Johnny C

Origin

In his early life, it is implied that Johnny C. came from an abusive home where his parents died horribly before he entered middle school. But that wasn’t the main catalyst for his life taking a dark turn. Before he ever became a homicidal maniac, Johnny was a successful cartoonist who had created a beloved comic strip that earned him a comfortable living. That all changed one day when he began to experience artist’s block.

Over time, he began to doubt his skills as an artist and began delving into darker emotions and disjointed, psychotic thoughts in order to produce anything at all. This drive to succeed while drifting away from reality attracted an evil force to him in the form of the Psycho Doughboy and Mr. Eff. That force would turn Johnny into a waste-lock; a killer with supernatural powers that exists to slaughter people who emit the worst kinds of negative emotions and energy.

It has been years since Johnny was overtaken by those evil forces. Now he kills indiscriminately, waiting for the day that it will all end.

Creation

The conception for the idea of Johnny happened when Jhonen Vasquez was in high school. Originally, Vasquez drew comics that were little more than elaborate revenge fantasies against the bullies he had during those days. Much evidence of this can be seen in the way that Johnny kills people in the comics who tried to trip him, or who insulted him in any way that he perceived or misconstrued. But before even that, Vasquez had submitted a character who would eventually become Johnny C. as a suggestion for his school’s new mascot.

Years later, Vasquez began to submit his Johnny comics to Carpe Noctem magazine, which was where he would meet several people who would become his longtime collaborators, as well as begin to refine the character into what he would eventually become. It was only after appearing in a seven part series of comics by Slave Labor Graphics that the character, Johnny C., would really come into prominence. From there, Johnny would go on bizarre, philosophical, and sometimes supernatural adventures that would delight audiences with the trademark humor and horror of the comics he appeared in.

Character Evolution

Personality

Somehow, Johnny appears to be two people at once. First, there is the raging, raving, lunatic who relishes the idea of killing anyone, even if it’s himself. A monster without a conscience, this side of Johnny delights in dragging people who annoy or displease him into the depths of his house so that he may torture them relentlessly and without mercy. This may be considered the part of him that has eschewed any humanity, and has compromised any humanity that he may have.

The other side of Johnny is much different. This side of him knows that what he is doing is wrong, and sometimes feels a pang of sympathy for the people he is killing when he hears their pleas. It is this side that Johnny wishes to suppress so that his conscience won’t keep him from doing what is only in his nature as a killer. Often when he expresses this side of himself, he will monologue at length, or have disturbing conversations with his (imaginary?) companions. But no matter what side of Johnny shows through, he is always ready to kill the worst kinds of people.

Though he is vicious and cruel, Johnny is also quite passive when it comes to his own life, and seems to only let things happen to him. For example, he only spoke to a girl that he liked, until she asked him out. On their first date, Devi was the one who suggested everything they do, and she initiated their first kiss. Besides the occasional venture into the outside world, Johnny prefers to remain alone and undisturbed in his house.

When left with his own thoughts, Johnny constantly ruminates about the wrongs that he perceived were done to him, fueling his drive to kill. Often, he placates his dark feelings with delusions of being above everyone who he considers uneducated, conforming consumerists, which also leads him to killing others. As an insomniac, his lunacy may even be fueled by a lack of sleep, which may last for months at a time on some occasions. Yet, he also has a softer, almost brotherly side when it comes to his young neighbor, Squee, whose wellbeing he has actively protected.

Most of all, Johnny wishes to be rid of his conscience, so that he can do what must as a waste-lock.

Appearance

Madness is evident by looking at his face. Most often, he hides behind a façade of an emotionless mask. However, when his killer’s blood boils, his countenance begins to change. His eyes become incongruous in size, giving him an unhinged, deranged look that is unsettling to behold. The size of his mouth will change drastically, from a tiny gap, to a malicious grin, to a wide, gaping maw filled with crooked teeth.

While he stands at an average height, Johnny is unnaturally thin. Almost to the point of emaciation, it is a wonder how he even has the muscles to stand up with a correct posture. And his clothes do little to fill out his figure.

Whatever attire Johnny wears, it’s almost always dark, tight and alternative. Mostly, he is seen wearing skinny jeans, boots with toe caps that look like cloven hooves, and a long sleeved shirt with alternating black and white stripes. Layered over that shirt is a short sleeved shirt with a distinctive bold ‘Z?’ logo on it. This logo may change from panel to panel, often to reflect Johnny’s inner thoughts.

