Inferior to the predecessor, 'Johnny The Homicidal Maniac', 'Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book Of Unspeakable Horrors' doesn't seem nearly as coherent in it's vitriol. Read the first and enjoy it for what it is, ignore the second. ( )

This spin-off features another character featured in the mainline series: Nny's neighbor and timid friend- Squee. I think out of the spin-offs, this one was my least favorite. Still good and I did like it- some people out there actually prefer this spin-off more than the others. I'd absolutely still recommend it to Vasquez fans if they haven't read it yet. It gives some closure to some of the characters as well, so pick it up if you haven't. ( )

It feels weird saying this about such a gory book but this is just for kids. I think that's why I didn't like it. The whole thing reminded me of like back in middle school when everyone used deviantart and inexplicably loved GIR from Zim. I was into Invader Zim back then too, and a lot of material from Squee was obviously recycled for it, but reading this makes me wonder if I would actually enjoy rewatching it as an adult. The humor is the same, sort of like Don Hertzfeldt's "Rejected", just sort of shock value and edgy, but unlike "Rejected" this one didn't actually make me laugh at all. It was just sort of disturbing, and I completely understand that he was going for the Kafkaesque but it honestly just didn't land at all.
The first half of this was all about the same character, Squee, but his story arc sort of leaves off halfway through and the second half is just unconnected vignettes, which I was not expecting. Had Squee's story actually gone somewhere maybe I would have enjoyed this a little more, but without that there was very little to redeem this book. The art style is recognizable for sure, but a lot of it is either super inscrutable or just gory and gross, a lot of the humor is unfunny metahumor or just too verbose, and I had trouble reading Jhonen's handwriting in the speech bubbles a lot of the time! All in all I may have thought this was funny when I was like 12, but as an adult it just seems like it's edgy for the sake of being edgy. ( )

Poor little Squee LOL
Squee is a nervous little boy who lives in a frightening world. He is plagued by pretty much everything including strange adults, aliens from another world, and the crazy homicidal maniac who lives next door. 😜😜😜
Just like the rest of Jhonen Vasquez's comics this one is beautifully drawn. No I wouldn't say beautiful... I would say dark. Yes very dark. As in all of his artwork Vasquez's disdain for the rest of humanity comes out in clear comedic form. The poor little protagonist views the outside world as exactly that and yearns to living a life of his own away from scary reality.
As the spin off of JTHM I think Vasquez did beautifully with the series. The artwork is the same as the original series and the irony is also on par with the original JTHM.
Anyone who likes Invader Zim or JTHM would love this series as well. ( )

Darker than dark view of boy (Todd/Squee) and his inner demons.... think an R-rated Calvin & Hobbs. For example, Todd is invited to a "play date" with Pedro... whose father happens to be the spawn of Satan. Graphics mimic the dark, sardonic tone. Very funny and appealing for the right audience: the disaffected and jaded teen. ( )