present, NNY is more his own enemy than any external mind could be, what with the decomposure of what may have been, at one time, a fine, intelligent mind. Johnny is, possibly, more hideously mentally malformed than the people he seems to think have ruined his world. He's not a loser, he's simply lost.
JOHNNY'S...FRIENDS?
Todd Casil aka "Squee" - Named after the sound of fear he makes!
"Squee" is Johnny's next door neighbor, the two first meeting after Johnny broke into his home to steal some anti-septic. Squee's parents seem to detest him, his mother seemingly a drug addict and his father hating the poor kid for even being born. Johnny has picked up on Squee's neglect and has taken some sort of paternal or sibling-esque role in Squee's life - even protecting him from a child predator in one chapter. Johnny, however, refuses to kill Squee's shitty parents because he says - "We can't kill him - a kid needs a dad."
Devi D. - The one that got away.
Befriended by Johnny in Issue #2, Devi D. is set up as a possible love interest for Johnny as the two seem to be extremely fond of one another. And as seen in later issues Johnny still has positive feelings for her. During their first date, the two go back to Johnny's home where they are about to kiss before Johnny gets frightened at the prospect of physical intimacy and shuts himself in one of the many rooms in his house to which he is psychologically tourmented by the horrible manifestations 'the doughboys' that tell him to savor the moment by killing her so he can retain this happiness forever.... This attempt results in Devi beating him senseless and running away. It's obvious Johnny still loves her and wished she would've actualled killed him, to quote an exerpt from one his diary pages - "I keep dreaming of her. I dream she never stopped and - that she made it dark."
Edgar Vargas - Unfortunetly, no longer with us.
A man that Johnny abducted in Issue #2 that seemed to get through to Johnny just a little bit in the short time the two were familar with eachother. Edgar, hooked up to one of of Johnny's torture devices states that he is not afraid to die. They engage in a back and fourth where you think Johnny will learn some sort of lesson as he feels some bit of remorse for what he is doing to Edgar...But ultimately Edgar is killed as Johnny belives it was necessary. - "Though you are my bestest, bestest friend in the room, currently, dire circumstances require me to end your life."
PERSONAL SECTION...
How did I even stumble across JTHM anyway?...
As a teeny little larvae, circa the fabled early 2010s and late 2000s I had always loved Invader Zim - as my mother had made me watch it! And as such, I went to seek out more of Jhonen Vasquez's work...And found multiple of those classic Window Movie Maker style PMVs and Tributes that featured Johnny. I clearly remember the video I watched that first exposed me to it - A PMV to NeuroticFish's remix of They're Coming To Take Me Away...That video is 15 years old now...*shudders.*
I wanted to read the comics - but back in the day I had no way to other than to purchase a physical copy! Honestly, if I asked my parents they probably would've bought me the comics anyhow...But that brings me to current day, as an adult I binged the entire series in one night and instantly fell in love!
Why I love Johnny!
Truthfully, I still have hope that Jhonen Vasquez will pick JTHM back up one day. I will be SAT no matter the medium...I would just love to see more of what he had in mind for him! Even if its completely substanceless LOL i'm noooot picky!
JOHNNY PLEASE COME HOME I MISS YOU BITCH !!
MISC TRIVIA...
- Appears in an episode of Invader Zim...Specfically the episode "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", which implies at some point, Dib has met Johnny.
- Invader Zim and JTHM are implied to take place in the same universe.
- According to his (now deleted) twitter account, he hates hot pockets.
- Jhonen confirmed in a vlog that Johnny is Mexican.
- When Jhonen Vasquez first created Johnny he was a child, and his comic strip was called Johnny the Little Homicidal Maniac.
- He apparently never sleeps and actively resists doing so.
- According to the spin-off book, Squee! after the events of the main comic, Johnny spent some time at a mental hospital - being the subject of a sleep study. To which it's revealed that prior to that he did not sleep for two-to-three months beforehand. (if he's telling the truth, that is.)
