Issue 37

A good father loves each of his children equally... be theyhis daughter,his son, or hisgreener, less insane son! —Professor Membrane

Invader ZimIssue
Issue 37
Chronology
Previous:	Issue 36
Next:	Issue 38
Information
Publisher:	Oni Press
Publication date:	November 28, 2018
Creative
Story by:	Sam Logan
Art by:	Kate Sherron
Color by:	Fred C. Stresing

Official Summary[]

When Dib wakes up one morning to find ZIM inside his house, eating breakfast with his family, he's confused. Even more confused when everyone refers to ZIM as Dib's brother. What horrible plot could ZIM be unfurling? But the more Dib looks into it, the more it seems like... ZIM might actually be his brother? Is that possible? Or will Dib lose his mind trying to unravel the vast conspiracy?^[1]

Release[]

Issue 37 was released on November 28, 2018.

Variations[]

Issue #37 has a total of 2 cover variations. 

1. Warren Wucinich with Fred C. Stresing standard retail cover
2. Fred C. Stresing variant cover

Characters in Issue #37 (In Order of Appearance)[]

Synopsis[]

One morning,Dib wakes up to findZim in his room, sharing a bunk bed with Dib, wearing his clothes, and claiming to be his brother. After Zim leaves, Dib reluctantly puts some of his clothes on in turn, before running downstairs after him. Reaching the kitchen, he's shocked to find that hisfather andsister are eating breakfast with Zim, both also claiming that Zim is his brother and thatGIR is their dog.

Confused, Dib becomes convinced that Zim has either brainwashed Gaz and the Professor, or replaced them with duplicates. Reluctantly, he plays along as he and Zim head toSkool.

However, once there, he's further shocked whenMs. Bitters and his fellowSkoolchildren all are also claiming that he and Zim are brothers. Overwhelmed, he feigns sickness and flees the building, heading home. Desperate for answers, Dib searches for proof that Zim isn't his brother, but only finds numerous pictures depicting them as such, and even that GIR is an actual dog, instead of a robot in a costume. When Zim arrives, Dib panics and barricades himself in his room, and tries to contactThe Swollen Eyeball Network for help, only for the agent he reaches to emerge from the computer screen and turn into Zim.

Dib attempts to flee out his window, only to stop as he notices blackberries growing on a tree, and a squirrel with a carapace. He realizes that he's in a lazily researched simulation, and wakes up in a pod inZim's Base, just like during the events of the episodeDib's Wonderful Life of Doom. Zim reveals that he trapped Dib as a test subject for a plan to put all humans in simulations and use them as living batteries.

When Dib tries to point out the flaws in this plan, Zim of course silences him like he usually does, and expresses confusion as to why Dib rejected the illusion rather than accepted it, as Zim assumed he'd bethrilled to have Zim as a brother.

After Dib leaves, Zim inspects the pod, trying to figure out what went wrong, and accidentally traps himself inside it and puts himself in the simulation. His reaction to having a copy of himself as a brother is excitement over how great it is.

Facts of Doom []

• Zim's plan is similar in concept, if different in motive, to his plan in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom".
• In the illusion, Zim shows affection for Gaz, albeit more in a manner akin to siblings than as love interests (which was Jhonen's original intention for the two in the early scripts for the1999 pilot for the series).
• Zim's plan can also be seen as a parody of the basic plot from theMatrix franchise, as Dib points out all the logical plot holes which make the plan not cost efficient (such as blueberries growing on a tree).
  • However, the blueberries growing on a tree could also be a vague reference to theBerries inMario games.
• There's a minor error near the end of the issue. As Dib is fleeing from Zim in his house, he's briefly show wearing his own clothes as he runs into his room, despite wearing Zim's clothes up to that point. By the next panel, he's back in those clothes. This error was later corrected in reprints of the issue.
• The events of this issue are briefly mentioned inIssue 42 - during his first commercial to thePlim, Dib warns them that Zim might try to turn them all into batteries, like his ultimate goal with Dib here.

References[]