Throughout the series, Johnny has sported two distinct hairstyles. The first is a sort of modified crew cut that is styled into spikes of varying length. However, upon his return from the afterlife, Johnny’s hair changes so that almost all of it is missing, except for two long strands, which resemble either devil horns or insect antennae.

Debut

During his very first appearance, Johnny was little more than a wild, maniacal madman who had very little in the way of humanity. He is first seen traumatizing his young neighbor, Squee, and then proceeds to murder almost anyone who crosses his path during his daily life. It is not known what reason most of these people gave him to kill them, with a few exceptions who (rather innocently and unintentionally) antagonized him.

A Touch of Humanity

By the second issue, we begin to see different sides of Johnny and how he operates as both a killer and as a human being. He first is seen talking with his latest victim, Edgar Vargas, who he shares certain life and spiritual philosophies with. In the end, Johnny derives no pleasure in killing Edgar, and feels like he may have made a mistake in killing him. Shortly after, he is seen dating Devi, who he had built a rapport with. But it was during their first date that Johnny ruined any future he had with her by trying to murder her.

A while after that, we see Johnny go out of his way to protect Squee from child molester that he encounters at the mall. Even then, he still manages to traumatize the little boy by murdering his would-be predator in a horribly gruesome fashion. Even though his murderous urges always win out, we see a different side to the character of Johnny between issues #2 and #3.

The Depths of Madness

By this point, we see Johnny contemplating his own existence in the world as a homicidal maniac. Even though killing people who annoyed him gave him such great joy previously, he begins to wonder about the purpose of it all. We see a change in him as he openly admits to not being happy with his life, and finally commits to suicide.

The Truth Revealed

During his visits to both Heaven and Hell, we learn more about how Johnny came to be and why he does what he does. His role as a waste-lock is revealed and explored, showing us the real extent of his power, and what a necessary evil he actually is in the world. After his return to the living world, we see Johnny resume his bloody work with a new zeal and a new purpose.

The End of it All

This is where we see the final evolution of Johnny’s character. After accepting his role as a waste-lock, he decides to make it his mission to rid himself of any conscience. He attempts to make peace with Devi and says his goodbyes to Squee, then begins his journey to become totally emotionless. The series ends with the audience never knowing how that endeavor turned out.

Major Story Arcs

Traumatize Thy Neighbor

Johnny is first seen after breaking into his neighbors’ house. While he is only searching for some bactine to treat some wounds that he had sustained during a recent murder he committed, he establishes his psychotic nature, philosophy as a killer and his relationship with Squee. This only serves to shake little Squee to his very core after Johnny brutally stabs his stuffed bear, Shmee, and chillingly informs Squee that they are now neighbors.

Shortly after this incident, Johnny is approached by a man who is taking a survey, and more of Johnny’s philosophical beliefs about people and society are learned by the audience. He then reveals that he has been the one who has been murdering people around the neighborhood so that he may paint one of his walls with their blood. Squee is further traumatized when the man’s severed head is ejected from Johnny’s window, and rolls to a stop in front of Squee as he was riding by on his tricycle.

Edgar and Devi

For the very first time in his career as a homicidal maniac, Johnny meets a victim who he has a calm and enlightening conversation with. Edgar Vargas is a simple, kindhearted man who has nobody and nothing in his life but his faith in the goodness of himself and other people. Because of this, Johnny feels no satisfaction at all from his murder.

Later, Johnny ends up going on a date with Devi D. Despite Johnny’s passive, dismissive, and almost complete disconnect from the situation, Devi appears to be enjoying herself. And even though Johnny desperately wants to connect romantically with her, he gives in to his murderous urges and pulls a knife on her. Devi survives the encounter, but meeting those two leaves its mark on him.

Hell Breaks Loose

After his final, and finally successful, suicide attempt, Johnny is unable to continue his work to kill people and paint the wall with their blood. Finally, we see the reason why he has done this. As it turns out, a terrifying entity of pure evil was sealed within that wall, and Johnny kept it that way by painting the wall with fresh blood. Now that he is incapacitated, there is no supply of fresh blood, and the creature breaks free.

Two of Johnny’s victims escape from their imprisonment and begin making their way to the surface, all the while avoiding the grasp of the wall monster. In time, they find Johnny’s half-dead body, who gives his last biting words to all of humanity before he is kicked to death and his reality is swallowed by the darkness of the wall monster.

The Afterlife

Shortly after losing his life to the madness that has consumed him, Johnny finds himself up in Heaven. After traumatizing the guard at the pearly gates, Johnny wanders in and meets God himself. Far from the all-knowing, all-powerful deity that he had pictured, God is ineffectual and dismissive to all of Johnny’s questions about his own existence.

