SIMPSONS COMICS

Simpsons Comics #13                                    $2.25     22pp
  "Give Me Merchandise Or Give Me Death!"
  Back-cover flip-over story: "Jimbo Jones' Wedgie Comics #1":
  "Rebel Without A Clutch"                                        6pp
   a) Boy Genius: Matt Groening / Story: Gary Glasberg / Pencils: Phil
      Ortiz / Inks: Tim Bavington / Letters: Jeannine Crowell & Chris 
      Ungar / Colors: Nathan Kane 
      Flip story: Matt Groening - Hooligan / Barry Dutter - Story /
      Shaun Cashman - Art / Chris Ungar - Letters / Nathan Kane - Colors
   b) none
   c) none
   d) + e) For a change, I'll let you read what a fellow reviewer
      thought of this issue (okay - call me lazy); it's Elayne
      Wechsler-Chaput (firehead@panix.com), and I've reproduced her
      musings by kind permission (Careful - contains spoilers!):
    I think I've grown a little jaded of late with stories that
      infinitely regress into staring at their own navel. This is a
      comic book story about a comic book story. It makes a few cute
      points, such as when Bart winks REAL HARD at the reader when
      saying, "Whoever heard of a guy becoming a millionaire because he
      created a silly cartoon character, anyway!!" and a cameo by
      Groening ("How much for the Mothma-zilla, pal?") at a comic con,
      but the only part which really made me giggle was the "panel" at
      that same imaginary comic con featuring a green-mohawked Brit with
      a snake tat on his arm, rings in his ears and nose and a smarmy
      attitude, saying "Any bloke that doesn't like my work can choke on
      his own vomit!" Sounds like half the guys who show up on
      CompuServe Conference every Wednesday... ;)
      The plot concerns a comic book creation of Bart's and Milhouse's
      which is stolen by a couple unscrupulous portfolio reviewers and
      made into a franchise. When the initial excitement (i.e., the
      stuff originally conceived by B&M) dies down and the comic goes
      into the toilet, Bart and Milhouse are kidnapped by Boffo Comics
      and forced into child labor. Yep, a pretty wacky subject for a
      kids comic... Anyway, all's well that ends well, as usual, and I
      loved the takeoff on the MAD magazine back covers - yes, I *did*
      fold that comics page, deal with it. :)
      The flip side features Jimbo Jones and his hoodlum gang in WEDGIE
      COMICS, with a nice Archie logo takeoff. One thing that Barry left
      out of his marvelous book "Everything I Need To Know I Learned
      From Television" (do buy it if you see him at a convention, end of
      plug) might have read, you shouldn't focus on "lead" characters
      who aren't interesting. When poor wedgied Martin gets more laughs
      than the protagonists, something's a little askew. The hoodlums
      learn nothing from their escapade (which involves stealing a
      motorcycle), Martin gets off a few funny lines (my favorite being,
      "Alas, I am the agent of my own misfortune!") and everyone ends up
      pretty much where they started. 
      This is a very nice comic for kids, but it really lacks the bite
      that I think a Simpsons tie-in should have. Too much parody/homage
      and sight gags and not enough story can get you in this kind of
      trouble. As a friend of mine would say, "metza-metz." I wish
      they'd coast a little less.

Simpsons Comics #14                                    $2.25     21pp
  "To Heir i$ Homer"
  Back-cover flip-over story: "Cantankerous Coot Classics #1 NOV":
  "Pop Goes The Culture! (Abe Goes Wild!) Nostalgia Ain't What It Used
   To Be"
   a) Mr Salty: Matt Groening / Script: Jon Aibel, Glenn Berger & Jeff
      Rosenthal / Pencils: Chris Roman / Inks: Tim Harkins / Lettering:
      Jeannine Crowell / Color: Nathan Kane 
      Packrat: Matt Groening / Story & Pencils: Scott Shaw! / Inks: Tim
      Bavington / Letters: Chris Ungar / Colors: Nathan Kane 
   b) none
   c) none
   d) Homer is nice to a bum who turns out to be an eccentric
      milionaire. As a consequence, Homer finds himself the proud new
      owner of the Duff Brewery. But a dream come true is quickly spoilt
      by Mr Burns's attempts at a very unfriendly take-over...
      In the flip story, Abe and Jasper stumble onto a memorabilia fair
      and annoy everyone.
   e) The story is not bad and picks up some funny bits from the TV show
      (such as the three vats of Duff varieties). The robots also add a
      nice surreal touch. 
      After previous swipes at over-priced comics, comics-related
      merchandise and so on, this time the target is general memorabilia
      (toys, drink cans, trading cards etc.). The theme is starting to
      run a bit dry, even though the oldies lent this flip-story a
      welcome sense of over-zealous crackpot outrage.

Simpsons Comics #15                                    $2.25     19pp
  "A Trip To Simpsons Mountain"
  Back-cover flip-over story: "Heinous Funnies No.1 December, 1933":
  "Kill-er-up With Regular"
   a) Hall Decker: Matt Groening / Story: Mary Trainor / Co-Plot, Edits:
      Bill Morrison / Art: Stephanie Gladden / Inks: Tim Bavington /
      Letters: Chris Ungar / Colors: Nathan Kane
      Matt Groening presents An Itchy & Scratchy Tale From The Thrashin'
      Thirties! / Story & Art: Bill Morrison / Color: Nathan Kane /
      Lettering: Chris Ungar
   b) none
   c) none
   d) When the power fails on Christmas Eve, Grampa entertains the
      TV-less Simpsons with a story about his family's life before there
      was such a thing as the idiot box. Strangely though, television
      seems to be intruding into his story a lot...
      The flip-story is an early Itchy & Scatchy adventure involving
      their petrol station.
   e) This one is simply a work of genius! To cram references to at
      least six television series and x-mas movies into just 19 pages of
      story, and have space left for a nice framing narrative and some
      self-referentiality is awesome, in my opinion. The whole thing is
      very funny, and the art is top-notch too, with lots of little
      details - I especially liked the Tori Spelling and Lisa Marie
      Presley (Jackson?) caricatures. Well done, Bongo!
      While the I & S story is the usual stuff (it's becoming just a tad
      boring to me, frankly), the artwork is really nice for its
      evocation of early cartoons. Check out the feline in the car and
      her resemblance to one of cartoonland's all-time sexiest women.

Simpsons Comics #16: Patty & Selma become stewardesses (And according to 25 Aug 95 internet press release by Bongo, which was re-posted by Dave Hall in alt.tv.simpsons: "In the coming year look for all new Radioactive Man comics, another solo performance by Lisa, and Bart's attempt to tackle football".)

Achim Reinschmidt (carla@netspace.net.au) St Kilda Melbourne Australia