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20px-Cquote1.png Time is a thing you broke. And if I don't fix it, the universe is doomed to forever be stuck in a perpetual loop of inter dimensional death-dookie destruction!
Dib
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Invader Zim Issue
The Dookie Loop Horror
DLH Cover A-2
Chronology
Previous: Quarterly 4
Next: N/A
Information
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication date: August 4, 2021
Creative
Story by: Jhonen Vasquez
Eric Trueheart
Art by: Aaron Alexovich
Color by: Fred C. Stresing


Official Summary[]

In Invader ZIM: Dookie Loop Horror, up in the sky, something...BLUE approaches. And it smells HORRIBLE. It turns out that interdimensional creatures called Chrono-Dumpers eat time and use our dimension as a toilet, creating an infinite time loop. There is no escape from the time poop loop, forcing Dib and ZIM to live the same TERRIBLE day forEVER. They wake, the tuxedoed pig farts, the world ends. And the key to fixing the loop is GIR. We are all DOOOMED.

Release[]

The Dookie Loop Horror was released on August 4, 2021.[1]

Variations[]

The Dookie Loop Horror has three covers

  • Aaron Alexovich retail cover
  • Ott variant variant cover
  • Jhonen Vasquez variant cover

Characters in The Dookie Loop Horror (In Order of Appearance)[]

Synopsis[]

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

Smelly End

Dib and Gaz being consumed by the time loop

Dib is having some breakfast, when Gaz confronts him for eating the last of the Honey Ghost cereal and tosses him through a wall. Dib realizes that all of this seems very familiar, but Gaz brushes it off as something she does to him all the time, like sawing open his head at night and putting stuff into it. Dib tries to question the situation, only to be interrupted by a sudden overpowering smell.

As he and Gaz gag from the smell, a blue mass suddenly overwhelms the entire Earth. A narration bubble states that this is the end of the universe, only to then cut to a space station in Earth's orbit a year later, with the narration saying that this will make sense soon.

Onboard the space station, Zim is working on a puzzle with Minimoose and having GIR bring him snacks, when Dib bursts in to confront him. Zim quickly realizes that Dib is aware of the time loop they're stuck in, explaining that he's aware of it thanks to the special Anti-Loop Hat he's wearing; Dib explains that he's also aware of the loop because of one of the objects Gaz stuffed into his head, and has been stuck in the loop for the equivalent of a year. After reassuring a panicking Minimoose, who isn't aware of the loop, Zim takes Dib to another room to explain the situation.

Time-manipulating

Zim reveals the source of the time loop

Zim reveals that the blue mass is the guano of interdimensional creatures known as Sloobagloobs (or Chrono-Dumpers) which eat time in their dimension and use Zim and Dib's dimension as a toilet. Zim further explains that the space station is designed to collect the guano (or "time poop" as it's referred to throughout the rest of the issue) in order to allow Zim to harness its time-manipulating power so that he can turn all humans into babies and launch them into the sun.

Dib calls this plan stupid, and Zim admits he hasn't been able to figure it out because GIR keeps getting into the time poop container with a pig in a tuxedo, which then farts and causes the container to burst, unleashing the time poop, which destroys the universe and resets the loop.

After returning to the space station, Dib demands that Zim end the loop. Despite claiming to have figured out how to do so, Zim refuses, as he's been using the loop to take time for personal projects and things he never had time for before. Dib decides that Zim's gone insane from the loop and decides to break it himself.

This leads into a montage of Dib making numerous attempts to stop the time poop container from bursting while Zim focuses on hobbies, only for each attempt to fail no matter what he does. Eventually, Dib gives up after Zim reveals how many times he died even before he became aware of the loop (making special mention of a time GIR baked him into a pie) and decides that he'll make the most of things and focus on personal projects too. However, just as he says this, Zim finally finishes the puzzle he was working on, and decides that he's now free to end the loop.

Dib Pie

GIR serves a "Dib pie"

Dib is excited to finally be free of the loop, only to find that Zim's solution is to just write "fix time loop" on a button and pressing it, which fails to do anything.

Dib tells Zim that he hates him, as the loop continues, with a montage of beings across the universe being affected by it. A final narration bubble ends the issue by pointing out that the loop will never end, while GIR serves Zim and Minimoose another "Dib Pie."

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

Facts of Doom[]

