Review: Invader Zim #42

Gwen Dylan Stacy

6 years ago

Fun fact! When I first started to read comics, which by the way weren’t allowed in my household because my mother thought that they were for boys, Jhonen Vasquez was one of the first writers that I actually discovered. How, you ask? Well because I was, admittedly, sneaking about trying to procure such things for myself and happened upon one of his earlier titles in the back of a place that I won’t eagerly admit to being in for fear of ruining my street cred. The point is, Vasquez is brilliant; smart and funny and snarky in all the right places.

So you can, then, imagine how hesitant I was to read something that was his own creation but passed on to someone else because I feared the subtle nuances and underlying intelligentsia might be lost under someone else’s pen. Like most assumptions I, willingly, admit to ignorance when it comes to such. Pleasantly and utterly surprised, is how I’d describe my reactions to this read, itself. Underneath the sweetness of the almost child-like art by Warren Wucinich with colors by Fred C. Stresing, is a deeply involved statement about the dangers of becoming too tethered – not only to technology – but to baseless trends and societal fads that often keep people in a place of ignorance while drowning out the real issues.

Another thing I need to mention is the fact that Warren does a great job of mirroring the animation and art that I’ve come to know from Vasquez work, only more rounded. Softer at the edges instead of the somewhat jarring sharpness that Jhonen had lent to his own work previous to this and I appreciate the effort to mirror such a lot. The fact that this is, at its core, more oriented to vetted fans (outside of any younger readers that the title itself is actually focused on) and so close to the cartoon/any familiar work will tickle them as much as me, I think.

The brilliance of this title comes from the subtle walk into metaphor, as opposed to just dropping heavy words into laps of those who hadn’t quite understood what might be the true topic of conversation. It’s a thought piece not just for open dialogue with kids, but for adults themselves. I think that it’s important sometimes for such things to be presented more like a passing thought that’s not preachy; more just a gentle reminder that there are other things going on. Layers.

I think that anyone would find unintrusive but charming nature of this title a 4 out of 5. Do you agree?

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Sam Logan (A) Warren Wucinich (CA) Rachel Adler