Invader Zim Volume 4

Invader Zim #16-20

by Jhonen Vásquez

ZIM has plans to take over planet Earth. Schemes! Designs! Machinations! Uh... other words that mean -plans-! And in the fourth volume of the critically acclaimed comic series, these -plans- are plentiful, horrifying, and only half as terrible as usual! From taking over a local restaurant to proving to Dib that he's the master of fear, ZIM will rule the world, one way or another! Or not at all. Or only on Tuesdays?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Science Fiction, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Middle Grade

Paperback

First published August 2, 2017

Reviews

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gir, I am only going to say this once. Burritos don't hatch from eggs, you make them."

I love Zim and Gir together

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first story with Zim trying to scare Dib kinda rubbed me the wrong way because I'm sick of clowns being depicted in a negative light. It was somewhat interesting seeing Zim and Gaz kinda work together. The story after that was kinda boring, with Zim and Dib telling exaggerated stories of past adventures. It all seems to serve a meta joke regarding Invader Zim's cancellation. The story where Zim takes over Burrito King is by far the best one in this collection. The Last Beanbender jokes were hilarious. And it was nice to get an update on what's been going on with Invader Larb. The story with Zim putting a zoo in his yard was somewhat entertaining. The creative team on the show found it difficult to find ways to keep using the Roboparents, but they had a place here. But the story in which Zim stays inside watching TV with GIR for over a year while his blob tries conquering the world felt like a gag that ran way too long. It kinda pains me knowing that this is the one that was written by Jhonen Vasquez, especially after hearing on episode commentaries that visual gags like "One Year Later" wouldn't quite work if overused, though he has stated that he likes repeating lines over and over until they're so not funny that they're funny, or something to that effect. The short story after that was kind of whatever and predictable. Overall, not as good as Vol. 3, but still full of some good jokes every now and then.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many Zim shenanigans, much Gir insanity, with a dollop of Dib dubiousness... and Gaz is also there.

Normally I would rank these by each chapter, but honestly none of them really stood out as "fantastic" or "super-gross and why-oh-why would you even DO that?!?!?!"; they were all okay. Had gross moments. Had funny times. Had Gir going crazy. Had Gaz being snarky. Had Dib and Zim locked in an eternal struggle over earth, with an uncaring humanities lives in the balance.. you know, same old. The racoons were new, though. And had to laugh at all the Last Airbender jokes.

No real content issues, people seem to get hurt/die, but then they are fine in the next scene, so no lasting consequences. (Or ARE THERE?!?! Duh,duh DUUUUUUUHHHHH!!! No, there really don't seem to be.)

[Daniel Shellenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of Gir-madness, but much less Gaz and Miss Bitters in this volume (sadness); each of the stories has all the makings of a hilarious episode of the TV show with battlesloths (battlesleeth...), terror clowns, Dib's enormous head, Agrillator, unholy piles of refuse, and even an M. Night Shyamalan Last Airbender joke (high five, Jhonen). All in all, there's just one thing to say: I Bloop You, Shmoopsy!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty long one.

Zim and Dib trying to scare each other = ok
Zim and Dib telling stories to make themselves sound courageous = ok
Zim and his Burrito King plan = hilarious
Zim's parents and the Zoo = really funny
Bloopy tv show and Conquer-blob = conquer-blob stole the show (and a minimoose appearance!)
the Bees bonus = super short and funny

[Drucilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection. Some stories bit off a little more than they could chew, but on the whole, another collection of Zim zaniness. It was nice to see a story written by Jhonen Vásquez again and it's one of the best in this volume.

[Dubzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun. Nothing earth shattering, but it doesn't need to be. While it's not quite as charming as the original series, nothing ever will be. It's certainly better than the awful Netflix revivial.

[Chris Petruccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there were ever a show that Netflix or Hulu needed to pick up to revive, its this one.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some stories in here that would have made great episodes.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. Highlights include a burrito scheme and a sham earth-zoo. One of my favorite parts of this series is using it as a jumping-off point for finding new works by the guest writers.

[JonFlash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still good! Just wasn’t as in to the first two comics, maybe because I’m 4 volumes in to the series by now it’s less exciting seeing the characters. Still highly recommended

[Wyatt Grondin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked burritos the best

[Matt McG. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the book before it, the stories are a little uneven, but the art continues to be fantastic. Glad the Robo-Parents got some love this time around.

[Kamil Henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Paige Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bonus is only two meh pgs.

[Yezi · Rating 5 out of 5]

super fast read. love these so I can read between book(:
Gir is still my fav♡

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than Vol. 3 but not quite as good as the first two volumes. I rather enjoyed Chapter 5 and no surprise it was the one Vasquez wrote. He knows Zim better than anyone. Chapter 3 was also pure Eric Trueheart joy but now I feel like eating a burrito.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this is a collection of stories, I'll review each individually.

Story 1
****
Dib scares Zim, so Zim decides he must return the favor. He must find something that will scare Dib and so he enrolls Gaz's help.
-Some of Dib's ideas of what are scary are sometimes quite humorous (some are just ewww). And the way that Gaz manipulates Zim is equally funny. I think this story summarizes Dib and Zim's relationship quite well (and as a sidenote illustrates that Gaz could easily take over the universe if she decided to).

Story 2
****
Zim and Dib are kidnapped by an alien and must prove their courage and strength through a story to get free. They tell more and more elaborate whoppers in an effort to break free.
-Oh my, some of the stories are just...well, imaginative doesn't seem to do these justice.

Story 3
***
Zim is trying to prove to his tallest that he is a good invader, so he decides to take over Burrito King and become the Burrito King. It's going ok until Gir becomes the chef and the real Burrito King gains time to gather an army and take back his kingdom, I mean restaurant.
-Way too many beans in this episode.

Story 4
***
It's parents occupation day at school. Zim tries to pretend like he doesn't have parents, but his robot parents and Gir have other plans. They show up and claim to run a zoo in the back yard. Of course, Dib demands proof. So Zim creates a "zoo" and must fool Earthen authorities to avoid arrest.
-You almost feel sorry for Dib in this one that he hasn't realized by now that fighting all of this is just foolish. (And be warned, there's some gross factor involved in some of the zoo animals.) On the plus side, Gir has some great lines.

Story 5
*****
Zim has created a conquer-blob that the computer predicts is 100% guaranteed to help him take over the Earth. However, while the blob is finished being created and going out conquering, Zim gets distracted by a horrible TV show Gir is addicted to. 500 seasons later, he wanders out to check his creation's progress.
-This, this is amazing. The hyperbole of getting sucked into a TV show that you know is awful and pointless and yet you still watch will resonate with so many. The fact that the addictive show ruins Zim's foolproof plan just makes it all the more hilarious. (The raccoons that join the TV fest and then turn to skeletons are a little disturbing.)

Story 6
****
Zim creates a device that will blow up all Irken tech nearby and therefore hopefully blow up Dib with all the tech he's swiped. Zim has also rigged the device to go off any time it hears a loud voice. Yeah, this can't possibly go wrong...
-And Zim's impeccable logic along with Gir's idiosyncrasies triumphs once again. (And by triumphs I mean makes us laugh and keeps Zim stuck on Earth to entertain us another day.)

Notes on content: No language issues or sexual content. There's some gross factor involved in the humor occasionally. Some characters seem to get hurt but they appear 100% ok in the next episode so don't worry about it.