JTHM

I'm a big fan of comic books and graphic novels. Most graphic novels have great artwork and good story lines, but most of them go along the same style. A big, strong, yet flawed superhero has to overcome the villain who is the exact opposite of what he is.

There is one I cam across about a year ago that was nothing like any other comic I had ever read. A little independent graphic novel called "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac" by Jhonen Vasquez. I'm betting at this point you probably laughed a little, that's the point. The story centers around a young guy named Johnny C. who throughout most of the comic (obviously) kills people. What makes this more than a simple blood book is the story line behind it. Johnny is very emotional character who sees only the underlying evils of everyone around him. And he takes this info to weed out those he sees as unfit to affect the world around them. The best part of all this is that this whole horrific story is actually supposes to be funny. It was one of the first of what they cal a "dark" or "gothic" comedy, in which that which we hold sad or evil, is portrayed as funny. 

It's unique in the fact that it took so many risks in its subject matte and presents a unique story line and art style as show here:

(this is about the least graphic I could find)

If you're easily offended, I would not recommend this series ever. But if you can get past the violence then it's a great read.