Comics Review: The Simpsons Comics #221

Spoilers Below:

“Yellow is the New Black”

After ripping the tag off of a new mattress, Marge was hauled away to jail. In an attempt to infiltrate the penitentiary and free her, Homer committed the same crime, but was admitted just as Marge was being released. When she found out, she violated her parole and was sent back. She then unintentionally started a riot, and Homer & Marge escaped together, only to return home and find some of the other fugitives had already arrived seeking a place to hide.

Carrying an entire comic book with one storyline is a tricky endeavor, but with the right amount of comedy, it’s definitely possible. This issue had a few quotable lines (see below), some solid sight gags (like the sign outside the women’s prison that stated: “Where every night is ladies night!”), and a few appearances by characters of Simpsons passed (including the chance to see the Crazy Cat Lady’s dialogue spelled out.)

However, there was a lot of humor that missed the mark in this issue. There were jokes that had good set-ups but failed to live up to their potential, and others that wasted the opportunity altogether. Like, they introduce a character named Krazee Gaze, who wasn’t nearly as insane as she could have been for the sake of laughs. In fact, it probably would have been funnier if Krazee Gaze wasn’t the one with the weird eyes. There was also a store in the story called “Discount Bedding & Bacon.” Yes, this is a comedic pairing of goods, but I feel like the name could have used some sort of pun to really make it laugh-worthy.

See what I mean?

Other things were downright puzzling. Early in the issue, Chief Wiggum called Marge a “Bed-wrecking Bonnie Parker.” Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie & Clyde) was a famous bank robber – what does this have to do with mattress tags or ripping? There wasn’t even any theft involved.

Also, there were some familiar faces that appeared in the comic, but they didn’t act like themselves. For instance, why do Marge and Tattoo Annie not recognize each other? They already met and struck up a friendship way back in season four’s “Marge in Chains. In another scene, Gil called Homer “ugly lady” to his face. Gil is so overly friendly and such a desperate guy that it seems out of character for him to say anything the least bit insulting, especially about a supposed woman.

Even at the end, Homer realized out loud that Marge truly does love him, and she replied, “Most of the time.” Despite their ups and downs, Marge is still positively mad for her husband, and even if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t tell him that fact to his face.

No, no, nothing here adds up at all…

Best Bits:

1) Homer, upon waking up in court: “Hey, when did we renovate the bedroom to look like the boring half of Law & Order?”

2) Agnes Skinner is in jail for “aggravated nagging.”

3) Discount Bedding & Bacon (that’s right, I included it.)

4) Prison food: “It was made with much love and minimal knowledge of how food is actually prepared. Please enjoy.”

Despite some of the story being a bit too much like a rip-off of “Marge in Chains” (and maybe some of Family Guy’s “Breaking Out is Hard to Do” too), I would have given it a pass if the writing was especially unique, or at least up to par by comedic standards. Unfortunately, the whole thing was quite boring, with only a few laugh-out-loud moments throughout the entire, single-story issue – which didn’t help the plot any.

To reiterate, Issue #221 wasn’t awful, but it had an awfully hard time keeping the reader completely engaged from cover to cover. Instead of coming off as an official Simpsons comic, the result resembled a passable piece of fan fiction.

If you’re looking to round out your Simpsons comic collection, it’s worth a read. Otherwise, steer clear.