Issue 12

This will not stand! I will track him down and have my revenge!! — Zim

Invader Zim Issue
Issue 12
Chronology
Previous:	Issue 11
Next:	Issue 13
Information
Publisher:	Oni Press
Publication date:	August 10, 2016
Creative
Story by:	Eric Trueheart Dave Crosland
Art by:	Aaron Alexovich Warren Wucinich Dave Crosland
Color by:	Fred C. Stresing

 Official Summary

ZIM and Dib are slingshotted to a horrifying future where the earth is ruled by… ZIM? Yes, Emperor ZIM is triumphant, and humanity bows before his greatness. But Invader ZIM decides his future self is a huge ungrateful jerk, and now ZIM must go to war against himself! 

Release

Issue 12 was released on August 10, 2016

Variations

• Warren Wucinich standard retail cover (Finalized)
• Warren Wucinich standard retail cover (Prototype; unreleased)
• Rashad Doucet variant cover

1/3

Issue #12 has a total of 2 cover variations so far. 

1. Warren Wucinich standard retail cover
2. Rashad Doucet variant cover 

Characters in Issue #12 (In Order of Appearence)

• Recap Kid
• Dib Membrane
• Zim
• GIR
• Tak's Ship (Downloaded Personality)
• Future Professor Membrane (Hologram)
• Future Roboparents
• Emperor Zim
• GIRT
• Future Almighty Tallest
• Future Dib (Corpse)
• Gaz Membrane (Invasion! Sub-plot)

Synopsis

SPOILER WARNING OF DOOM: This section or article may contain spoilers!

Zim, GIR, and Dib arrive in the future.

Zim and GIR (along with a baby GIR is carrying) are onboard the Voot Runner, flying into orbit with the intention of exploding a container of Flamin' Hot Cheezos, so that the resulting powder will destroy all life on Earth. Dib, having figured out what Zim is up to, is chasing after him in Tak's Ship. To elude him, Zim activates his Scary Fast Drive and flies around the sun, a move Dib follows.

They both survive the maneuver, but find that they've been slingshotted into the future, to a world where Zim has successfully conquered Earth. In his excitement over seeing this, Zim crashes the Voot into a building, before interrogating a human slave as to where he can find his future self. As he runs off to find him, Dib heads to his now abandoned and boarded up house, and finds a message left behind by his father, explaining how he's converted himself to pure energy and escaped the Earth, while Dib stayed behind to try and fight Zim. Present-Dib is then captured by robots.

Zim arrives at his future counterpart's palace, where upgraded versions of the Roboparents escort him to a waiting room. After being stuck in there for six months, Zim finally breaks out and confronts his future self, Emperor Zim, and an upgraded version of GIR called GIRT. Emperor Zim is very dismissive of his younger self, having forgotten he was waiting, and writing off his Cheezos plan as stupid. The Tallest then call, and congratulate Emperor Zim on his plan to fly Earth to them so that they can turn it into a giant snack bowl, which he promises will soon be completed. He then goes off to do this, leaving Present-Zim behind in an empty room.

Emperor ZIM on his throne and his loyal servant GIRT

Zim is so offended by his future self's flat-out disrespect for others that he breaks Dib out of the prison cell where he's been locked up with his own future self's skeleton. Zim puts a slave helmet on Dib's head to force him to pilot Tak's ship so that they can work together to defeat Emperor Zim. They then fly off to find him at the Planetary Scary Fast Drive control room in Australia. Zim fights Emperor Zim, while GIR distracts GIRT with the baby (now aged into an old man) and activates the Drive, sending the planet flying out of control through time.

Zim throws Emperor Zim into the Drive, seemingly killing him, before he and GIR get on Tak's ship and flee with Dib, leaving all three of them back in the present. The story then ends as they return to Earth, arguing over whether or not Zim's actions changed the timeline.

"Invasion!" subplot

Dib terrified as everyone has turned Irken

As Dib sneaks down abandoned streets, he recounts in rhyme how the Earth was quietly invaded, and now everyone has been taken over. Just as he's about to give into despair, he sees Gaz and happily runs to her, only to find that she's been turned into an Irken. More appear and Dib is captured, before Zim appears. Dib defiantly tells him he'll never join them, but Zim laughs and says Dib is already one of them. Dib's skin then tears off, revealing a laughing Irken underneath, as the story ends.

End of Spoilers: There are no further spoilers for this section or article. You can breathe now.

Facts of Doom 

• The Flamin' Hot Cheezos Zim is carrying with his Voot Cruiser in the beginning of the issue is a parody of the snack Cheetos.
• This is the second issue where there's more then one plot in the same issue (A main plot and a second mini plot). Other issues having a second plot are Issue 7, Issue 13, Issue 14, and Issue 17.
• The sequence where Zim and GIR are made to wait in Emperor Zim's waiting room for six months, leading to GIR growing a beard from the complacency, is similar to another gag in "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain", where Zim was trapped in his base for a year by GIR's uploaded mind, growing a beard in the meanwhile.