In retrospect, was Invader Zim really that good?

Let's just say it's a really bad cartoon to marathon.

No, but I'd be lying if I said that joke they used to do where a character pauses then screams didn't make me laugh

>...YOU'RE AFTER MY ROBOT BEE!

>>81607634
what stood out the most to me was the worldbuilding. The humor triangulated between three spots: weak/cheap, witty/intersting, and the kind of thing that's only funny when you are a kid. But when it was witty/interesting it was laugh out loud, and quite unique to the show

>>81607664
that's a very good description

There has been nothing like it before or since.

>>81607634
Yes.

The fanbase was shit, but only fags care about something's fanbase in order to like it anyway.

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>>81607634
Always wondered why Dib/Gaz was more intelligent than most of the humans.

>>81607634
It was by no measure bad, but it had potential to be better than it was.

>>81607634
Yes, as is the comic book.

>>81608704
Genetics. They're children of the smartest person in the world. Then again, that's not much of an accomplishment when all the other people in the world take retardation to new heights.

I WANT MY SLAW!

Too dark for a kids show. Not surprising it didn't last.

Yes. It had it's clever moments, was well animated and had good action.

Plus the comic book is amazing and really captures the feel of the show, to the point where you can hear their voices in your head.

>>81608762
YOU HAVE YOUR SLAW!

Yeah, it actually took me becoming an adult to appreciate it. It's just a shame that some of the greatest dark humor in cartoons was overshadowed by the lolsorandum robot and is ultimately remembered as the progenitor of *holds up spork*.

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It was unique and the space battles were cool. I get nostalgic for it sometimes.

Did we ever get a confirmed reason as to why it was canceled? Of all the people I asked, I got a bunch of different answers. Some said it was because the show was unpopular while airing, others said it was because of parents whining that it was too violent, etc.

The fact that there are somewhere around 10 episodes that were fully written and fully voiced but not animated, at least confirms that it was indeed canceled mid-production.

>>81609212
It was too expensive to make (all them CGI space battles cost a mint in those days) and not popular/marketable enough to justify it. Once the execs got a feeling that Invader Zim was treading water, they aired it on unviewable times and pointed to those shitty ratings as reason enough to can it.

>>81609212
>>81609316

What I want to know is why they then started making metric shit-tons of merchandise for years after the show was long dead and buried.

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>>81609316
Yeah, I remember IZ airing at like 10:30pm on weeknights...really sucked for younger me, who had a 9:30pm bedtime.

>>81609354
It became popular on the internet.

>>81609354
Because the demographic that watched nicktoons were edgy teens years later, thus creating the want for invader zim products at hot topic

I thought and still think it's great. I first watched it as an adult though. I even got into it because I was a prior fan of JV comics in high school so when I heard he was doing a cartoon I had to check it out.
So it was kinda perfect for me. It was cool to see his style of comedy animated and I loved the art style and characters. But more than that it felt like a show designed for me that was masquerading as a kids show. I mean awful fucked up shit happens in that show and it gets rather grotesque in ways few things outside of say rockos modern life did on nickelodeon.

Also at the time It exploded in popularity I had gotten to a point in my life where something being really popular with emos and goths and the 'hot topic' crowd no longer mattered to me. Thank god, i'm sorry folks but hating something because of its 'fanbase' is a little faggy and speaks of person who you cant really trust the criticism of.

But yeah every once in a while I'll pop a dvd of the thing in or bring up an episode on my computer and watch it and I still laugh consistently while doing so. However I could imagine people who still assign internet buzzwords to shit like tryhard and edgy might not care for it.

>>81608704
>"The great thing about your people, Dib, is that most of them don't notice. All they see is another faceless corporate venture, not a plan for world conquest!"
I think the running joke of everyone else being too stupid to notice aliens was just satirizing the "dumbed down masses" idea.

I've watched it a couple of time as an adult.

It's fucking hilarious. I really enjoy it.

>>81609316
>CGI space battles

Either I'm thinking of the wrong show, or the series took a massive turn after the Tak episode.

>>81609618
I don't recall any "CGI space battles", but there were a good handful of CGI spaceships and scenes involving them.

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>>81609433
>awful fucked up shit
Basically everything happened just off screen, other than .gif related in the episode that they wound up canning it on anyways.

Otherwise it was mostly just dark vibes and humor but nothing explicit.

