OH MY GOSH THIS SHOW IS AMAZING!
Let me offer some backstory here. Of course I'd hear about this show called Invader Zim every once in a while as I grew up. Some of my friends watched it, sometimes I'd just see random people sporting the merch for it, you know how it goes. It was there, I was aware of its existence, but I never gave it a second glance. I was confused by the concept of Gir, especially, as sometimes he would look like a dog and sometimes he would look like a robot. Every time I thought I knew who was Zim and who was Gir, I came to find out I was wrong, because up until about this time last year I don't think I ever really saw Zim. (Gir merch is everywhere.)
Enter Tonisha, my previous college roommate and now best friend. This woman loves to use the word "doom." For every occasion, whether it's applicable or not. It was something I noticed about her almost right away as we were first getting to know each other, and at one point I finally commented on it. I don't remember exactly how that conversation went down, but it ended with her singing The Doom Song to me. I asked her what it was from, she said, "Invader Zim," and then proceeded to pull up the video. This was the first time I experienced a more-than-a-glance exposure to the show. I watched it with a mostly "what the heck is this" attitude, not entirely liking it, or the singer. (I had not yet learned to appreciate Gir.) After that moment any time I made mention of her excessive use of the word, she would sing The Doom Song to me. It was kind of funny, but also kind of annoying at times.
(I'll make a quick side note here to say that I judged the entire show off of that 30-second song. Based on what I saw, the show appeared to be just another stupid cartoon, falling in line with such nonsense as SpongeBob or Adventure Time in my mind. It pains me to write this now, after having seen the error of my ways...but this is an important statement for one to understand how radically my mind has been changed since.)
Fast forward to about a year later, October 17, 2016. As I sometimes do in the early, early hours of the morning, I found myself hanging out in the "top ten countdowns" section of YouTube. And this is where everything changed. I was watching a WatchMojo "Top 10 Greatest TV Shows That Were Cancelled," or something along those lines. You guessed it - one of the shows on the list was Invader Zim.
I truly cannot tell you what it was about that particular segment that inspired me to go find the theme song for the show, but it did. I watched it. And I liked it. I took a quick scroll through the dreaded comments section, only to find that most every comment was positive; people stated how much they liked the show as a kid, or how they never watched it as a kid but enjoy it as an adult, or how they appreciate how different and dark it is, or how they wish that it would get the series finale it was denied - maybe even a movie as well.
I did some quick research and discovered that there was a pilot episode. The next thing I knew I was watching it. Looking back on it now that pilot really does not do the rest of the series justice, but it was enough to make me want to watch the official first episode, and my friends...it was all downhill from there. I watched the entire series in less than a week.
OH MY GOSH THIS SHOW IS AMAZING!
This is not your standard kids show, though it apparently was created for and targeted towards children. Why, I have no idea. It's a grotesque series when it wants to be. Zim tears the organs out of his classmates in one episode, rips a kid's eyes out in another. It doesn't shy away from the screams of pain, either. I can count more than a few instances in which I visibly cringed at what was happening on screen. But despite all of this, I could not stop watching episode after episode. It has some of the best lines ever, the character continuity / development is great, and the battle scenes! Oh my gosh I cannot even begin to describe how completely epic some of the battle scenes are. Whether it's Zim vs. Dib or Zim vs. someone else, the way the scenes are put together make them stand out so well and they are SO EPIC! (The fight scenes in "Battle of the Planets" and "Planet Jackers" are two of my favorites ever. SO well done.)
While most of the humans in Invader Zim are incredibly stupid and unobservant, allowing Zim to get away with many of his alien outbursts unnoticed, I really appreciate that Dib more than makes up for their idiocy by being a truly challenging enemy for him. Dib is intelligent, capable, and confident despite everyone being against him all the time. His technological genius and unstoppable determination to see Zim defeated keep the tension high with every minute of every episode, even after one or the other of them has been defeated and the credits roll.
Now, to talk about my favorite character. I get why so many people love Gir. I do. It's like how so people are into the Minions or other animated sidekick characters. They're cute and funny and make people laugh. Nothing wrong with that. But while I do like Gir and think he is unbearably adorable...I love Zim.
No, you don't understand. I LOVE ZIM. He is the most malicious, violent, evil character and I love him to death. I have never cheered for a bad guy so hard in my life. Even Loki has nothing on Zim, and that's saying something! He is so dark and evil and I love it. From the moment he lands on Earth to the very end of the show he hates humans and wants nothing more than to be rid of them all - especially Dib. And his rivalry with Dib isn't just a half-hearted frenemies situation. No. Zim despises Dib and has no trouble showing it, laughing at his pain and straight-up leaving him to die several times with no regret whatsoever. Zim is so incredibly wicked and I love it!
Beyond that aspect, though, there are several other things I've grown to love about Zim over the course of the show. He may not be a great Invader, but he is an excellent soldier. Any time he has to battle someone one-on-one, he knows what he's doing. He assesses the situation, notices his opponent's weaknesses, then aims for the heart. And he wins nearly every time. His skills on Hobo 13 show us he may not be a great Invader, and he certainly isn't a good leader, but as far as his status as a solider, he is one of the best. And on another note, I know this only happened a couple of times in the show, but I loved that when problems were too big for Zim to handle, he did whatever it took to make the problem go away - even going so far as to team up with Dib once or twice. That scene in "Planet Jackers" when he's standing on Dib's porch and has to ring the doorbell - there is no hesitation, no almost pressing it only to draw his hand away a moment later. He takes one look at that thing, takes a breath, and presses it. That's it! No fooling around. He does what needs to be done no matter the consequences. I love him so much for that.
Dib's younger sister Gaz is my least favorite character. But I will say this: even though she has a serious I-don't-care attitude towards everything, the couple of times she actually put effort towards something, she kicked butt! She could TOTALLY take Zim down if she wanted to, and I find that kind of amusing.
I'm making my way through the series a second time and actually listing the episodes like I do for Sonic Boom and TMNT, so I can't yet say which of the aired episodes is my favorite (although Planet Jackers, A Room With a Moose, and the Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom are right on up there), however I can say with authority that my favorite episode of Invader Zim EVER is actually one that never aired on TV - Mopiness of Doom. I love, love, love the story of the episode. I think it really brings to light a deeper part of Zim's character that we never usually see. I also appreciate that it's kind of a "discovering yourself" episode for Dib, where he ultimately embraces that he is different and will always be so and goes right back to battling Zim for the fate of planet Earth. I could go on forever about how wonderful Mopiness of Doom is. I love that episode.
So there you have it! After all of these years of brushing it off and never taking a second glance at it, I have finally come to join the ranks and fall in love with Invader Zim. I'm so sorry I never gave this show a proper chance before now. It is truly fantastic.
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