Dragon Con is one of those conventions where you never quite know what you’re going to get to experience from year to year at the show floor, or who will be gracing the Walk of Fame over Labor Day weekend. This year, several members of the cult-classic show, Invader Zim, visited Atlanta to sign autographs and tell stories at different panels about the show.
When they weren’t participating in other aspects of the convention, three members the show – Jhonen Vasquez (creator of Invader Zim), Melissa Fahn (voice of Gaz), and Rikki Simons (voice of GIR) – sat down with several members of the media to talk about everything from Invader Zim, how it feels to see their show and roles influence other projects, and more.
If you missed Part One, you can check it out here.
You can check out more about Invader Zim at the official website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.
You can find out more about Rikki Simons at his official website, Melissa Fahn on Instagram, and Jhonen Vasquez at his Linktree.
You can also check out Dragon Con on the official website, on Facebook, on X, on Instagram, on Bluesky, on Pinterest, and on Discord.
Memberships for Dragon Con 2026 are on sale now.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.
Operation Rainfall: I want to get back to something you said before – about things living inside of you from when you were younger, and hating the fact that Zim is doing the same for other people. For each of you: what are things from your childhood that is living inside of you that have kind of shaped you in whatever ways?
Rikki Simons: I was a nerd – like these people say ‘nerd’ these days, but nerd was a bad thing to be in the seventies and eighties. You got destroyed by other human beings. So, I liked a lot of science fiction like Space: 1999, I was really big into.
But I also liked the Muppets and things. When I was 10, I saw Time Bandits and it changed my brain forever. I think it is one of the best movies ever made. And still, I just hear those guys’ voices in my head all the time – and it just makes me happy to think about it.
Jhonen Vasquez: They are always there!
RS: Just John Cleese’s Robin Hood coming in, going: ‘[o]h, come on, come on people!’
JV: When that old lady comes up-
RS: -when that old lady gets punched in the head! ‘Excuse me, is that really necessary?’ *makes unintelligible noises* ‘What did he say?’
JV: And they would take that one frame out-
RS: So it looks like she just goes down immediately!
JV: Yeah, Time Bandits was a big one for me. Terry Gilliam was big for me growing up. Really, a lot of horror and science fiction. Like, Alien was huge for me. Like, probably one of the first things I was ever obsessed with. Like everyone, I grew up on Star Wars and all the Spielberg stuff. I just loved anything that had creatures or puppets, muppets, anything that was people making fake things come to life.
But Alien, for some reason, just the fascination with parasites, and I thought that thing was beautiful. Just- I was obsessed with it. Still, I am. A lot of the stuff I loved, like Time Bandits, was usually stuff that kind of stuck in my head because it wasn’t just a straight Disney ‘happy’ story, it was stuff that left off feeling kind of gross or sad or confusing as a kid. Being a kid and knowing there is something ‘wrong’ kin what I just saw. That is the stuff that stuck in my head, not the stuff that has a happy ending.
But I loved all kind of stuff – I loved Neverending Story, and puppets, happiness and magic, all that stuff. But the stuff that really, really, left a mark was, yeah, Time Bandits or Alien where people aren’t necessarily seen as ‘happy main character kind of people.’ Time Bandits – that kid ends with his parents dead. But you’re happy about it. And he abandoned them! And no one seems to care!
RS: But he’s got a photograph of the map, so he can go whenever he wants. I actually looked at it as a happy ending – I didn’t have a good situation. But I looked at it as a happy ending because he had that photograph of the map and now he can go anywhere in the universe he wants. So, he’s unstoppable now.
JV: What about little Melissa?
Melissa Fahn: Well, little Melissa grew up – I have three older brothers, and my dad was a drummer. And we all played musical instruments. So, we had a lot of music and I danced, and played a musical instrument, and sang from when I was very, very little. So, I grew up watching old movies, old movie musicals – like Channel 5 [News: The Musical], and Saturday was all the old movies. And I was obsessed with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and I was in dance five days a week, and that was all I wanted to do.
That really shaped me, but I also came from a family that had a great love of all that old school stuff, and we all grew up either – my older brother’s a musician, he’s married a musician. My second brothers are actors and they married actors, and I’m married to a drummer. But I did love Betty Boop when I was a kid. And so, it’s crazy, just crazy, that came around to me and I voiced Betty Boop for many years. She was originally a dog – Betty Boop was originally a dog, and the earrings were her ears, and big head.
JV: That is one of the weirdest heads in animation. It doesn’t turn, it’s always forward.
MF: One of those paintings that just follows you, yeah. So that was my obsession, it was just a natural progression when that job happened and changed the course of my life, singing and dancing, and having fun in front of the camera to being the voice of Betty Boop. That was my very first voiceover job. It catapulted my voiceover career, it got me with great agents, and opened up everything in the world of animation for me. So, that’s why its just been such a great balance in my life as a performer.
So gratifying, years later, with Zim and Betty and Cowboy Bebop and a lot of those shows to come to these cons and meet with people who watched it, people who say ‘[o]h, I’ve been watching Zim since I was a kid, and my kid watches it’ or a kid coming up saying ‘I just watched it for the first time.’ Or, with Cowboy Bebop, that was my first anime that was my foray into getting into anime. It’s just great to see how we can still be a part of people’s lives and bring it on into the next generation. Now all I need to do is start tapdancing for people and I’ll complete it!