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>>81607634
Yes and no.
It was actually close to Rocko's Modern Life level of good, but nostalgia goggles and bismuth make people think it's better than it really way.

>>81609691
Bruh, Zim's fucking eyeball comes out of its socket in one scene.

And another episode has him stealing organs from everyone.

It got pretty fucked up.

>>81609618
They had a pretty kick ass episode where Zim hacks into and takes control of the Irkins flagship and tries to bring it to Earth while Dib tries to seize control of it and a resistance movement tries to destroy it

Are the new comics any good?

I've only read the first one or two.

>>81609665
Dib's horrible life, Tak's episode, the frycook what came from all that space, the episode where zim takes over the massive were all episodes that used that dank 2001-era CGI to it's fullest

>>81609618
>>81609665
All of the shots of ships in space, battle or not, were CGI and expensive along with mech suits and probably some other more subtle uses of it.

Otherwise stuff like the ship fight inside of dib was on the same page. CGI anything was expensive, and looked surprisingly good for its time.

>>81609691
>Nick won't let them end Walk of Doom with a sign that says "welcome to Mexico" because it might be offensive
>comes up with something even more offensive
>makes it through S&P unscathed

Cracks me up to this day.

https://youtu.be/XCynBmZ1-mk?t=4m40s

>>81609753
They're alright. They aren't edgy enough to appeal to most adults who watched IZ back in the day, and it's not like kids are going to pick up a comic for a cartoon they never saw so I'm not sure what the target audience is.

>>81607634
Yes.

>>81609928
what was even more offensive about that?

>>81610239
Because now you're just supposed to infer that it's Mexico based on the fact that it's filthy, filled with vermin, and has kids peddling shitty trinkets on the streets to tourists.

>>81609928
Wait was it the exact same ending but with the sign removed at the end?

>>81608970
I WANT MY SLAW!

>>81610317
From my understanding no, they had to remove the sign so they added everything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbo5_wxHsD8

>>81609928
C A R N E
B E A T

>>81610278
ah, okay.

>>81609414
>10:30pm on weeknights...really sucked for younger me, who had a 9:30pm bedtime.

if it was too dark for kids, wouldn't it make sense to put it on late?

>>81609692
>bismuth

is this autocorrect?

>>81609541
I liked Dib's response to that line, "Wait, is there a difference?"

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>>81610346
So they changed it from him standing inf front of a wall with a sign to him standing among a bunch of stereotypes? Thats hilarious, just a giant "fuck you" to the network

>>81609740

fuck, when he was filled to bursting at the end...
this show made me nauseous and sad. the same way catdog did.

Yes. Still one of my favorite shows. That continuity, art style, tech design and the humor was great most of the time too. Great show.

>>81608704
He and Gaz were clones of Membrane.

>>81608833
Is it good? The ones I've read haven't seemed like the show at all.

>>81609316
The final episodes are movie quality. Everything was ramping up incredibly.

>>81611055
Which ones did you read? Some like the first two issues nail it, while some like KC Green's guest issue don't.

>>81611026
yeap this was almost confirmed by Vasquez with Dib and Gaz been white pasty mexicans like him.
http://jhonenv.tumblr.com/post/127112021870/hey-jhonen-i-hope-this-isnt-too-personal-to-ask

>>81607634
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVznBNzbCc0&nohtml5=False

>>81609212

Show was unpopular as fuck.
I remember being the only kid in school at the time who watched it. No joke. People were oddly hyped for that first episode, but people stuck around for the Fairly Godparents on that time block than Invader Zim.

It holds up pretty well for me.
>I suppose old kid's an alien too
Also this
>>81609691


Fuck. I cracked out my JTHM book and that was too fucking edgy for me to read anymore, squee is better. Not big on the new comic series though.

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>>81609691
I made something for you anon

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>>81611897
wonderful.

Judging from the animation quality, Nick must have made a pretty huge investment in it. Shame it didn't catch on more.

Even more of a shame that a cartoon like that would probably never be made nowadays

>>81612180
Why do you say that anon?

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>>81611657
Johnny was only fun when there wasn't an actual story to speak of. Just murder, big headed bob, the stick figure, and the occasional alternate short comics. He kind of lost me when he spent several issues going over the monster behind the wall and heaven/hell when he could have actually done something with Devi's plot.

