Squee
Issue #4, for Mature Readers
Written and illustrated by: Jhonen Vasquez
Released by: SLG
This is a spin-off series from the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac series and issue #4 is the last issue in the series. I’ve already done a review of an issue of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and my feelings are pretty similar in this series I just don’t like it. The particular brand of humor and style of storytelling just really isn’t my cup of tea.
This comic has multiple stories in it, each running two to three pages long, and they don’t really seem to tie together well. In the beginning we meet Squee, so named because it’s the sound that he makes. Aliens have left a note indicating that they’re coming for him and Squee instead of letting the aliens perform experiments on him, offers his parent up in trade. We then meet Todd who has discovered that the school is drugging kids so that they accept blind facts willingly, such as Columbus discovering America in 1429 (the textbook has an error, but no one will admit to it.) Then we get a comic seemingly about Jhonen, called Johann in the comic, who is battling crazy fans that form one giant fan, before he is able to defeat them. And then we return to Squee and his parents, who are now beeping at random intervals since they are alien experiments, and who believe their son has gone crazy so have him committed.
This is a really difficult comic to break down. First of all the story lines while very loosely related, this issue seemingly dealing with mind control, vary so widely as to seem like they were written by two or three different people. And while this issue has some decent humor in it, such as exchange between Squee and the aliens, the storylines vary so widely. And when talking about the artwork there isn’t a consistent style throughout the entire issue, which isn’t bad it just feels like we’re looking at two or three different artists. E In some cases it looks like an out of control doodle, like the type that you would draw when you’re bored listening to a professor in school, then in other stories the artwork is really quite impressive with strong use of shading and good depth to the characters.
Basically this issue feels like four different people decided they were going to write a comic with a similar theme, but didn’t talk to each other at all in deciding what the issue was going to be about and put it together and called it good. This is kind of bad since its only one person that wrote and illustrated the issue. Clearly this comic has a specific audience that likes it, it just doesn’t include me and I won’t be recommending the comic to friends.
