We're going to give the Doom Interview!

September 17, 2004 9:30 PM

An Interview with Jhonen Vasquez and Rikki Simons, the creator and designer for the short-lived Invader Zim. A great look into what happens when Nickelodeon hires a talent they clearly knew nothing about, and then gives him a cartoon show.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (11 comments total)

Hey, thanks.
posted by mote at 9:45 PM on September 17, 2004

Sad that I never got a chance to watch this show, my friend raves about it constantly.
posted by jonson at 10:06 PM on September 17, 2004

When it comes to Invader Zim I only have one thing to say... "TAQUITOS!!!!"
posted by Apoch at 11:05 PM on September 17, 2004

I *LOVED* Johnny the Homicidal Maniac ("I have head-explodey!"), and when I heard about Invader Zim I wondered whether Nickelodeon really knew what they were getting themselves into... Guess not.

Although the cartoon lacked the super-expressive blood of the comic (I had a fifty-year-old drawing instructor who used Vasquez as the reference on how to draw blood), I was happy to see an alien machine pull out a kid's eyes in the first episode I saw...
posted by kaibutsu at 1:13 AM on September 18, 2004

I've been tempted to buy this on DVD just so I could see it but so far have resisted. Now I know Roman Dirge worked on it I think my resistance has crumbled.
posted by dodgygeezer at 4:59 AM on September 18, 2004

They thought we were making fun of them. That's when I blew my head off in frustration
and became a crime-fighting ghost.

Forget the soda, brooms and overlords, Mefites! This here's a whole new in-joke.
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:27 AM on September 18, 2004

This just showed up at Blockbuster. I'm guessing it's not cool for the seven-year old...
posted by mecran01 at 7:21 AM on September 18, 2004

it was really something, and totally different even from the adult swim shows on now...i loved that pig that would pop up occasionally, and of course, GIR!

There was one amazing episode where they kept changing the past to fix something in the present, and it kept getting more and more screwed up....and another about killer babies i remember.
posted by amberglow at 7:38 AM on September 18, 2004

I'm guessing it's not cool for the seven-year old

I watched it a couple of times with my son (he was 6 at the time), and he seemed to like it. They kept screwing around with the schedule, so we never got to see it regularly.
posted by whatnot at 8:31 PM on September 18, 2004

I'm a big fan of Rikki and Tavisha, have been into their stuff since Reality Check (which you should find if you can, worth it). They are excellently nice people and it's nice to see them here on the blue... because really, they rarely leave the house. :)

Jhonen will be doing lots of cool stuff in the future, so don't you worry kids!
posted by zoogleplex at 11:35 AM on September 20, 2004

A great look into what happens when Nickelodeon hires a talent they clearly knew nothing about, and then gives him a cartoon show.

You'dve thought that Nickelodeon learned its lesson with John Kricfalusi all those years ago.
posted by briank at 11:39 AM on September 20, 2004