>>81612436

Zim's darker, more grim humor doesn't really seem to go so well with the modern animation zeitgeist. Like modern cartoons get some dark jokes in, but Zim's entire word was unrelentingly grim.

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Do you think Cartoon Network would've treated the show better?

It fits their style a lot more I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2OsTIEfps4

>>81612923
It's hard to say. After all these years I can't see it not being on Nickelodeon as it is one of the shows I associate with the network but I don't know. If it were on CN then Zim would have been in CN City though and that would have been tight.

>>81612923
Cartoon network is notorious for not treating many of their shows nicely.

As far as theme and tone goes, it would have fit in next to Grim Adventures nicely.

Otherwise, it's not really comparable to any CN originals.

>>81610341
YOU HAVE YOUR SLAW, SIR!

>>81612830

It was pretty fucking grim anon

Kids had their eyes ripped from their heads, kids got brainwashed, Zim attempted to give Dib brain damage, Democracy was portrayed as a sick joke, Zim's race was rampaging across the galaxy slaughtering and enslaving billions while eating snacks and laughing about it, humans were idiotic and oblivious, Dib was tormented by his classmates so badly he seriously considered letting them all die, children had their organs stolen, everyone hated everyone, Gaz and Dib were neglected by their father

I mean it worked a lot of it into humor but it was a very grim universe for a kid's cartoon

>>81609691
>this is my fetish.gif

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>>81612923
>Cartoon Network would've let the whole unproduced seasons to be produced
>they would've been less restrictive with the jokes and dark humor
>they would've allowed the TV movie to be made
>Invader Zim would've been around longer as a result

FUCK

>>81607634
Yes.

There will never be a cartoon as good before Invader Zim, and another cartoon as good after Zim. The cartoons that close do not even come close to a mile ( Star Vs. comes to mind)

Its equals are equals but on different levels - Avatar and the Boondocks.

Invader Zim is one of a kind. Invader Zim was like Batty from Blade Runner - it was a show that shone too bright.

I will never forget Zim.

>>81608720
Also, sadly true. We will never have that big finale where Zim finally did take over the Earth. Or the season where they sent another Invader to much up Zim's plans.

But Zim was already great for what it was

>>81609618
Had the show continued, it would have featured Dib going into space with Tak's repaired ship and helping the Resisty to fight the Irken Armada.

>>81613411
maximum autism

i've not sensed social awkwardness like this in a long time

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I would say yes but HotTopic and the general teenage population of 2007 ruined this show. I still get Vietnam flashbacks of those fucking skinny ass, scene/emo/goth looking girls in black hoodies in the middle of summer repeating all of GIR's lines and squeeing over anime boys, yaoi, and yuri....

I kind of threw up in my mouth writing that.

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>>81610479
He's saying Invader Zim is still prevalent with the Hot Topic crowd.

>>81613446
Its okay mang

Some shows mean a lot to some people, I guess

>>81613594

> I can't like a thing, not because of the quality of thing, but because people I don't like also like a thing

number one sign of being an unbearable raging faggot

How about you form your own opinions instead of turning everything into an opportunity to signal you queer

>>81609928
>alien requests to go home
>ends up in Mexico
Ha

Guess that's one thing I didn't catch when I was 10 or whatever

>>81613816
You're probably one of those people I'm talking about.

Also I did say I would've liked it, it's just the public fanbase that ruined the nostalgia for me.

>>81607634
Yes. It very much has its own unique style that mixes childishness with soul-crushing bleakness, meaning that you can usually get something out of as an adult or a kid.

The only reason we're not allowed to talk about it is because of the fanbase which latched onto it and ruined any and all discussion of it, which hasn't been that bad specifically on here for a while now.

>>81613085
He said it wasn't JUST grim. read

>>81613411
Seems like you're being sarcastic, that's how retarded you sound.

>>81612923
I'm pretty sure that Cartoon Network did actually try to get the rights to Zim at one point in like 2008 but Nickelodeon wouldn't have any of it.

>>81607634
yes

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>>81614092
Sarcasm =/= retarded

And I was neither. I genuinely love Invader Zim. And the only shows hat I think equal it are The Last Airbender, and the Boondocks.

And there will never be another cartoon like Zim. Perhaps its for the better

>>81607634
no it was pretty shit

>>81614304
I didn't say you were being sarcastic. I said it sounded like you were being sarcastic because what you said was so stupid it didn't seem like someone would say it seriously.