During a tour of Heaven, Johnny finds that it’s far from the paradise that is imagined in most literature. Instead, everyone who ends up there sits down and stares blankly. They possess incredible power just by being in Heaven, but they choose not to use it. Johnny, however, has other plans, and begins to abuse the powers that are granted to him by being there. For causing so much trouble and disturbing the peace, he is sent to the bowels of Hell.

Immediately after arriving, Johnny meets the devil face-to-face. The devil, then teaches Johnny about what a waste-lock is, why he became one, and what his role as one of them is. While Johnny isn’t too happy about the answers that he has received, he still chooses to try and live out the only purpose that he now knows and understands.

To better understand his role, Johnny is given a tour of Hell, and finds it to be just as repulsive as the real world. In fact, Hell is a perfect replica of the real world, and the only main difference is that people relive the vices, foibles and obsessions that consumed their lives, until it gets them killed. Disgusted by the revelation, Johnny is sent back to Earth where he finds he is now alone and in control of his own thoughts. Nailbunny, the two doughboys, and even the wall monster are all gone, granting him a new lease on his life. His first order of business? Indulge in cherry brain freezies while watching Scumby cartoons.

Wrapping Things Up

Over the course of the final issue, Johnny meets a copycat killer, who had only existed in the background for most of the series. While the copycat claims that the two are of a kind, Johnny sees him as only a bastardized copy and does away with him like he is just another one of his victims. For him, it’s one of the most satisfying kills that he has ever committed.

Shortly after, Johnny calls Devi and offers her a recorded message, where he tries to explain and justify his actions and thoughts toward her. Instead of anything that he was expecting, Devi ruthlessly rebukes him so that she can take her life into her own hands and not end up like Johnny. Even though things didn’t work out as he had planned, Johnny has found his closure with her.

Finally, Johnny says his goodbyes to Squee after protecting him from his abusive father one last time. Before he goes away, Johnny offers some advice to Squee, saying that he should do anything that he can to not become like himself. He finishes by saying that he knows that Squee has already been traumatize by him and his parents, but Squee must find a way to manage the damage that has been done to him.

The last we see of Johnny is him writing in his diary about how he wants to rid himself of any emotions and conscience so that he can continue his work as a waste-lock in peace.

Powers

Absurd Strength

While far from superhuman, Johnny displays a level of physical strength that would be wholly unexpected from somebody as skinny as he is.

Reality Warping

As a waste-lock, Johnny is immune to certain rules of reality. Every time he murders somebody in public, no matter how explicit, boisterous, or ostentatious, nobody remembers that he is the one who did it. Even if a surviving witness sees him again, they don’t recognize him. The ones who do often end up getting killed, and Johnny is once again invisible in everyone’s memories.

Immortality

Despite sustaining mortal injuries on multiple occasions, Johnny seems to be unable to die. Sometimes things just seem to turn in his favor, such as a gun not firing when it’s aimed at him, even though it should have fired.

Accelerated Healing

Johnny heals much more quickly than a normal person would from things like deep cuts, broken bones, and even gunshots to his head. Unfortunately, he doesn’t heal rapidly or instantaneously.

Supposed Powers

It is not entirely clear if this is true or not, but one of the survivors of Johnny’s attacks claims that Johnny is capable of firing energy beams from his eyes and transforming into a monster. The actuality of this claim is dubious, but may not be entirely out of the realm of possibility, as we do not know the full extent of Johnny’s powers as a waste-lock.

Skills & Abilities

Reflexes and Agility

When provoked, Johnny is able to cross a room in the blink of an eye, leap over obstacles his own height, draw a weapon and attack in less than a second, and dodge oncoming projectiles.

Murderous Ingenuity

While he is certainly a master of bladed weapons, Johnny is able to improvise weapons out of anything he finds. He has used silverware, mannequins, extension cords, shoelaces, and an assortment of other everyday items in his murderous escapades.

He is also able to engineer diabolical devices of torture to inflict as much pain for as long as he possibly can on somebody, before killing them horribly.

Alternate Versions

I Feel Sick

Johnny appears in a flashback that Devi experiences as she begins to understand what is happening to her. We are shown what conversation that they were having before Devi suggested that they go back to Johnny’s place to finish their date.

Squee

At the very end of the Squee spinoff series, we see that Johnny has voluntarily admitted himself for a sleep study at the same mental institution that Squee has been forcibly admitted to. Theoretically, he’s also there to look out for Squee, but that may be just a coincidence.