Always wanted a really great Zim figure but could never afford the ones from Palisades especially with aftermarket prices. So I ended up making one and I love it! He's to scale with my Hot Topic GIR keychain doll.
Today I want to share a funny observation my friend Al Bug(She often helps me.) and I made. We stumbled upon the character Maggie Pesky from the cartoon "The Buzz on Maggie" (2005) and were stunned by how much she resembles our favorite Gaz Membrane from "Invader Zim"(2001) (especially in her updated design).
For context, who is Maggie?
She's a teenage fly, 13 years old, attending Buzzdale Academy. Maggie is a true rebel: she dreams of becoming a rockstar, plays a pink and red double-neck guitar, loves heavy metal, and frequently breaks the rules.
Why do they look so similar?
The reason lies in Gaz's redesign. Originally, in 2001, she wore a gloomy black dress and a skull necklace. Creator Jhonen Vasquez changed her look in 2015 (in the comics), and then in 2019 (in Enter the Florpus) to move away from the "goth" stereotype and focus on her love of video games.
Maggie Pesky got her look back in 2005, long before Gaz's redesign.
If you look closely, there are differences:
T-shirt: Gaz's is teal with an 8-bit rabbit skull; Maggie's is teal with a white star.
Skirt: Gaz's is black; Maggie's is yellow.
Legs and shoes: Gaz's legs are fully covered. And her boots aren't actually black - they're a dark teal/greenish-blue shade. As for Maggie, we see black platform boots with white clasps and purple socks, while her legs remain exposed.
Hair: Both have purple-pink hair, but Maggie's is rounder and she has antennae. Gaz's purple hair, resembling a stylized bob, is cubic with five spikes like fangs or a mouth; however, in the comics and Enter the Florpus, this was changed to look less angular. Her eyes are usually narrowed or closed, but they widen when she's surprised, delighted, or deeply irritated, revealing them to be brown (though they were blue in the original pilot). Unlike Gaz, Maggie's eyes are always wide open, not narrowed. Also, Maggie has freckles, is a fly, has wings, and 4 arms.
Yes, the general silhouette and color palette match, but it's more of a surprising stylistic coincidence than copying.
But they share more than just clothes:
Music: Both can play bass guitar and are into rock music. Maggie dreams of the stage, while Gaz in the first comic issue also picks up an instrument and plays guitar, and in issue 3 she hangs out with Big Fist and throws up the "rock on" horns with him.
Intros: We also noticed that the endings of the intro sequences for both shows are very similar! Both Zim (in the original) and Maggie daydream, imagining their cherished dreams.
What about their personalities? They are completely different!
In the intro, Maggie looks more friendly and open than Gaz.
Gaz Membrane - Cynical Misanthrope:
Gaz embodies the dark, grumpy, and antisocial girl. She openly despises humanity, speaks through gritted teeth, and believes the best way to spend time is pizza and video games alone. If someone gets between her and her Game Slave, she becomes truly dangerous. She almost never smiles. However, behind this armor hides care for her brother Dib (she just knows he can handle her jabs).
Maggie Pesky - Energetic Rebel Dreamer:
Maggie, unlike Gaz, is very energetic, ambitious, and open. She's not a misanthrope-she dreams of rockstar fame and the world's attention! Maggie is willing to scheme and manipulate to get what she wants, but she's kind at heart, loves her family, and easily makes friends. If Gaz wants everyone to leave her alone, Maggie, on the contrary, wants to be the center of attention.
Al Bug even found fanart where Maggie is depicted as Zim, trying to conquer the world with rock music, and GIR is a robo-fly!(I couldn't find the author of the art)
(The posting guidelines ask (Too Long; Didn't Read - short summary. Well, if they recommend it, then so be it.) TL;DR: Maggie Pesky (2005) and Gaz Membrane's redesigned look (2015/2019) share a striking visual resemblance (teal shirt, purple hair, gamer vibe), but their personalities are completely opposite: Gaz is a cynical misanthrope, while Maggie is an energetic, open rebel.
(I’m not very good at making Reddit posts, and there are probably plenty of spelling errors since English isn’t my native language. I just wanted to share a homemade meme about the physical resemblance between Gaz Membrane and Maggie Pesky.)
As villainous as she was, I actually felt bad for Tak. She had the potential to be a genuinely good invader only for Zim to inadvertently ruin her chance to be one by causing her to miss an important exam. Tak then got forced to be a janitor for fifty years which was able to escape from. She then tries to conquer Earth and nearly succeeds only for Zim to ruin everything for her again and set her flying off in her spaceship.
just found this sub and wanted to show off the rotator cuff i made :3 the text says ‘galactic conquest is near’ from the first ep and the middle part with the perler spins!
Fun fact: This last one comes from the storyboard of the Invader Zim pilot episode, and yes, I know it's creepy, especially when your eyes are wide open, but Anyway, I really like seeing Gaz smile, especially when he's with DiB in the movie. It's pretty new. I hope there's a new movie or a season 3, I don't know, we'll see even more moments Cute brother and sister with Dib and Gaz, especially in the new comic that's coming out soon. I wish if the series had never been canceled we'd see a lot of Gaz's sadistic smiles
GAZ IS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE WOMAN FROM THE INVADER ZIM
When Jhonen Vasquez was sorting through concept art for the Resisty command bridge, he threw around a lot of different ideas for the Tallest’s flagship, The Massive. Even though this particular design ended up as a runner-up for The Massive, he didn't want to waste the bridge layout, so he shelved it until the Resisty episode aired.
He realized it was a perfect fit for the rebel fleet's flagship precisely because it lacked that signature organic-yet-techy Irken aesthetic found everywhere else in the series. Even so, the ship was set to make a comeback in the final episode, Invader Dib, where Dib teams up with them to face the Irken armada in an ultra-epic climax, leading the Resisty straight against the Tallest's Massive, with the battle shown in all those monitors including probably the death of the Allmighty tallest according to Vazquez at DVD #3 leaving only Dib vs Zim final battle.
This is not my artwork this is the original Invader Zim artwork from Nickelodeon art department.