Smiley is an evil button. Seriously, he's just a yellow smiley face button that one pins onto a jacket. This semi-sentient object is featured in comic books in the Evil Ernie franchise, as first seen in the original 1991 limited series Evil Ernie by Eternity Comics. The button appears in every aspect of the franchise, becoming more prominent in the projects published by Chaos! Comics and later, when the property was sold off to Devil's Due Publishing and Dynamite Entertainment. Smiley first appeared in Evil Ernie #1 in December, 1991. He also spotlighted his own one-shot special and zero issue in 1998 as well as the Smiley: Anti-Holiday Special in 1999.
Smiley was originally a pet rat owned by young Ernest Fairchild. He kept him secured away in his bedroom and fed him bits of food and crumbs from his dinner plate. The rat eventually made his way downstairs where it was discovered by Ernest's abusive father. Mister Fairchild killed the rat, but its soul was retooled by the mysterious power of Lady Death and was housed within a smiley-face pin. The Smiley button was used as the conduit between Lady Death's power and that of Ernest Fairchild's post-mortem incarnation, Evil Ernie. As the nihilistic undead teenager, Evil Ernie always kept Smiley pinned to the right lapel of his leather jacket. The pin developed some form of quasi-sentience, often goading Ernie towards greater acts of carnage. The evil pin also had a lecherous quality to it, and took keen interest in the affairs of the fairer sex, particularly if they were scantily clad.