REVIEW CORNER: Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson # 40

Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson # 40 (2008)

“Easy Writer”

Writer:

Penciller: James Lloyd

Inker: Steve Steere, Jr.

Colorist: Nathan Hamill

Letterer: Karen Bates

“Lil’ Krusty”

Writer: Mary Trainor

Penciller: Jason Ho

Inker: Mike Rote

Colorist: Chris Ungar

Letterer: Karen Bates

“Attack Of The 50-Foot Maggie”

Writer: Tony Digerolamo

Artist: Hilary Barta

Colorist: Robert Stanley

Letterer: Karen Bates

Rating:

For this week’s installment of Review Corner, I’ll take a look at “Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson # 40” from 2008; I thought it was a really smart move on Bongo Comics’ part to give Bart Simpson his own title and it’s been a blast reading about Bart’s mischievous adventures so it opens up endless possibilities in terms of storytelling but this issue was just flat-out hilarious. First off, the lady story “Easy Writer” which was written by

(Of “True Story, Swear To God” & “Chicacabra” fame) tells the story of Bart dropping off a script for a Radioactive Man issue and soon gets critical acclaim from the editors and publishers of R. M. comics, thus turning Bart into an instant celebrity; Things gets even fun when Comic Book Guy asks Bart if the R. M. editors can read his script as CBG wrote a 12-issue crossover complete with Radioactive Man sharing a soda with his past self and an alternate battle scene with zombie pirates (Needless to say, the publishers got quite the laugh); I really enjoyed how Beland lampooned the inner workings of comic book editors and publishers as most of them are willing to either laugh or dismiss anyone’s script or ideas. Plus, Beland really gets the characters as they’re very well written all while keeping the essence of the series alive and well in his script and it’s definitely the perfect story to kick off the issue.

The “Lil’ Krusty” segments by Mary Trainor and Jason Ho were absolutely funny, showing us what a shill Krusty was as a kid (Plotting to sell a panel from his strip for ad space) to even setting up a booth hoping kids would play him five cents to hear him tell a joke (He actually ripped off Lucy Van Pelt’s “Psychiatric Help Five Cents” booth from “Peanuts”; While Lil’ Sideshow Bob was hilariously quick to point out); This was a funny insight to seeing Krusty as a kid.

“Attack Of The 50-Foot Maggie” is a laugh out loud take on 1958’s “Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman” in which the concept of Bart working as a junior assistant for Professor Frink (Which was a staple of the series since it started) comes back into play and soon, Bart gets his hands on one of Professor Frink’s inventions- A Imbugulator Ray Gun! It doesn’t take long for Bart to go power hungry and begins enlarging anything in sight (Including Homer’s pants and Lisa’s Malibu Stacy doll); Maggie gets blasted by the ray due to a scuffle between Bart and Lisa then begins wreaking havoc on Springfield. What I really liked the most is the wonderful touch to this story which was Hilary Barta’s artwork, which really captured the essence and quirkiness of Sci-Fi movies from the 1950s and applying the typical Simpsons humor is a great touch which will have anyone enjoying this story.

This is another great issue of Bart Simpson has the series itself does an amazing job of giving us some funny stories as well as seeing Bart go solo beyond the usual Bartman stories, so I think that every Simpsons’ fans should consider picking up some back issues and the trades, because if you’re not exactly satisfied with the current Simpsons seasons, then this title will have you fall in love with The Simpsons all over again.

That’s it for me. I’ll back with another review so thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.