Simpsons Comics Spectacular

Simpsons Comics Spectacular 

By Various (Bongo Comics)
ISBN: 1-85286-669-1

The Simpsons phenomenon quickly fed back into its cartooning roots, and Bongo Comics was formed as an adjunct to the television show, to provide extra Springfield madness for the masses.

It is a credit to all concerned that the comics (issues #6 through #9 of which are reprinted here) manage to capture much of the tone, quality and thankfully, humour of the series, whilst paying their own eccentric tributes to the comic industry via the vehicle of ‘including’ comic books that Bart Simpson would be reading.

In this volume are: ‘Be-Bop-a-Lisa’ as the smart one sells out her musical integrity by creating “Speed Jazz” or Spazz music, whilst ‘Chief Wiggum’s Pre-Code Crime Comics’ provides the cautionary tale ‘The End of El Barto’. Homer stars in ‘The Greatest D’oh on Earth’, a tale of the worst circus in the world, and Rainier Wolfcastle stars in ‘Dead to the Last Drop’ from the highly dubious McBain Comics.

The entire cast feature in the Fantasic Voyage parody ‘I Shrink, Therefore I’m Small’, and the spoofing continues with Mrs Krabappel’s adventure as ‘Edna: Queen of the Congo’. The publishing business itself gets a cartoony kicking when Lisa’s “sexed-up” diary (courtesy of Bart, naturally) becomes the latest tell-all best-seller in ‘The Purple Rose of Springfield’, and the merriment concludes with a Popeye pastiche selection from ‘Barney Gumble Comics’entitled ‘Asleep at the Well’.

It’s difficult to judge creative input when producing work for such a highly defined and recognised licensed property, but the excellent work of Bill Morrison, Andrew Gottlieb, Gary Glasberg, Tim Bavington, Phil Ortiz, Luis Escobar, Stephanie Gladden, Steve and Cindy Vance and Nathan Kane, under the presumably beady eye of Matt Groening, keeps the gags coming and the pace frenetic, so all concerned deserve a group pat on the back.

This is another timeless piece of comic ordinance that we should use to get kids of all ages into comics. And of course, once we have them, we need stuff of this quality around to keep them.

© 1994, 1995 Bongo Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.