[Editor’s Note: This piece about “Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus” film via Netflix  comes to us from Tallest Silver- longtime Aggressor and cosplayer. You can follow her on social media herehere, and here.]

There comes a time in every budding nerd’s life when they find their fandom. That one thing that they obsess over: the need to join a forum to discuss theories, characters, lamentations, fanfiction, role plays, fanart, etc..

“Invader Zim” was my fandom.

Shocking, I know, that your Almighty Tallest Silver’s first presence on the internet was due to “Invader Zim,” yet here we are. And here we are with after 17 years of its cancellation, a movie on Netflix [“Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus”] that plunged its way into the recesses of my squeedily spooch once again. Of course, I waited until the precise moment when the clock reached midnight, snacks in hand, to watch my beloved show.

To understand what this means is to understand how desperate Zim fans were for any material. Back in the days of Limewire, we were clinging onto audio files and sound clips of GIR singing the “Doom Song” in its entirety. Yes, I can still sing it, and no it does not actually last six months.

The show, created by Jhonen Vasquez (who brought us classic comics like “Johnny: the Homicidal Maniac” and “Squee!”), was fairly straight forward in its overarching B-movie plot: An alien comes to Earth to invade and take over, and only one kid can stop him. Yet, “Invader Zim” was always subversive and way ahead of its time, walking the edge of horror and humor, satire and “lol so random.” The alien is really, really, really bad at his job and is petty to the extreme. No one believes the human child despite mounting and obvious evidence. A malfunctioning robot that wants nothing more than to play with rubber piggies and eat tacos. A cynical goth girl who just wants to play her video games. And the alien race whose main objective is to eat… snacks? That’s a recipe for genius.

“Enter the Florpus” picks up as if 17 years of cancellation hell did not occur. True- time has passed, but it’s never been stated *just* how long. A few things that were hotly debated back in the Wormbaby Forum days (shoutout to anyone else who remembers that site) are immediately answered: does Dib have a last name? How old is he? How would this show look like in an anime style?

Those seem trivial, but I assure you, they were not.

The cast returned to reprise their roles; Kevin Manthei still has that menacing soundtrack on lock, and Vasquez wrote his horrible wormbaby once again.

The humor is still on point, chaotic and ridiculous with lots of screaming. The character designs have altered slightly, a bit more rounded or boxy than the sharp points the original show had, but it’s not a detriment in the slightest.

Sidenote: THE TALLEST HAVE THUMBS NOW! Once again, Dib has to try to save the Earth from Zim’s evil plan, but to discuss that would absolutely ruin Phase 2. The people of Earth are oblivious, Dib is pained, Gaz is irritated, Zim is maniacal, GIR is eating, and the Tallest just do not care.It was perfect.

“Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus” is available for streaming now on Netflix. You can pick up season 1 and season 2 on Amazon.

ABOUT >> Mary Anne Butler
  • ACCOUNT NAME >> Mab
  • BIO >> Mary Anne Butler (Mab) is a reporter and photographer from San Francisco California. She is a lifelong geek, huge music nerd, occasionally cosplays at conventions, does Renaissance Faires, and in general lives the life of a True Believer. She may be short, but she makes up for it with a loud voice.
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