It seems like retro is most definitely in style as yet
another old, beloved cartoon series is staging a comeback in the near future. “Invader Zim” was a bit of an oddball in the
Nickelodeon lineup when it debuted back in 2001, constantly skirting the line
between acceptable and controversial with its dark themes, disturbing imagery,
and misanthropic sentiments glazed heavily over the entire show. It may not have been so surprising, though,
that such an unusual, risky show garnered quite the loyal little cult following
in its time and practically kept Hot Topic in business for the next decade
afterward. While jarring and crude at
times, Invader Zim was absolutely deserving of the praise as it displayed an
art style that was truly unique and carved a niche cleanly into a demographic
of viewers who identified closely with the creator, Jhonen Vasquez, on his
thoughts on the world, on people, and the stark ways in which he brought these
ideas to Invader Zim. It is in this way
that Invader Zim is a perfect case study of a work of fiction that embodies the
author brilliantly.
If you’ve
ever done any research into Vasquez, you’ll find that he is also the creator of
a comic strip named, delicately, “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.” As a matter of fact, Vasquez is often
primarily listed not as a cartoon showrunner but as a “comic book artist” and
it would come to no surprise that if one truly wanted to see inside the mind of
Vasquez, one would turn to the much-less-restricted medium of comics instead of
the closely scrutinized Nickelodeon show.
Where Vasquez had to tone himself down in Zim, he most certainly did not
have to with Johnny the Homicidal Maniac or its spin-off comics, “Squee!” and “I
Feel Sick.” Pushing his work onto
television and into the homes of families all over America was, in retrospect,
an incredibly unlikely scenario given his resume of overtly mature work, but
someone at Nickelodeon felt like taking a chance on him and thus, Invader Zim
was born. It may only take a single
episode of the show, however, to help understand why the man behind its
creation is also quoted as saying that the shift from working alone to working
with a whole crew at Nickelodeon was an “absolute misery” (Shattuck).
A
deeply ingrained theme in Invader Zim is one of a very general misanthropy, or
a certain disdain for humanity and society.
It’s hard to imagine a better character for exploring such ideas than an
actual alien from another world trying to blend in, make it day by day in a
world full of strange, disgusting, idiotic humans, all the while plotting to
take over Earth. Zim spends his days
attempting to subdue the people of Earth in preparation for the main fleet from
his homeworld to come in and finish the job, as any good invader does. Human characters through the show are often
portrayed as filthy, stupid, disgusting, and downright braindead. The seething hatred for mankind weaves in and
out of the show very naturally and fuels most of the jokes and plot
points. Capitalizing on its theming, the
show relies on a good mix of crude, shocking, random, and often absurd jokes
both verbal and slapstick. The show is
an animated collection of all the things that made Jhonen Vasquez the man he
was at the time of its creation, and is the absolute most direct example I can
think of when trying to find a cartoon that bleeds the same color as its
creator.
So
then, the question would be if this is an effective, desirable strategy when
creating a work of fiction, yourself.
The success of Invader Zim is hard to dispute, and there are cultural
artifacts scattered all throughout America and abroad of the tiny green alien
on stickers, backpacks, T-shirts, lunchboxes, chain wallets, and much more. The
show connected with many people for, likely, many different reasons. Pouring yourself into your work is not only a
viable strategy but is, for many people, an automatic, subconscious fact
regardless. Indeed, I do not believe
that it is possible to create a piece of work that divorces you, as the
creator, entirely from it. You can,
however, make a conscious effort to distance yourself and attempt a narrative
from a lens unfamiliar to your experiences if you so desire. At its core, this is what it means to create
art. We present our interpretations of
the world we live in to our peers and all these other humans sharing the
experience of life on Earth (even IF you happen to think they’re all awful,
short-sighted, disgusting wastes of space), so that we may learn from one
another or gain some valuable insight into what it means to live, love, and
make art in the first place. It becomes,
then, a very personal decision on just how much or how little one injects their
own personality, beliefs, and emotions into their work. In spite of the fact that these themes are
often considered negative, pessimistic, and unwanted, Invader Zim stands tall
as a testament to the viability and success of socially deviant content
creators everywhere and helps prove that there is truly an audience for
everything.
Invader
Zim will be returning to Nickelodeon on a date yet to be announced in a
one-hour long television movie featuring the entire original voice cast for the
main characters of Zim, Gir, Dib, and Gaz with Vasquez himself fulfilling the
role of executive producer.
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Work
Cited
Shattuck, Kathryn (2001-03-25). "Fishbowl
Fairies and an Alien in Exile". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
