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20px-Cquote1.png LIES! All lies! Don't believe a word he says, captain lady-person! Zim will amaze you with tales of his actual derring-do and all-around superiority!
Zim
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Invader Zim Issue
Issue 17
Invader zim 17 final cover
Chronology
Previous: Issue 16
Next: Issue 18
Information
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication date: February 15, 2017
Creative
Story by: Danielle Koenig
Sam Logan
Art by: Warren Wucinich
Jarrett Williams
Color by: Fred C. Stresing


 Official Summary[]

A perfect starting point for the Invader ZIM comics! ZIM’s latest doomsday device might actually work, and Dib is, as usual, powerless to stop it! But an unexpected ally might be just what the doctor ordered! As long as that doctor’s credentials aren’t from an unaccredited university.[1]

Release[]

Issue 17 was released on February 15, 2017.

Variations[]

Issue #17 has a total of 3 cover variations. 

  1. Warren Wucinich standard retail cover 
  2. Krooked Glasses variant cover 
  3. Matthew Seely variant cover (Emerald City Comicon Exclusive)

Characters in Issue #17 (In Order of Appearance)[]

Synopsis[]

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

DibZIMJailed

Zim and Dib are imprisoned.

On an unidentified planet, Zim and Dib are locked up in a jail cell. A brief flashback reveals how this happened: Zim infiltrated the Girly Rangers to try and get some of their cookies, so that he could bribe GIR with them to allow him to wash his dog suit. When Dib stormed into the meeting to try and expose Zim, he accidentally revealed that the Rangers' group leader was actually a slug-like alien, who thinks Dib was after them, leading to both Zim and Dib being abducted.

Back in the present, Zim and Dib play "I Spy" to pass the time, until another slug alien enters the room. Identifying herself as Dolores, she states that she'll only release the one of them who proves to be the most courageous and heroically worthy. Dib instantly jumps on the opportunity, sharing a story about a time when he discovered Zim trying to brainwash the Skoolchildren by tampering with their food. He then countered this by going on a dramatic quest to retrieve pizzas from Bloaty's, which everyone eats instead, earning Dib their admiration. Zim counters this by telling a story about a time Dib's head grew so large it blocked out the sun, forcing Zim to change the Earth's rotation to save it, and then locked Dib up in a cage to make money off the situation. Dolores isn't impressed with either story.

Schmeevee-0

Dolores' new schmeevee show featuring ZIM and Dib.

GIR then enters, claiming to be Zim's lawyer and trying to buy his freedom with empty jelly jars. Zim explains to him what's going on, and GIR tells his own story, about searching for a cat that he lost in Zim's sofa, and then eating it. Zim tells him that's not helping and sends him away. Dib then tells another story, about a time Zim stank so bad he almost killed everyone, so a very buff Dib had to beat the stink out of him, and then locked him up.

At this point, Dolores finally admits that she has no intention of releasing either of them, revealing that she's actually a TV producer, and is going to force them to stay in the cell and provide stories for her to use in a new show. However, two weeks later, the show is met with awful reactions. The show is cancelled, and Zim and Dib are violently returned to Earth, crashing into a lemonade stand and creating a crater as the comic ends.

"Keep It To Yourself" subplot

BeesAttackZIM

The Bees attack Zim.

GIR is on the sofa eating honey when Zim bursts in, revealing that he's created a device that destroys Irken technology, intending to use it to destroy Tak's Ship, leaving Dib defenseless. But he realizes that he's accidentally set the device to be triggered by yelling, and so must be quiet until Dib goes to sleep and he can plant it. Unfortunately, GIR reveals that the honey he's been eating is full of bees, which swarm free. Zim yells in a panic, triggering the device and destroying his base, while Dib looks on in confusion, ending the comic.

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

Facts of Doom []

  • Matthew Seely’s new variant cover was available for $10 via Oni’s booth at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, March 2 to March 5 2017. 
  • This is the fifth issue to have both a main plot and a secondary backup comic. Other issues with secondary plots are Issue 7, Issue 12, Issue 13, and Issue 14
  • In one of Dib's stories, he wins a stuffed animal from a crane game machine and gives it to a baby. This stuffed animal looks very much like the monkey painting in Zim's living room. 
  • At one point, Zim refers to Dib as a lady. This calls back to Issue 13, where the alien kidnappers call Dib a woman, and Zim admits he can't tell the difference when it comes to human genders. He demonstrates this again later in the issue, when he mentions having run over someone with a riding mower and admits he couldn't tell if they were a man or a woman. 
  • The cat that GIR found in the sofa looks very similar to Tuna, the stray cat he found in Issue 11
  • This is the second time GIR has kept a beehive in his head in the entire series, the first being the episode "Walk of Doom" from the animated television series. 
  • Strangely, Oni Press has written another official summary for this issue, but they did not put it on their retail website. This summary is actually more accurate to the plot.
    • Synopsis: Once again, Dib is kidnapped by malicious aliens! But there’s a big difference: they’ve also kidnapped ZIM! WHAT EVIL IS THIS?[2]
  • The format of the issue, wherein the main plot is little more than a framing device for several smaller stories, is quite similar to that first used in Issue 15, which would later be used again in Issue 40. Quarterly 3 would also be an anthology, but lack a framing device.
  • During Gaz's cameo in Dib's first story, her eyes are colored purple instead of their normal amber/brown.
  • The events of this issue are referenced by Recap Kid at the start of Issue 35, which is the second part of a two-part story which also features Zim being incarcerated.

References[]

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