COMICS REVIEW: SIMPSONS COMICS #203

How does Bart get exploited by Krusty the Clown? And how does one owe $100 for saying, “D’oh!”? Well, these questions are answered in Simpsons Comics #203!

Spoilers Below

Simpsons #203 actually drops you off right in the thick of things. Bart is selling a magazine he made at home, using caricatures of the staff of Springfield Elementary. Skinner catches wind of this, and confiscates all of the copies. At Krusty’s, he contacts a plant he has at the school, telling him of Bart’s magazine. It was then that Krusty had the idea to get Bart to write a magazine, called “D’Oh!” for Krusty. He got the ok from Homer by telling him he is going to be on the cover of every issue. Krusty sends Bart to steal the script of a movie coming out, so he can parody it for an upcoming issue. Bart is putting his nose to the stone to get this out. The first issue sells so good, Krusty makes him infiltrate more studios to get more scripts. Krusty taps into his inner cheapskake, doesn’t pay Bart, nor brings in anymore writers.

Meanwhile, at the power plant, Homer brings in a bag of marshmallows, and jams them into the microwave. Of course, they explode all over him. It was then that Homer’s coworkers realize it’s him on the cover of “D’Oh!” He is laughed out of the breakroom. As Homer walks out, he is met with a copyright lawyer, getting money from him for every time Homer says “D’oh!” Back at home, Lisa checks up on Bart, who is panicking over the latest issue he’s working on. Lisa helps him by doing the fold-in. After Krusty sits Bart down for the mishap concering the fold-in, he tells Bart he’s going weekly. Homer sees his boy working himself into an early grave, so he decides to march in and quit on behalf of Bart and himself. Krusty then tells Homer that the magazine tanked, and he’s throwing a funeral for it, so he can have a party, and write it off as a tax expense.

What I thought made this issue was the end of the book. They actually printed a mockup of “D’Oh!” In it, was a parody of Star Trek, called “Star Drek.” This was a very funny spoof, where the crew (and the return of Dr. Nick!) fight off the CD-Romulans. They are getting their butts kicked, until the CD-Romulans retreat. Why did they? They were about to encounter the one unbeatable foe in the universe…the Reboot!

The one page comics didn’t really amount to much, they were just MAD Magazine spoofs with Simpsons characters. One was Krusty using one of the most overused catchphrases in all of the universe, but changing one word. “That’s what she said,” isn’t that funny, nor was this spoof. The other was a sound effect gag that made Sideshow Bob get crushed by sound effects.

The main comic was enjoyable. I was never really a fan of MAD when I was growing up, so to see a spoof of it didn’t do much, until I actually read an issue.  There were a lot of references to it, including the fold-in. The story was solid, but there wasn’t a whole lot of funny stuff going on. however, the funny was definitely present in the “D’Oh!” part of the comic. The Star Trek parody was funny, and definitely worth a read. The other jokes were rather flat, and not worth it.