OR: Funko kind of being the leader of fandoms, and they have a new line for y’all coming out, how do you feel about the new line and everything portraying the show?
JV: Do they?
MF: Do they? Do they have a new line coming out? Are they finally making a Gaz?
OR: They have a line in the past as well – how does it feel to know that they are doing your fandom? They don’t do anything of a small fandom. How does it make you feel knowing that you’re part of the Funko legacy?
JV: I don’t know, I’ve never really – again, it’s one of those things that I’ve never really given much thought. I love seeing Zim toys, ‘cause we didn’t really get a lot of stuff, you know? I definitely had that dream of walking into Toys R’ Us back in the day and seeing an aisle of Zim stuff, and that never happened. Seeing anything – it’s usually like a GIR, occasionally, you get a Zim.
RS: GIR works for Funko, though, because of the shape.
JV: GIR works really well for Funko because of his head. So does Betty Boop!
MF: There’s a ton of Betty Boop. I sign a lot of Betty Boop, and a lot of Hello Kitty, because I did Hello Kitty for a number of years. And, a lot of Edwards from Cowboy Bebop. And I have another character, Himawari, from Baruto. But, there was never one for Gaz.
JV: Yeah, they never made a Gaz!
MF: And so many people come up to me saying ‘[w]ell, if they ever make a Gaz…’.
JV: They even made a [Professor] Membrane.
RS: There’s no Dib.
MF: There’s no Dib, but yeah – I think Gaz would be great. It’s very cool, very cool to see.
JV: That’s the answer! We’re just angry there is no Gaz.
RS: *laughs*
MF: Get that out in the world! But that would be cool.
RS: You don’t have to do Dib though, because Andy [Berman] doesn’t go to conventions.
JV: *laughs*
“It was great – when you go to the cons, it’s awesome, you meet so many wonderful people and so many creative people, but its true, like Jhonen said: you’re sitting at the tables or you’re going to the interview or going to a panel, but you don’t get to see as much.”
OR: Obviously, there was a lot in Invader Zim that was unsettling, in terms of stuff that you guys could get away with. Is there something you’re still amazed you were able to ‘slip under the radar’ to air on Nickelodeon? Because ‘Bloaty’s Pizza Hog’ is very unsettling!
JV: Bloaty might be – when I think about it, ‘cause usually it was just funny. When you think about it, ‘haha this is really funny,’ but when you stop and think about it – Bloaty’s horrifying. He’s literally crying in his commercials, you know? ‘That’s the best take they’ve got?’ you know? So if he’s crying in the commercials, how sad is he off camera?
RS: You asked me to do the worst thing I could possibly do-
JV: -Voice wise?
RS: Yeah, voice wise. You were laughing.
JV: *laughs* ‘I’ve got this character…’ But like, when he’s doing Bloaty’s voice, it’s the sound of someone crying hysterically. It’s like, a man is breaking. And that guy, to me, was really funny! Anyone in a funny animal suit that’s sad is the funniest goddamn thing in the world.
MF: You know, years ago, speaking of Bloaty – I was at a convention, and it was in Boston – so I think it was Anime Boston. I was so excited, I hadn’t gone to a lot of cons, and I was at Anime Boston. It was a combination of con people and a combination of people in formal dresses going up and down, going to a wedding or something. And then I see Teddy Kennedy – a Kennedy! – on the top of the escalator, coming down, and I see Bloaty’s Pizza Hog going up! It was like: ‘There’s a Kennedy! And there’s Bloaty’s Pizza Hog!’ *laughs*
JV: They high five’d halfway down!
MF: It just made me laugh so hard, I’ll never forget that image. But, wow.
OR: It is Saturday at Dragon Con. What has your con experience been like so far?
MF: It’s been great! It’s really loud in the lobby at night, and the whole hotel goes: *makes heavy bass thumping sounds*
JV: Yeah, we’re way up there, and we still hear it.
MF: It’s been loud!
JV: It’s been great, everyone’s been really nice. All I’ve seen is where I’m signing. I’d love to see other things. I want to buy cool, little things. I hopefully will have the time to do that. I’ll probably try to check it out after this [panel interview]. So yeah, so far, it’s like all my signings – I’m just sitting and that’s all I see, of it. I’d like to see more.
RS: I got to meet the whole McElroy family today, so I was happy! I’m a big fan of all their podcasts.
MF: Yeah, that’s cool.
RS: That was nice.
MF: It was great. When you go to the cons, it’s awesome, you meet so many wonderful people and so many creative people, but it’s true, like Jhonen said: you’re sitting at the tables or you’re going to the interview or going to a panel, but you don’t get to see as much. But it’s good when you get a chance to.
OR: This is a little random. If y’all could be a Girl Scout cookie, which cookie would you be?
JV: What are those- are they Thin Mints?
MF: Yeah.
JV: I love those! I’d just eat myself. I really like those.
RS: I guess a Snickerdoodle.
MF: I can’t think of them!
JV: What’s a Samoas?
OR: Coconut and chocolate.
MF: Yeah, that’s me! They’re round.
OR: Thank you!
I want to thank Dragon Con for helping to set up this interview!
Who is your favorite character from Invader Zim?
Would you like to see more episodes or another movie?
Let us know in the comments below!
