Comics Review: Simpsons Illustrated #13

Spoilers Below

Hello-ween

Satan’s in town for Halloween just chilling with Burnsy. Turns out he’s in the market for damnation so Burns recommends Satan to go after the Simpsons. Unfortunately, Satan gets the wrong address and goes after the Flanders’ instead. With Rod and Todd raising hell in Springfield, Ned seeks Homer’s help. Lucky for Flanders, Homer has a portal to hell in his basement, and along with Bart and Lisa, travels to hell in an effort to save Neds’ kids. Once we get to hell, we spot the real Rod and Todd, and they get rescued, but in return Ned offers to take over for Satan if he’s looking for some time off.

The Pygmy Elixir

Burns wants to head in through the Amazon to try and get an elixir that will make him younger. He opts to bring Bart with him to infiltrate a local tribe which works, but it gets Burns and Smithers into trouble. Thankfully, Bart is able to make the save…kinda.

Ring Around the Simpsons

Imagine the first Lord of the Rings movie, but with The Simpsons thrown in, and you have the basic premise. The whole family gets to try the ring on that features every member’s dream alternate realities. Just as the ring is going to be thrown into the volcano, Maggie grabs it and that’s where it ends.

This quarter’s issue of Simpsons Illustrated was pretty much a perfect mix for the Halloween season. As a matter of fact the collection felt like a Treehouse of Horror episode featuring three different Simpsons stories, but with three different art directions. ‘Ring Around the Simpsons’ and ‘Hello-ween’ are the obvious stand-outs with that idea, with Pygmy Elixir being a little closer to a normal Simpsons strip, but still different enough to make it part of the collection. However, the last two had rather boring stories, and nothing really funny came this way. The first story saves the issue, and there’s enough in here to warrant a buy simply on art alone, but don’t expect a bowl of funnies.