Jhonen Vasquez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jhonen Vasquez
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Vasquez in December 2023
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| Born | September 1, 1974 San Jose, California, U.S.
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| Other names | Chancre Scolex Mr. Scolex |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
Jhonen C. Vasquez (born September 1, 1974) is an American artist. He creates cartoons, writes stories, and directs shows. He is famous for his comic books like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and the popular Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim.
Contents
Early Life and Art Beginnings
Jhonen Vasquez was born on September 1, 1974, in San Jose, California. He spent his childhood in East San Jose. During high school, he often drew in his sketchbooks. He even entered a contest to design a new mascot for his school.
While working on the mascot design, he drew the first sketch of a character. This character later became Johnny C, who starred in Vasquez's first comic book series. His high school newspaper published some of his early comic strips. These strips featured Johnny C and were called Johnny the Little Homicidal Maniac.
After graduating in 1992, Vasquez studied film at De Anza College. He also created another character, Happy Noodle Boy, during this time. Even though he didn't have much art training, he left college to become a professional cartoonist.
In 1995, he met other artists like Roman Dirge and Rosearik Rikki Simons. Roman Dirge later became a writer for Vasquez's show Invader Zim. Rikki Simons helped color the show and voiced GIR, Zim's robot sidekick. By 1996, Vasquez was successful enough to focus on his art full-time.
Creating Comics
Early Comic Series
In the early 1990s, Carpe Noctem magazine published some of Vasquez's first one-page comics. In 1995, a company called Slave Labor Graphics started publishing his Johnny the Homicidal Maniac comics. This series had seven issues. It was later collected into a book called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: Director's Cut.
The cover of the book has a special logo, "Z?". This means "question sleep." This idea appears often in Vasquez's work. It relates to his characters' insomnia (trouble sleeping) and his own fear of sleep. The comic series follows Johnny as he tries to find meaning in his life. This search often leads to violent events.
Vasquez's next comic was The Bad Art Collection. This was a short, 16-page comic. He said he drew the art for this book in high school. He wanted to stop classmates from asking him to draw for them.
Spin-Offs and New Stories
In 1997, Vasquez gave Squee his own four-issue comic series. Squee was a supporting character from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Squee's series shows his adventures with aliens and even Satan's son. The collected version of Squee! also includes other short comics by Vasquez.
His next big project was I Feel Sick, which Rikki Simons helped color. This comic is about an artist named Devi. She tries to stay sane in a strange world. She even talks to one of her own paintings, named Sickness. Slave Labor also published three Fillerbunny mini-comics. These started as small comics to fill empty pages in the Squee! series.
Vasquez mentioned that the first two Fillerbunny comics were made very quickly. However, the third one took over nine months to finish. He felt it was much better quality. In 2007, he worked on two comics where he was only the writer. One of these was called Jellyfist.
In 2009, Vasquez worked with other artists for Marvel Comics' Strange Tales. He wrote a story about MODOK. He returned in 2010 for Strange Tales II with a story about Wolverine. In 2012, DC Comics announced that Vasquez joined the writing team for their digital comic Beyond the Fringe. This comic was based on the TV show Fringe. In 2014, Vasquez announced he would release a new collection of his Fillerbunny comics. He also planned his first new comic book in ten years.
Television Work
Invader Zim
Jhonen Vasquez created the animated TV series Invader Zim for Nickelodeon. The show is about Zim, a naive alien from the planet Irk. He tries to conquer Earth and make humans his slaves. However, a young paranormal investigator named Dib always stops his plans. Dib knows Zim is an alien, but no one believes him.
The first episode aired on March 30, 2001. The series ran for two seasons. Nickelodeon later canceled it due to low ratings and high production costs. The last episode, a Christmas special, aired on December 10, 2002. Vasquez provided voices for characters like Zim's computer, Old Kid, and Minimoose. He also appeared as a background character, credited as "Mr. Scolex."
Vasquez returned to Nickelodeon in 2016 to write Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. This was a TV movie based on the Invader Zim series.
Other TV Projects
Vasquez also designed characters for the Disney XD show Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja. He also wrote an episode for the online series Bravest Warriors. In 2014, it was announced that Disney Television Animation picked up a pilot called Very Important House. Vasquez co-created this show with Jenny Goldberg. However, in 2016, Vasquez shared that Very Important House was not picked up for a full series.
Other Creative Works
Vasquez worked with Crab Scrambly on a storybook called Everything Can Be Beaten. It was published in 2002. Vasquez, using the name Chancre Scolex, wrote the story. The book is about a strange person who lives in a room. He discovers that "everything can be beaten" after an adventure outside. This storybook later inspired a puzzle browser game called Bloody Fun Day in 2008.
Vasquez also created all the artwork for the special edition of the Mindless Self Indulgence album If. He also directed music videos for Mindless Self Indulgence's "Shut Me Up" and The Left Rights' "White." Jhonen designed the cover art for the album Zero Day by MC Frontalot. He also shows his artwork in galleries sometimes. He created an art piece inspired by BioShock 2 called "The Sisters."
He also worked on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles short film. It was called Don Vs Raph. In this short, Donatello and Raphael compete to see who is better, but they always end up tying.
Art Style and Themes
Many of the characters in Vasquez's cartoons are often very thin and geometric. They look almost like stick figures with thick black outlines. The main characters in his comics are usually mentally unstable. They live in strange societies. Their wild thoughts can even speak through objects that aren't alive.
His stories often use black comedy, which is a type of humor that deals with dark topics. His art style is sharp and unique. You can often find smiley faces in his artwork. These smiley faces are meant to create an ironic feeling of happiness in a chaotic world.
Vasquez's writing often shows themes of disliking people or being pessimistic. These themes are often used to make fun of things. Several of his works have featured goth characters. These depictions are often used to satirize, or make fun of, the goth subculture.
Awards and Recognition
- Squee! was nominated for two Eisner Awards in 1998.
- I Feel Sick won an International Horror Guild Award in 2000.
- Invader Zim won an Emmy and an Annie award. It also won for Best Title Sequence in 2001. The show received seven other nominations.
- Vasquez and his work were honored in a 2003 exhibition. This was at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
- Vasquez received the Inkpot Award in 2015.
See also
In Spanish: Jhonen Vasquez para niños
