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A few weeks ago, BOOM! Studios announced the good news that it was reviving the Invader Zim franchise for a new line of comic books, and reprinting some of the best from its past. It was a welcome surprise for many since the original animated series ended some time ago, as did the previous comics But it was even more of a surprise for its creator, Jhonen Vasquez.

"Sorta like you all out there, I learned of the existence of new Zim stories when the announcement went out," Vasquez wrote on Instagram. The cartoonist said that he had been told a company was looking into reprinting the older Invader Zim comics, but he wasn't told that any new comics were being created - and he seems a bit insulted that he wasn't looped in.

"If you're confused by the announcement's mention of Zim being in an 'Irken Chrysalis', you're not alone," Vasquez writes. "What the hell is an Irken chrysalis? That's not a thing! So yeah. I have no involvement in any of the comics, nor was I told they were going to be happening so I was never offered a chance to throw my voice into the mix in some way."

Invader Zim was created by Vasquez back in the '90s at the request of Nickelodeon for a possible animated series, with Nickelodeon paying him for the work and, from our understanding, ownership over the whole thing. Despite Vasquez not owning or controlling Invader Zim since its inception, Vasquez is accustomed (as many creators would be) to being its primary voice and to being asked to be involved in any future Invader Zim projects.

Vasquez said that when Invader Zim comics were being published by Oni Press in 2015 - 2021, he was consulted heavily and even asked if he'd be okay with them even attempting it.  This, according to Vasquez, wasn't that.

"So of course it's weird and uneasy for me to see something so personal to me rise of its own power without my hand up the puppet-hole in this age of everything becoming 'content,'" Vasquez does admit that he knew this would be a possibility since he sold Invader Zim to Nickelodeon... but it still stings.

"But you'd have to be special kind of oblivious to not understand why it still sucks to not have control over something you see as 'yours.'"

So what happened? BOOM! Studios' Invader Zim comics writer Jim Zub has chimed in, saying he was surprised Vasquez wasn't looped in on the development of the series. 

" I was told the 'Invader Zim team' would be approving our material, but found out after the fact that it wasn’t Jhonen, Eric Truehart or anyone originally involved in the show’s production," Zub writes on his website, presumably saying it was BOOM! Studios that told him this. "Approvals have gone through a Paramount licensing team who I’m sure mean well, but also don’t have any personal stake in Zim’s creative vision or future."

When BOOM! Studios' Invader Zim comics were announced, the company's VP of business development and special projects, Bryce Carlson, said their plan was to "usher in a new era of DOOM! with brand-new stories that expand the strange and chaotic world fans know and love. The new invasion has begun. You've been warned..."

Following Vasquez's Instagram posts on July 4, however, Zub says that BOOM! Studios has told him they've since reached out to Vasquez directly, with the hopes "this can all get sorted out."

"I hope that’s true, but if not, I’ll need to evaluate what to do next," says Zub. "Whatever happens from here, I deeply appreciate your support and understanding."

Vasquez ended his post telling fans to direct any outrage not at Zub and the artists involved, but instead "the lizards" at Nickelodeon and its parent company, Paramount.

“At the end of the day, this isn’t the route I would have taken, but I hope the artists are having a good time and can pay their bills (comics be rough, man!)…" Vasquez concludes. "Fuuuuuuck the lizards that only see these things as more content to churn out though.” 

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet.