Who is Jhonen Vasquez? And why he is important to me + The Importance of POC content creators
Jhonen Vasquez is an American Cartoonist / comic book writer among other things such as Music Video director. He is most known for his comics and a short lived Nickelodeon cartoon named Invader Zim.
Now that I have explained let’s have a little flashback:
When I was 12 years old I wanted to be an animator when I grew up. I have been drawing since small, 5 year old me could hold a crayon. However the idea of having a career tied to that hobby never crossed my mind, until I started watching a little cartoon called Invader Zim. Preteen me was obsessed with this show, and loved everything about it. The plot, art style, music ect. I remember, however being completely in love with the art style. So much so that that style was all I ever drew in for a long time, I thought it was interesting and Wierd but unique. So for a long time I wanted to be an animator until my mom told me how much math it took years later when I was a teen ( I hate math ) then I kind of tossed that dream and then was stuck in what I wanted to do in the future.
Fast forward to many years later, I’m about 20, the Invader Zim movie is announced and suddenly I’m 12 years old again. And then I think about animating again but then I start to have doubts. Every animator/cartoonist I could think of was white. Every name of the creators of every cartoon I watched growing up was a white name. Craig Bartlett, Stephen Hillenburg, Joe Murray, Butch Hartman to name a few. I’m not saying these guys aren’t great people, and I’m not saying I don’t like them. However, I think I should mention that I’m Latino. I had yet to see a name like Johnathan Ruiz, or Craig García or maybe a Stephen Martínez. Until I remembered Jhonen Vasquez.
That last name kept echoing in my head as I suddenly remembered the creator of Invader Zim’s name while trying to find some other work he might have done. It was a familiar name, the last name Vasquez. It was a name that reminded me of my house and my family with all their Hispanic last names. It was name that made me feel familiarity and closeness with. I cried when I figured out Jhonen was ( is ) of Mexican descent. I’m not Mexican, I’m Guatemalan and Salvadoran however I have family members who are. And I cried because for the first time ever, here was someone who made a cult classic and they weren’t white. Jhonen is Mexican and the tears wouldn’t stop for me as that fact sank in. You might see this as a bit of an overreaction but if you do, you might not understand. For a long time while thinking that I wanted to pursue a career in animation, I thought I could not because I wasn’t white. White is what gets successful, white is what makes it in this world, white is what sells. Not brown or black. But then here is Jhonen, who made a cult classic ( despite its cancellation ) here he is, obviously successful. Here is Jhonen, and when I look at him, I see myself. I see someone with my skin color, with my features, who made something successful. And when I saw him with this new knowledge I thought “If he can make a cartoon. Then I can” and I began to feel confident that one day I’ll see my own name, my own Hispanic last name next to the title card of my very own cartoon. And I cling onto that hope to this day, with Jhonen as my drive, my inspiration, my aspiration. I’m working hard because of him, I’m marching towards my goal full of the energy to pursue it despite what may get in my way because of him, I’m planning all these things with such determination because of him. And I think it’s important to have a hero like that.
Which brings me to the fact that I strongly believe we need more POC content creators. There aren’t enough, and that’s very sad. We need POC content creators to not only provide us with representation with POC characters but to also inspire a little kid or teen or young adult to do something they love despite the color of their skin. I adore how Jhonen can unapologetically make all his characters people of color, and make characters based on what he saw growing up and not just what sells or what’s popular. We need more cartoonist like that and I believe firmly that the only way we are going to get it is with People of color content creators. They know their own more than any white person. They know how to properly give representation more than any white creator could possibly do. This is not limited to cartoons but all sorts of media. We need more of this. More of them. I don’t want POC children to grow up like me, surrounded by nothing but names that don’t feel like home. I don’t want POC adults to feel like they can’t make it because they are so used to seeing white people get successful.
We can be successful and I hope that if you’re in that place, I hope you find your living proof that you can do this, just as I found mine.
