Hello cool fans of horrible stuff!

Dusting off the old newsletter (It’s been over a year??) to share actual news with you all. TWO bits of news, actually.

First off, did you know March 30th marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the premiere of Invader ZIM? I can hardly believe it… Feels like only yesterday I crawled straight from the womb to my drawing table at Nickelodeon. Jhonen had me chained there for years, just a screaming baby drawing screaming babies all day every day, sleepless, in agony. I’ve still never met my mother…

Oh well.

To celebrate the big occasion, I’ve created this fun new print:

That’s too many characters. Don’t draw this many characters! I’m always telling the fresh babies, “Don’t draw too many characters,” but here I am, not taking my own advice. Can you spot your favorite in there? (If not, feel free to draw them in. Use a Sharpie right on your screen.)

The second thing to share is: I HAVE A NEW DANG BOOK.

SHOCK CITY PUNKS is the sequel to 2024’s SHOCK CITY, which maybe you already have? I bet you do. You look cool. Here’s my publisher’s description of the new one:

The follow-up to the Tim-Burton-esque middle grade graphic novel that Max Brallier calls “Equal parts nightmarish and outrageously funny!”

Milo and Sunny may have saved Shock City and its citizens from ruin, but that doesn’t mean everything is peachy. As the town continues to deal with the aftermath of Darkness Von Shock’s reign of terror, a new team of instigators arises: hotheaded brothers who Becky lovingly refers to as the Diaper Twins. They lead the town in blaming Sunny and her parents for all the issues Shock City still faces. Milo is enraged that the Diaper Twins have scapegoated the Von Shocks, but then Becky convinces Milo and Sunny to blow off some steam and play a few harmless pranks on the twins. Little do Milo and Sunny know Becky’s setting her own plans in motion, plotting to bring back an old friend even more sinister than ol’ Darkness Von Shock himself.

The folks at Kirkus Reviews used terms like “deliciously macabre” and “gruesome hilarity” to describe it, so that sounds like a party, right?

As much as I like the first book, this one pretty much blows it out of the water. For one thing, it includes multiple scenes of giant, pink-faced man-babies being humiliated by children, an especially pleasing thing in the God-shunned year of 2026. So grab yourself some catharsis and pre-order SHOCK CITY PUNKS now! It’s officially out April 21st.

Can’t stress to you enough how valuable the whole “pre-order” concept is. Pre-orders can really help a book gain traction in the incredibly challenging market authors are trudging through these days. Even a couple of advance sales can get the blind god Algorithm to push your book a little harder on the big websites. Or they can nudge actual human booksellers to order some extra copies for their store. It really doesn’t take much!

To encourage the pre-order process, I’m gonna make you all an offer.

That’s right! If you order SHOCK CITY PUNKS, I’ll send you the 11×17″ ZIM print for just the cost of printing plus shipping. Here them deets:

HOW TO GET THE EXCLUSIVE 25th ANNIVERSARY ZIM PRINT

1. Pre-order SHOCK CITY PUNKS anywhere you want. (I recommend Bookshop.org, because their sales go to supporting indie book stores, but anyplace is fine.)
2. Send proof of purchase to PROOF@aaronalexovich.com (A screenshot of your confirmation page works.)
3. I’ll send you a link to buy the print. $4 plus shipping. Once you do that, you’re done! I’ll start mailing things out April 22nd.

Sound cool? This will be pretty much the only way to get the print (outside of two California convention appearances later this year), so grab it while ZIM still deems it possible.

In other news, I might be launching a Patreon before too long, and migrating all future newsletter-related stuff there, along with the full archive + continuing commentary on Serenity Rose. Probably post new weekly drawings and voyages into the ZIM vaults, too. Still working out the details, but I’ll let you all know.

And thanks so much for staying subscribed, you awesome weirdos!

-a