Jhonen Vasquez Possibly Teasing Return of 'Johnny the Homicidal Maniac'

Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of Invader Zim, has his fans abuzz with the potential for the return [...]

By Jamie Lovett

Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of Invader Zim, has his fans abuzz with the potential for the return of his original comic book creation Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

The speculation began with a single tweet from Vasquez, in which he shared an animated GIF of what appears to be Johnny C.'s pixelated silhouette.

"Murder comes in a handful of pixels," Vasquez wrote. The tweet is now pinned to the top of his Twitter profile. Take a look below.

While that is hardly a confirmation that anything further is in the works and it is entirely possible that Vasquez was just having a bit of fun with his old creation, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac has a fervent cult following that would be eager for the character's return.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac was Vasquez's first comic book. The black comedy began life as a comic strip running in the goth magazine Carpe Noctem in the early 1990s and was later published by Slave Labor Graphics from 1995-1997 as a seven-issue black-and-white limited series. The series was then collected into trade paperback form as Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: Director's Cut.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac follows Johnny C. as he tries to understand his compulsion to murder, looking towards both the psychological and the supernatural for the explanation. The comic is seen as an outlet with which readers, and the writer, can indulge their darker impulses.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac led to two spinoff comics. Squee! follows Todd Casil, a small boy and supporting character from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac who deals with constant bullying. The four-issue miniseries was later collected as Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors. I Feel Sick followed another Johnny the Homicidal Maniac supporting character, Devi D., as she dealt with the same strange forces that compelled Johnny C. to go on his murder spree. Johnny C. appears in both spinoff series.

Vasquez recently returned to his more famous creation, Invader Zim. The popular animated series is returning for a new movie on Nickelodeon. The trailer for the movie was released at San Diego Comic-Con. Invader Zim has also returned in comic book form from Oni Press, and Vasquez has contributed to the series with his own story.

Do you hope to see Vasquez create new Johnny the Homicidal Maniac stories? Let us know in the comments!

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