Animation Damnation: Invader ZIM - "The Nightmare Begins"
Added 2025-08-21 10:00:04 +0000 UTCOn this month's Animation Damnation, the guys are pleasantly surprised when they first encounter the popular cartoon from the turn of the century, Invader ZIM!
The episode in question, "The Nightmare Begins," originally aired March 30, 2001, and showcases just how the adorably diabolical little ZIM came to Earth. Highlights include the alien/human character design, KITH's Kevin McDonald's showing up to do the voice of an alien leader, the way ZIM creates his house, the gag of the robot parents welcoming him home, and a great reference to the FOX Primetime alien autopsy show hosted by Jonathan Frakes from the late-1990s.! PLUS: Was this little guy's visage Hot Topic's number one seller?
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Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.
Comments
I watched my copies of Zim for the show. It mostly holds up, but the repetition of "Doom" heavily informed my sense of humor, I watched the first episode half enjoying myself and half being secondhand embarrassed at finding it funny. Great episode, I love these discussions!
Logan Anderson
2025-09-06 06:02:40 +0000 UTCLive action cowboy bebop was great! Fuck the haters.
J HEASLEY
2025-08-30 17:18:57 +0000 UTCWe called it adhd humor back then. Kids today call it brainrot. I remember my mother asking me why the doom song was funny. There was a point where stuff like that was almost like counter culture Kinda like how The Thing didn't do well theatrically, but it gained cult status from people outside the mainstream
Jonathan Lyons
2025-08-24 00:08:10 +0000 UTCI always associated Zim with more of the emo/scene crowd, at least where I was growing up. I think the more offbeat comedy resonated well with less mainstream teens, especially since bits like the Doom Song dovetailed with the kind of humor that was popular on the burgeoning internet.
John Edwards
2025-08-22 20:41:13 +0000 UTCI'm not sure if you guys have talked about The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy yet but it has a very similar vibe to Zim. Creepy, cynical comedy, magnets for goth kids lol
Amberwing Tundrawing
2025-08-22 16:58:23 +0000 UTC
