I Feel Sick
I Feel Sick is a "doubleshot", full-color comic book written and drawn by the popular comic artist Jhonen Vasquez and colored by Rosearik Rikki Simons (who would later go on to do the voice of GIR in Invader Zim). It revolves around Devi D. from Johnny The Homicidal Maniac (JTHM), and her dealings with the same supernatural forces that drove Johnny to lunacy. Originally intended as a single paperback, it was later split into two issues so as to avoid compromising the length of the story. It was published by Slave Labor Graphics.
Character Listing
Devi D.
The protagonist, Devi, is an introverted female who is currently under attack by the same forces that wreaked havoc on Johnny, the protagonist of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and her love interest (the interest ended when he tried to attack her in an attempt to "immortalize the moment"). Despite prior claims, he was not her boyfriend, and the only date they went on ended violently, leaving Johnny with severe head trauma and making her into a recluse for the next few weeks. She was raised by her father, at least from her mid-teens, and has remained somewhat antisocial since then, stemming from her disastrous first date. Her later attempts at dating fared no better, and have in fact become worse (her last two attempts being a sufferer of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and the homicidal maniac himself).
Her hairstyle is the same from JTHM issue 7, but her hair is now colored purple (similar to Gaz). She has quit her job at the local bookstore in order to work as a graphic designer and cover artist for Nerve Publishing.
Tenna
Tenna is a good (and apparently the only) friend of Devi's, and lives one floor down from her. She is one of the few African-American characters created by Jhonen Vasquez himself (the rest appear to be Hispanic). She possesses a squeaky toy she calls Spooky, and believes that the source of all of Devi's problems is her lack of social contact (which, actually, is true). Her advice to Devi is always "You need to get out more," which is generally met with skepticism by Devi. She is thought of as insane, due to the fact that she constantly talks to her squeaky toy, Spooky. She first appears in the fourth issue of Johnny the Homicidal maniac, trying to calm Devi's fear, and was then called Tonja.
Psychic Fat Lady
This monstrously-overweight woman has psychic fat and has no qualms regarding making public her visions that Devi will die in a plane crash. However, that prediction is false, as her fat didn't have the 'heart' to tell her that it was she who would die. This becomes apparent when a plane crashes into the building. She lives directly one floor down from Devi. She hasn't left her apartment for at least a decade and, at one point in the story, blocks the hallway to Devi's apartment with her fat.
Eddie
A complete jerk from Devi's past, and a contributor to her introversion. Quickly after a typical movie-and-a-dinner date together, Eddie's car swerved off the road and struck a tree, trapping both Eddie and Devi inside the vehicle. The incredibly asinine Eddie didn't even notice when several severe injuries befell his head, choosing instead to pester Devi to have sex with him. The mongoose that caused the car to go off road also took Eddie's brain.
Eric
Eric is a character that first appeared in a Meanwhile section in JTHM (and also briefly in Zim, in another form). He's a teenage goth who likes to dress up and pretend he is a vampire. In I Feel Sick he is one of two posers Devi meets in a flashback sequence in which she goes to a night club. The other is a rather large girl who claims to be a mummy. Eric catches on fire in said flashback.
Mr. Nevers
A higher-up in the Graphic Arts department of Nerve Publishing. This lunatic has undergone a lobotomy in order to have the creative centers of his brain removed. He enjoys waiting until the last minute and telling the artists to change this and that to the finished product. This causes them to go absolutely nowhere in the creative process. It is unknown, but highly likely, if this has anything to do with the creatures born of unused creativity (Ex: Sickness, The Doughboys)
Spidgey Simons
Another male from Devi's past. Specifically, first grade. He was in love with Devi back then, but a then-ignorant Devi callously refuted any attempt he made to express his emotions, including crumpling up his Valentine's Day card for her, and spewing self-chewed chalk powder into his face. He later died of a chalk-induced asthma attack. The Psychic lady's fat also reveals to her that he was the last person who would ever truly understand her, and now that he is dead she has no hope of ever having a good relationship.
Johnny C (AKA Nny)
The main character from Jhonen's more famous book JTHM. Nny makes a short appearance in this comic during a flashback which details a conversation leading up to first panels seen of Devi and Nny's disastrous date in issue #2 of JTHM.
Trivia
- Jhonen Vasquez has stated that the creation process of "I Feel Sick" was cathartic and somewhat autobiographical, seeing as this was made when he was hired to create the cartoon Invader ZIM. Basically all the problems Devi had been suffering from taking on the work for NERVE and neglecting her own work was reminiscent to the pressure Vasquez would get from Nickelodeon.