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so how bout that next project of his, eh?

>>81614350
Well..... then I'll just say this:

I cannot remember that cartoon that has wowed, and still wows me, the way Zim did. And I liked Gravity Falls. But even Gravity Falls didn't come close enough. Zim just had an edge most cartoons, hell, most animated shows, didn't have. And even if they did, they would usually be cape.

Its an opinion kind of thing, and I'm pretty sure you'd recommend a cartoon better than Zim, but, Zim is still special to me

>>81614394
What is this? Is that Very Important House? I see he's teaming up with his friend Cunchy.

>>81614472
I like Zim I just think you sounded dumb.

>>81614472
you sound like you have autism

>>81609212
9/11.

>>81614667
supposedly. some anon found it in a Titmouse demo reel.
>>81424220

>>81615036
Hm. From those clips the animation looks pretty good but it might just be from the intro.

I think it gets more shit for being LOLSORADUMB that it deserves. There are many well written jokes in it.

>>81607634
it was good

but damn if it didn't create one of the most cancerous trends to ever face the internet and the world back in the early 2000

Always with the dead, that boy

>>81615187
>that
i meant than*

>>81615287
My poor, poor, insane son.

>>81607634
I know one thing is for sure, this show had the most hype theme/opening during it's time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgX2cu9N6_8

I never cared for it, even as a kid. I can't really say why for certain, but I can only guess its humor just wasn't my thing. I don't remember laughing at it all that much. I wasn't crazy about the aesthetics of the world, either.

>>81613085
don't forget that one episode where Zim keeps going back in time to cause "accidents" to occur around Dib and after all these accidents Dib eventually just dies

>>81607634
i enjoyed it as a kid, so yes.

>>81615455
That episode is pretty heartbreaking. Dib didn't even know what was causing it and over the course of the episode he gets more fucked up until he's full of shit keeping him alive. It's great how Zim was not sympathetic at all ever. He was an insane, megalomaniacal alien and it never stopped.

>>81615508

Frankly I think the most cruel thing Zim ever did to Dib was that one episode where he got mad because Dib threw a muffin at him

He created an elaborate simulation that gave Dib everything he ever wanted and fulfilled all his dreams, giving him the perfect life, only to rip it all away at the end and show him none of it was real and never would be

Any life Dib lives now will just be a pale shadow of the simulation

>>81615584
And he shoots a muffin at his head at the end and tells him to get out with absolute malice. Fucking great.

>>81613662
Hot Topic doesn't even have Invader Zim stuff anymore.

Not like I would know.

>>81615584
>>81615625
>The shoe aliens that gave him the powers were called the meekrob

>Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy
Jesus Christ.

>>81607634

It's pretty fucking great, but that is part of why it was cancelled. I probably like this show more as a 29 year old father than I did as a 14 year old kid. The humor is wonderfully dark, anyone that has ever worked a shit food service or customer service job instantly understands a lot of the jokes, and the surreal aspects are far more interesting when you can see the intent. As a kid I just remember laughing at stupid shit like the doom song and the random screaming, didn't make me love the show then.

Invader Zim should have been on Adult Swim so Vasquez could have gone wild like he really wanted to.

The series was entertaining, at least, a lot of the jokes were pretty good, but just as many were really cringey or just fell flat. Pretty much most of anything involving GIR stopped being funny when I graduated highschool, but Zim still had some good jokes.

>>81607634

Yes, it was. Still holds up pretty darn well.

>>81607634

Yeah, but is would've been better if it were an Adult Swim show.

>>81611026
When was that revealed? Seems fitting since Membrane isn't exactly the courtship kind of guy.

>>81617827
One of the writers mention it during one of the "behind the scenes" extras on the dvds.

>>81616090
Yeah, that was Professor Zoom levels of horrific dickery there.

>>81607634
So good I wish I came up with it.

>>81613420
Which would've been the sickest fucking ending.

>>81607634
Just recently rewatched Zim Eats Waffles.
And Yes, it was that good.

>>81609316
I imagine that episodes like Dark Harvest and 9/11 didn't help matters.

>>81614697
Well I admit. I did sound dumb.

>>81615584
That was such a quality episode.

