Squeak the Mouse

An outrageously cruel cat versus a wily mouse: a rivalry as old as time, popularised by the beloved Tom and Jerry cartoons of the '40s and '50s. In the hands of renowned Italian cartoonist Massimo Mattioli, however, this classic premise is infused with a whole new perverse and anarchic energy. Laying full-on slasher horror onto wacky cartoon violence, Mattioli's characters embark on a sadistic bloodthirsty rampage, leaving a trail of mangled corpses and pools of blood in their wake. And the comic's gratuitous bloodshed is not to be overshadowed by its crude humour and over-the-top sexcapades. In sum, a tour de force of unrelenting transgression, rendered in clean line art and dazzling pastel colours. Conceived in the early '80s, 'Squeak the Mouse' was originally serialised in the Italian underground comics magazine Frigidaire to much acclaim.