Hey folks, Valkor here. You know, when I first heard the words "Invader Zim" and some of the episodes associated with the character, I used to think maybe someone was making it up. The stuff people described to me just seemed so unreal. Then again, at that particular time, I had just entered the realm of the "hi-speed" internet, discovering things like "how free is free porn?", so a lot of stuff was up in teh air. But anyway, back to Zim. Since then I've watched my share of episodes and enjoyed the hell out of the series. Thankfully the folks at Paramount Home realize just how cool Zim really is by releasing a special DVD entitled "Invader Zim: Operation Doom".
First a little back story for the newly inducted to the Zim series. Zim (who was created by Jhonen Vazquez, creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Look it up!), comes from the planet called Irk. Having been banished to a place called "Food Courtia", he returned just in time for his involvement in "Operation Impeding Doom 2" (Zim was banished because he screwed up the first operation). The Tallest, whom are the Irkan leaders, didn't really want to deal with Zim, so they threw him a bone and gave him Earth. There he must assimilate with the humans, look for weaknesses in their defenses, and either conquer or destroy the planet.
And Zim isn't alone on his quest, as the Tallest have pieced together from scraps, a defunct robot assistant named GIR, who is completely bonkers. Going up against Zim, is his rival Dib who wants to expose Zim for the alien he truly is. There's also Dib's sister Gaz, who simply hates her brother because he gets in her way… a lot!
Back to the DVD, Operation Doom is a collector's set that culls together 13 of the best episodes of the series 2 seasons. They don't follow any theme or any particular order, however the pilot episode is there along with the companion ep "The Fry Cook What Came From All That Space". Here are some highlights.
The Fry Cook What Came From Space – as I've said this is a companion piece to the pilot, where Zim is brought back to Food Courtia (which is the snacking planet for the Irkans) by the creature that runs it known as "Sizz-Lor". Remember Zim escaped so he could be a part of Operation: Impeding Doom 2. However since he's still encoded for food service, Sizz-Lor brings him back with just enough time before "The Great Foodening" begins.
Bloaty's Pizza Hog – Dib and Gaz's dad finally has a night off and wants to take his kids out to Bloaty's Pizza Hog for dinner. Gaz really wants to go, but Dib is off chasing after Zim. With Dib not present, the father refuses to go out, unless they do so as a family. Or else they'll have to wait a whole other year before he has time off again. Mind you Gaz really wants to go and will let nothing stand in her way – even chasing after Dib and Zim in outer space.
Walk For Your Lives – After performing time experiments on Dib, Zim now has to deal with a slow growing explosion that keeps growing larger by the minute. His first plan is to toss the explosion into the town's cess pool. But when that fails, he decides to toss a slow moving Dib into the slow growing explosion, speeding up the process.
Gaz: Taster of Pork – When Dib finds a drive with some credits on it, he decides to cash em in. Uncertain what they contain, he decides tests out the spells on Gaz, which makes it so that everything she eats taste like pig… except for hot dogs, which taste just fine. Now with his life on the line, Dib and Gaz must travel to another dimension to try and have the spell reversed.
No other extras can be found on the disc, save for some trailers of other Nickelodeon DVDs. So now let's dip on into the TOV Breakdown and see how well Zim fares.
The Good:
I'd say the DVD fared very well. If you're a fan of the series and you currently don't own any of the seasons, then this is a must own as you'll get the crème of the crop from the first two seasons. The set is wild, outrageous and twisted! Zim takes some getting used to, but when you do, you're all in! You'll instantly fall for GIR, who's so out there! I also enjoyed Dib's never ending quest to out Zim. But Zim is the man, and such a demented yet hysterical character. And huge props go out to Richard Horvitz, the voice of Zim (also the voice of Billy from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy), for bringing such energy to the character. The animation is amazing; and this from a series created back in 2001. It looks like no expense was spared on the details. So a great series, with awesome animation, and hilarious stories to tell makes for one incredible DVD.
The Bad:
That there are only 13 episodes. Come on, a couple more could have been squeezed onto the disc.
The Ugly:
Giganto baby. Gross.
Invader Zim: Operation Doom is currently available, which I highly recommend picking up a) if you were ever a fan of the series or b) have always wanted to check it out. And out of TOV 5 stars, I'm giving Operation Doom a 4, and it's been Valkor tested, TOV Approved!
Valkor out!