>>81611444
Maybe movie quality for then, they're still 480p. Can't even put that shit on blu ray

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>>81615584
And still that can't beat what Zim did to him in the comics when he used the Gargantis Array.
That was literally a cosmic burn.

>>81609541
This is the main message of the show. Then he saw that the outspoken fans misunderstood or never got the message. Ironic, really.

>>81607634
Yes it is really good

>>81609740
I was gonna bring that one up.
When he's just in the vents all fat from organs and drooling.
Fucked me up a little when I was younger

>>81610278
Not like they depicted America in a better light than this.

I really don't think it's offensive in context.

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I still really dig this show - the art direction is still interesting to me.

I feel like in some way, continuing to stick with it despite the LOLSPORK! and dib/zim fangirls honed my ability to be able to ignore a horrid fanbase while still enjoying something.

>>81614394
>REVERSE Tumblr nose

...nuoh my god

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>>81626385
>>81614394

This looks way more like JV's friend Cunch's work than his own desu senpai.

>>81614394
IM SICK OF THIS STUPID CALARTS ART STYLE

JHONEN IS ABOVE THIS SHIT REEEEEEEW

>>81626568
>>81626568
It is. She's co creator.

>>81623888
Its hilarious to be honest. Zim will probably never take over Earth, but at the same time Dib will never truely defeat Zim.

>>81607634
Dark Harvest is one of the most guro episodes I've ever seen in a kids cartoon.

>>81631443
>When he coughs up the intestine

>>81609665
The CGI was pretty well done and blended in.

>>81613594
I wish I knew girls like that back then.

>>81607634
A better question is, why was Samurai Jack canceled?

>>81613594
>...nuoh my god
Yours were skinny? Lucky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wITNIVH9gl8
Room with a MOOSE

>>81607634
it always reminded me of Billy and Mandy

>>81633019
It was never going anywhere

>>81636424
i hope with the new series we finally get a conclusion

>>81607634
Not a great series, but it had it's share of great moments.

I think the best phrase that could describe it is "ahead of its time".

If Invader Zim had come on the scene a few years later, it would have been INSANELY popular.

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http://irkencasualwear.tumblr.com/

>>81630936
Zim will just continue to fuck and destroy Dibs life, making it absolutely impossible to come back from

>>81636916
What am I supposed to be looking at

>>81630936
Actually Zim was supposed to win in the finale causing Dib to launch an invasion on the Irken Homeworld IIRC.

>>81636424
Neither does DC or marvel yet here we are.

>>81607634
No.

>>81614394
This looks like the opposite of what you'd expect from Jhonen.

>>81642029
Someone else is in charge of art-direction.

Unlike Ren and Stimpy where the fact that there were boundaries to pushed made it funny, Invader Zim would have been infinitely better as a TV-MA show on Adult Swim.

It literally feels like they took a TV-MA cartoon and just filtered out all the blood and gore.

>>81638729
There has been loads of ideas regarding the TV movie. Thats the first I've heard of that one.

My favorite today is people who wear GIR shirts and have no idea where GIR came from or even that he's not just a shirt and clothing logo.

>>81644315
I'm pretty sure that was the main one. It was to be called Invader Dib

>>81643030
No way. The reason it was good is because it was brought down. It wouldn't be good with swearing and over the top violence.

>>81614394
Is it possible to be to overtly cute? Because this hustle is real.

>>81644500
I've never seen it, but then I'm old enough not to see those people. It still baffles me that in 2016, people are so averse to using search engines to find things out, such as this.

>>81644598
Not that anon. But what do you think they are going to do to samurai jack reboot? It's going to have blood we can assume that. But if it has cursing would that be too much "adultness".

its good, but not as good as people make it out to be. still worth a watch

>>81646768
Samurai Jack is a different thing than Invader Zim. IZ is a childish show about silly humor with a lot of darkness but both are balanced pretty equally. If it were given the full range of freedom they wanted it would veer too hard on the darkness and be too much. Samurai Jack is pretty mature and nothing about it seems like it could be carried away by the writers.

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>>81630279
Yeah, I am not surprised.

That's absolutely Cunch's work and I don't see much JV influence in it really.

I'm okay with that, I like Cunch's style even if its the REEEE CALARTS that /co/ loves to hate.

>>81649700
I like Cunch's art too. We'll be enjoying it while everyone else is shitting on it then.

>>81607634
You're small Zim...You're a tiny thing.