Demon
Jason Shiga
:01 First Second, 2016
Demon is a series of graphic novels by the same author/artist as Meanwhile, Fleep, Empire State, and Bookhunter. He is known for simple (but well-done) art, and complex, tricky stories. This is no exception. This review is specifically for volume one, cleverly entitled Demon, Volume 1.
"Bizarre, sick, funny, and more than a little depraved, all of which is part of it's charm." -- Nerdist
Yeah, I'm going to be relying on the book jacket blurbs to help out with my review, because 1. they are 100% correct, and 2., it's hard to review this book properly without spoilers. However, the setup is straightforward and compelling; Jimmy Yee, a rather average man driven to suicide, discovers that he simply cannot kill himself. Not that he doesn't have the means or the nerve. He certainly does. But every time he tries, he wakes up again, healthy and hale, and more depressed than ever. His persistent attempts at suicide take up the first 38 pages. And, really, the whole book.
"Jason Shiga has created a surprisingly morally repugnant protagonist. I'm ashamed of myself for liking him!" - Adam Savage (Mythbusters)
Okay, now for some Spoilers. I would recommend skipping this paragraph, but hey, it's up to you. It emerges that, at least as far as Jimmy can figure, he is actually a demon (or, possibly, insane and hallucinating), and every time his current host dies he moves into the nearest living human body. This is annoying, 'cus he really wanted to die, but even worse, it turns out that the government understands his situation and would very much like to recruit him. He doesn't stick around to find out why; he just kills himself and runs away. As many times as necessary. End Spoilers
Did you skip that? I hope so. Anyway, basically, Jimmy is a psychopath with magical powers, and when he can't kill himself he starts killing lots of other people. The story is delightfully twisty, with some clever surprises. The story is also intentionally violent, vicious, and disgusting -- it doesn't matter if you are more appalled by gratuitous mass murder, cartoon erections, or eating one's own vomit, Shiga will have something for you.
"To my wife, Alina, who begged me not to dedicate this book to her" - Jason Shiga
So, it's like Southpark without the annoying voices and with a better plot. If that sounds like your thing, you should hunt down this book. If that doesn't sound like your thing, don't let it scare you off from Jason Shiga -- he is often dark, but rarely this dark, he is one of the more imaginative cartoonists out there (plotwise, not artwise), and he is worth checking out.
The Demon series consists of four graphic novels, and they all follow the same naming convention as the first one. They have recently been published in one volume, titled, you guessed it, Demon.