Comics TPB Review: Bart Simpson: To the Rescue

Bart just ripped me off. Call Batman, please.

For the most part, I enjoy the Bart Simpson books. They’re enjoyable, and  they offer some decent value for the price. For what Bongo gives you for 2.99, you get more content than what many of the major publishers give you. Each book has maybe three advertisements, and they’re all at the end of the book. I also love graphic novels. If you get a Marvel or DC book, they will give you a completed arc, and maybe a one-off or two to give a more complete story.

That’s the name of the game, people. With today’s frugal shopper, you need value. Bart Simpson: To the Rescue does nothing to entice anyone who has these books already. It collects Bart Simpsons 53, 54, 56, 57, and 58 and we don’t even get all of the stories and/or shorts.  On top of that, 15.99 for 5 issues is just not a good deal for a book with no new material. You even get charged $1.04 more for this than what you would pay for each individual issue Think about it, this would be an awesome opportunity to write a Bartman story, or a Radioactive Man story exclusively for the book.

Lack of value aside, the comics themselves aren’t bad. One of them are “The Mystery of the Pesky Desk.” It’s about Bart closing off a classroom, so Lisa and her class have to have class in a room with a jinxed desk. Lisa sits at the same desk as Chief Wiggum, Barney, and dear old Homer. She spends the entire time for the quiz she’s taking on the ne’er do wells that have sat at the desk. She ends up losing her mind every time she is near that desk. She gets near it, she rebels. She gets away from it, she goes back to normal. She asks Bart to help find the reason, and end up finding a distillery for moonshine.

Another is, “Bart on the Fourth of July,” has a feel of the first couple of seasons. Bart comes close to blowing himself up with counterfeit fireworks from New Dehli. He comes to, but he’s deaf, blind and has temporary amnesia. He wanders into the power plant, and ends up getting tested by Frink, and placed into the plant  to try and help. Seemingly later, Moe walks behind him, and drops money down the drain. Bart ends up fishing some out, and gets a Squishy. He drinks it fast, and gets a brain freeze. His brain resets, and everything seems to go back to normal.

These are just a couple of the stories. If you haven’t read a good majority of the books in this collection, and you can’t find the issues, pick this up. But to get more than one “If you…” it just doesn’t scream out “Buy me!”

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