FAQ
Q: Why not have Zim on another Viacom channel like Comedy Central?
A: The magic behind Invader Zim is that children were being entertained by a man who's comic books are far from child friendly. Censorship and creativity was hardly an issue for Jhonen so if it isn't broken then don't fix it.
Q: So has Jhonen said any more about working on Zim again since that blog post?
A: He's typically staying quiet about it but he'll be attending Invadercon II: Doomcon in L.A as a rare convention appearance.
Q: So about the cast and crew of Invader Zim supporting you..
A: This happened after Invadercon. We've been invited to host another Invadercon panel. The cast and crew will be there. If we were lying, we'd be in trouble by now.
The head of Invadercon, who is friends with the cast and crew, once called upon Operation Head Pigeons to help take down a fake Facebook profile of Richard Horvitz. (source)
Q: You should have the cast plug you guys!
A: They clapped for us at Invadercon, actually.
They can only make those kind of statements at official appearances thanks to a spell cast by a magical lawyer fairy (basically a contractual agreement). The road to Invadercon has begun, though. ;)
Q: Yeah.. about those phone call missions.. Was that really a good idea to tie up the phonelines for those innocent phone operators?
A: The short answer is no... but thankfully Nickelodeon was patient and even listened to us afterwards. We're apologetic about the inconvenience we caused.
It was a learning experience for all involved. Nickelodeon was very patient, polite, and understanding of our intent when they told us to not do it again. They weren't "threatening" to sue us so much as warning us that they'd have no choice but to do such if we did it again. When you put it through that perspective, it changes how you look at things a bit. :)
We look back and realize there were other better ways to unite the fans but we'll have to accept the past. We take comfort in how the majority of our callers were polite and as professional-minded as one can get in a phone flood session.
Q: What have you been doing since Invadercon?
A: We were tasked with publicity for Project Massive. We take care of informing the fans of everything while a presently anonymous person(s) takes care of the legal stuff with Nickelodeon. It will take place this year, just ready your letters and spread word about us.
We've also spearheaded a side-campaign for better tee shirts which led to us becoming guest judges at welovefine.com's big contest.
Q: We're patient and all but you will have us doing stuff in the meantime, right?
A: We've sought ways to push for quality Zim merchandise also while keeping you guys posted on any Zim news such as cast members appearing at conventions, or reposting any Zim stuff from Jhonen's blog, or cool fan creativity stuff (looking at YOU, Soapy Waffles!
Q: Why yolasite? Why not at least upgrade to their paid services or get your own domain?
A: Credentials speak louder than resources. Heck, they speak louder with lack of resources. We have a budget of pocket lint yet we got recognition and legitimacy from Nickelodeon, Invadercon's host Green Mustard Entertainment, and someone else we'll tell you about when we can. Then two websites did some solid reporting about us and lastly our Facebook has 13 thousand followers while fully moderated.
If we were to get our own domain it would have to be for something big and new. Who knows what the future has in store for us.
Q: I'd like to be a "Control Brain" (admin)?
A: Well we don't actively seek out new admin or take applications. These things really do just happen naturally and additions are made when practical reasons deem it necessary. Gotta shoot straight and tell you that we still have ideas of who else would be appropriate to add and they know who they are. You are warmly invited to be of service in your own way every day, however! ^_^
Q: I have an idea!
A: GREAT. Let us know on Facebook. We have a subsidiary page for that sort of stuff called Invader Force
Q: I heard Jhonen said that he-
A: Whoa ,hold on there, slick. Here's a bunch of quotes from Jhonen. Stick to that. Trust us, you're doing the man a favor.
Straight from the man himself
Never ever put words in his mouth ever again or I will go straight to your house and CUT you...a wedge of cake as we discuss the inevitable vicious rumors that built up after ten years!
"In the end, even I couldn’t give you the whole and accurate truth for why the show got pulled. The most likely culprits are simply ratings and the sheer expense of the show, which was monstrously expensive at the time, especially when compared to more modern, flash-based savings fests."
http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1229
[Censorship on the show] wasn't much of an issue at all, really. I never had the overt sense that ideas were being shot down for their graphic content and such. ...We suffered creatively, just like every other show, after 9/11, thanks to the blanket fears that anything remotely violent would be received as being in poor taste."
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p1.html
"If I have to fix something [that Nick didn't approve of], I like to fix it in the spirit of whatever I'm working on. So those ZIM fixes, although done begrudgingly, often made me like the end result even more. In the Gameslave 2 case, we were told that Iggins had to be alive. So I decided that Iggins would fly out of the rubble like Superman."
-J.V
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p2.html
"The original plan, the one [Nick] sold me on, was that they were looking to catch some of that older audience Cartoon Network was getting. ...[Nickelodeon] wanted something "edgy", and [they] even went so far as to make that wiggly "edgy" gesture with their hands that implies... "edgy." What ended up happening is that as ZIM got closer to being finished, there were no other shows being worked on that fit in with this 'wiggly finger gesture' block that Nick had seemed so thrilled about."
-J.V
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p2.html
Most of all, I would say thanks to those fans that made something like the DVDs even possible. They've been behind the show from day one, spreading it like an infection to the point where the DVDs have actually done incredibly well. The infection is fatal, however.
-J.V
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p5.html
"Ultimately, Nick can do whatever it wants with the show, as they hold the rights to it,"
-J.V
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p4.html
[Regarding merchandise]
"It’s not terrible at all that fans just want to get their hands on something somewhat related to what we all did on the show, but my annoyance was that we couldn’t give them anything better than what got shat out there. A cancelled show that wasn’t a monster in the ratings, even what merch did get pooped out was limited in scope and reach, again, restricted to one store that did it’s thing back before ZIM to assimilate my comics into part of their thing. You’ll hear people talk some fine [expletive] about me and my Hot Topic connection, but all I did was watch as it simply happened. I had no say in where things were sold or who decided to buy it, but it was too late, and with ZIM, Nickelodeon saw a perfect little boutique with a pre-existing rep for being “da place to sell Jhonen stuff!”. It was just business, and I understand that, but holy [expletive] did it screw me over as much as it benefitted the visibility of my work or things created because of my work.
-J.V
http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1254