  • This is the final issue of the Invader Zim comic series, and is full of callbacks to previous issues.
    • The name and cover picture of the Honey Ghost cereal would suggest that it's made by Maxwell Beesworth.
    • Gaz throwing Dib through a wall had previously happened at the end of Issue 5.
    • Zim taking an interest in art during the loop would appear to be a reference to Issue 3 when he pretended to be an artist.
    • Zim looked sort of old in one panel, a reference to Issue 28.
    • Burrito Royale, Chammy Wamboo, and Floopsy and Shmoopsy are shown in the montage of people who are being affected by the time poop.
  • There's also numerous callbacks to the movie.
    • The stadium where Professor Membrane made his keynote speech makes an appearance.
    • Several of Zim's Robot Army can be seen when Dib sneaks into his father's lab during one of the loops.
    • The puzzle that Zim is working on is revealed to be a picture of the ceramic dog-clown figurine he stole from Dib at the end of the movie.
    • Clembrane is shown in the montage of people who are being affected by the time poop.
    • Tak's appearance in the closing montage shows her being detained by the Gellaxis, which is likely a reference to how the movie was originally going to reveal that Tak was imprisoned in Moo-Ping 10.
  • The primary cover is a callback to the primary cover of Issue 1. That cover showed Dib looking on in horror as Zim bursts out of his own grave while GIR cheers nearby; this one shows Zim and Dib's gravestones with statues of them yelling at each other while GIR digs a grave.
  • The initial versions of the primary Alexovich cover and Ott variant cover listed the issue title as "Dookie Loop Horror". In the final versions, the word "The" was added to the title.
  • Zim's Space Station doesn't look anything like the one seen in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" and "Future Dib", suggesting this is a new one he somehow acquired, In fact, in keeping with the theme of the issue, the upper half resembles a giant plunger.
  • This wasn't Zim's first attempt to manipulate time as in "Walk for your Lives" he created a Time-Stasis Field that accidentally caused both Dib and an explosion to be slowed down exponentially.
  • Invader Tenn is mentioned at one point as having the high score on a dancing game that Zim and GIR are playing.
  • The cereal Franken Chokies are seen at the beginning of the issue. The last time they appeared were in the episode "Gaz, Taster of Pork".
  • GIR apparently created a cereal called "Dookie Loops", which is an obvious reference to "Froot Loops."
  • Zim's Anti-Loop Hat floats, which may be a reference to The Fairly Odd Parents, as the crowns and hats that the fairies wear float over their heads.
    • Interestingly but maybe not concidentally, another FOP reference is made as the Anti-Loop hat also resembles the blue bowler hat that is worn by Anti-Cosmo, another Nicktoon villain.
  • Only Zim and Dib are aware of the time loop, making them the only beings in the universe who have to relive the same day over and over and thus the only two who could find a way to break the cycle.
  • Despite being a recurring character, Ms. Bitters does not make an appearance in this finale, despite all the minor characters who appear in the closing montage.
  • GIR making Dib into a pie is a possible reference to Sweeny Todd.
Zim Reading

Zim reading Bloaty's autobiography

  • Zim is seen reading Bloaty's autobiography "I Am Bloaty", which may be a reference to Leonard Nimoy's Biography "I Am Spock."
    • This is ironic, seeing as Zim hates Earth pizza and wouldn't have anything of Bloaty's in his possession. In actuality, this is more typical of Gaz's behavior, as she would be the one to read that autobiography.
    • Zim is also seen wearing reading glasses, which is odd as Irkens have ocular implants, so they wouldn't have the need for glasses to begin with.
    • This is also the third time Zim is seen reading something made by humans, as in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" he was reading a book (albeit in the simulation) and in "Zim Eats Waffles" he was reading the newspaper.
  • At some point Zim also leaned to cook and knit as he made a casserole and was even seen knitting Minimoose a shirt.
    • Again, this is out of character for Zim, as he is using Earth appliances to cook, suggesting that during the loop, he mellowed down some of his hatred towards certain things on the planet.
    • The casserole must have been made with Irken ingredients in order for Zim to be able to eat it.
    • Zim's tongue looks like that of a human when he licks his upper lip in anticipation to eat the casserole.
    • The shirt Zim was knitting has a double "M" on it, signifying that he was making it for Minimoose.
  • Disturbingly, at the beginning of the issue it is hinted that Minimoose has killed someone with a hammer. It is never outright stated, but the fact that Zim recalls the story as "intense" implies as much.
  • GIR once more is seen morbidly obese. The previous times this has happened were in "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" and Issue 36, albeit in this case we see GIR without his disguise.
  • This is the second time a pig was involved in a time predicament. The first time was in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" when rubber piggies were used to try and kill Dib, while in this case it was a real pig being accidentally responsible for the destruction of the universe.
  • This is also the third time a pig is important to the plot with the rubber piggies mentioned above and secondly with the Shadowhog in "Gaz, Taster of Pork".
  • It seems Zim has managed to kill Dib several times and even has a scrapbook involving all the times he has murdered him, but because of the time loop, he doesn't stay dead for long.
    • It seems that the scrapbook isn't erased since Zim put an Anti-Loop Hat on it. This would appear to mean that inanimate objects can be immune to the time loop, so if GIR or Minimoose wore the hat, they would be aware of the time-loop but Zim for one reason or another didn't think of giving them one.
    • The fact that Dib dies several times but is "reborn" may be a reference to the 2017 film "Happy Death Day" with the sole eception that unlike Tree Gelbman, Dib doesn't remember his deaths.
    • The overall plot of the final issue may be a reference to the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day."
  • The plunger Dib uses may be a reference to the Plunger of Doom, which is a weapon that only appears in the video game Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.
  • Interestingly, while Zim has only destroyed certain alien worlds, ironically it's GIR - who is by all accounts the most innocent out of everyone in the series - that is responsible for the destruction of the universe. This makes him the character with the highest body count in the series or comics, but because the loop keeps happening, all the deaths and destruction keeps getting erased.
  • Because this is the last issue of the comic book series, the last page that is usually reserved for the cover of the following issue is left as a blank.
  • This last issue had a mixed reception from fans. Some felt it was a more "extended version" of both Issue 20 and "Zim Eats Waffles", as Zim doesn't do much of anything in this issue, while the Dib plot was better received, as this was the last time he played the hero. However, because there was no resolution and therefore no satisfactory ending, a lot of fans felt that the ending was "rushed" and ended both the comics and franchise overall on a sour note, but the fact that it was "open ended" as well gives hope for a comeback.


References[]

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