Squee is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
in
Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen C. Vasquez (; born September 1, 1974) is an American cartoonist, animator, screenwriter, music video director, and voice actor. He is best known for creating the comic book '' Johnny the Homicidal Maniac''—along with its spin-off comics ...
's
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
''
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
''Johnny the Homicidal Maniac'' (often abbreviated ''JtHM'') is the first comic book by Jhonen Vasquez. The series tells the story of a young man named Johnny “Nny” C. as he explores the psychological and possibly supernatural forces which ...
'', who was later featured in
his own four-issue series, published by
Slave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jh ...
. This was eventually collected as a
Trade paperback (TPB), titled Squee's Wonderful Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors.
Squee
Todd Casil, better known as Squee after the noise he makes when frightened, is a young boy who first appeared in issue #1, living next door to the title character, Johnny C. His parents neglect him (especially his father, who works long hours) and his only shown friend other than Johnny is a small
teddy bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...
that he carries around named Shmee. Shmee tells Squee in a
dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
that all his
fear
Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
s and
nightmares are inside him. Squee is also friends with
Satan's son Pepito, with whom he attends school. He later had his own series called ''
Squee!
''Squee!'' is a four-issue comic book series by Jhonen Vasquez, published by Slave Labor Graphics, featuring a supporting character from Vasquez's previous series ''Johnny the Homicidal Maniac''. The series was eventually collected as the trade ...
'', which was collected in ''Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book Of Unspeakable Horrors''. He also had another friend named Andy, but he was attacked and killed by a
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
.
A quiet, introverted child who is frequently targeted by bullies, Squee has been forced to mature a bit more quickly than his peers. He is fond of writing, but only receives criticism from his teacher and taunting from his classmates. Any attempts he makes to deflect these hostilities only result in being shoved into the dirt or otherwise humiliated. Squee's mother is addicted to some form of a pill and spends a lot of time lying around in a nearly incoherent state. She often forgets who Squee is, or that she even has a child. Squee's father loathes him and never misses a chance to blame Squee for 'ruining' his life, claiming that he "hasn't smiled once since
queewas born." Having little patience for anything Squee says or does, he eventually becomes convinced that Squee is mentally unstable, and by the end of the series, has him committed to the "Defective Head Meat Institute." Squee's grandfather claims to keep himself healthy and young by consuming his children's first-borns, and subsequently attempts to devour Squee, only to reveal in a horrifying fashion that he is in fact a
cyborg
A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. and quite possibly
insane.
Squee's next-door neighbor is
Johnny C, aka "Nny" (pronounced knee), the main character of the series. "Nny" regularly visits Squee late at night by breaking into his room. The series focused more on the '
mentoring
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
' or 'big brother' aspect of "Nny" and Squee's relationship, but little interaction occurs in ''Squee!'', aside from the occasional drawing or note left in Squee's room, or short references to 'the crazy neighbor man' (he does appear as an out-patient of "Defective Head Meat Institute", who Squee is oddly pleased to see). Squee has only one friend, albeit a possibly imaginary one, the dilapidated teddy bear affectionately referred to as Shmee. Only one real person makes any attempt to befriend Squee, a boy named Pepito who happens to be the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...
. During the course of the series, Squee encounters a killer
chihuahua (that fatally mauls the only classmate who was friendly to him),
zombified classmates, sporting mishaps,
alien abduction
Alien abduction (also called abduction phenomenon, alien abduction syndrome, or UFO abduction) refers to the phenomenon of people reporting their experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subjected to physical and psychologica ...
s, near recruitment into Satan's army, an encounter with his future self, a
ghostly visitor, a giant murderous
dust mite
House dust mites (HDM, or simply dust mites) are various species of acariform mites belonging to the family Pyroglyphidae that are found in association with dust in dwellings. They are known for causing allergies.
Biology
Species
The curren ...
, and eventual committal to a
mental institution
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
despite being one of the sanest characters in the comic (however it's strongly implied he ends up hiding out with Pepito). These experiences lead him to remark to a 'lamb-baby-dog-thing' in one strip that some bitter
cartoonist must be drawing his life and therefore he doesn't want to get too attached to anyone or anything in it.
Shmee
Squee carries around with him a dilapidated
teddy bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...
he named Shmee. Often, Squee talks to Shmee like a real person, confiding in the
stuffed toy
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be ...
, who apparently responds even though their dialogue is non-readable, the one exception being a strip in which Squee has a conversation with Shmee in his dreams. Shmee claims to be a 'trauma sponge,' soaking up all the negative feelings and experiences and storing them inside himself for Squee. He says this will prevent Squee from becoming like Johnny C. During the silent exchanges they share on various occasions, Shmee often suggests that Squee do something violent, such as
arson, in retaliation for some wrong committed against him. Squee laughs these suggestions off, assuming that Shmee is joking, though to the reader it is fairly obvious that he is not.
See also
* ''
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
''Johnny the Homicidal Maniac'' (often abbreviated ''JtHM'') is the first comic book by Jhonen Vasquez. The series tells the story of a young man named Johnny “Nny” C. as he explores the psychological and possibly supernatural forces which ...
''
*
Characters of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
* ''
I Feel Sick
''I Feel Sick'' is a comic book created by artist Jhonen Vasquez, with colors by Rosearik Rikki Simons. Published in August 1999 through May 2000, it is a spin-off of Vasquez's comic book series ''Johnny the Homicidal Maniac''. ''I Feel Sick' ...
''
*
Johnny C.
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females.
Variant ...
*
Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen C. Vasquez (; born September 1, 1974) is an American cartoonist, animator, screenwriter, music video director, and voice actor. He is best known for creating the comic book '' Johnny the Homicidal Maniac''—along with its spin-off comics ...
*"
Invader Zim
''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...
"
References
*''Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors'' (1998) SLG Publishing ()
{{Jhonen Vasquez
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
Child characters in comics
Comics characters introduced in 1995