Comics Review: Bart Simpson #86

 

So Many Spoilers!

Bart Simpson #86

“Treehouse of Chimps”

Professor Frink is going over an experiment to get chimps smarter. Cut to Bart and Milhouse, who are about to go to the treehouse, and they find that there are chimps watching Downton Abbey. Didn’t these jokes die in the spring? Do people still care about that? Well, when Bart and Milhouse decide to make a bunch of noise, The chimps shoot them with a hose. Next, they get nets and bananas, to which the chimps use hooks to get the bananas. They go to Frink, and he just leaves them there. When senseless violence doesn’t work, Bart finds out that they can talk, and sends them to Moe’s. This got Homer, Lenny and Carl kicked out.

“Angles in the Outfield”

This short little bundle of meh is about a bouncing baseball. Lisa tries to keep the ball in the air by placing people in spots for the ball to careen of peoples head, just to have it land in Ralph’s ass.

“With Great Power…”

Milhouse and Bart are sitting in the treehouse, having a conversation every group of children have, “What superpower would you have?” Milhouse makes a great point of superpowers only happen accidentally. So Bart has a plan. They go to Frink’s, and Bart “accidentally” knocks a beaker of liquid on Milhouse, which gives him voluminous hair. Lightning doesn’t work, and neither does getting stung by a horde of bees. Bart then decides to up the ante, and gets into the Power Plant. They end up saving Homer from nuclear exposure, and tells them that they’re kids, they don’t need powers. The next day, Milhouse gets bullied, again.

I am kinda torn. I loved Treehouse of Chimps, but Angles in the Outfield kinda killed the vibe. With Great Power was a little too…preachy. Not like the episode of Saved by the Bell where Jessie was doing Speed, but the self-confidence talk killed the vibe of the book a bit. Unfortunately, it seems to be a running trend with Bart Simpson. If this book is named as such, why is Lisa the main protagonist of Angles? The only thing else I can add, is the following: Please, try to keep the humor higher between stories. If the writers do that, the book overall will be more enjoyable.