Comics Review: Simpsons Illustrated #18

Spoilers Below:

“Hail to the Cat”

The first story began with Lisa conducting an experiment in school involving a fake election between Snowball II and Santa’s Little Helper. Thanks to Ralph, it eventually got out of hand and spilled over into the town, where the residents – fed up with another instance of corruption by Mayor Quimby – decided to actually vote the cat into office.

Lisa, acting on behalf of Snowball II, decided to ban guns in Springfield, and as a result, the British invaded. Led by ex-Mayor Quimby, the townspeople started a polite revolution and won back their home.

“Bart vs. Bart”

A short story about Bart battling his dream bubble self.

“Angry Dad in ‘The Roller Skate’”

Angry Dad stepped on a skateboard and fell down the stairs, out the door, and into a whole mess of trouble in the outside world.

“Chief Wiggum in ‘Chili Chili Bang Bang’”

After Chief Wiggum ate the same Guatemalan insanity peppers as Homer famously did, he went on a trip of his own – with a little help from his spirit guide, Wiggle Puppy.

Best Bits:

1) That’s some solid police work, Clancy: “Listen, would you be a pal and beat yourself into confessing with this phone book?”

2) The ode to Shaft.

3) Bart: “Dad! Lisa’s boring me!” / Homer: “Stop boring your brother, Lisa!”

4) Ms. Hoover is always up to something odd: “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the teacher’s lounge testing an experimental anti-depression drug.”

5) Springfieldian political enthusiasm: “Please hold your smatterings of applause until the end.”

6) Snowball II eats Literati Brand Cat Litter.

7) Ralph the storyteller: “And so Wiggle Puppy flew down and saved the president and Santa Claus promised never to drink and drive again!”

Usually when it comes to Simpsons Comics, I’m always a bit (just a bit) disappointed at the amount of humor. I’ve accepted that they are generally not as funny as the TV shows, but even then, the types of humor are oftentimes limited to just some dialogue.

Not this time.

In addition to the funny quotes above (and more!) there were also some great sight gags, like the “Wheel of Justice” options (house arrest, snake pit, exile, spanking, life in prison, community service, innocent, bankrupt, and execute [twice]), Ralph’s trip around town, some bathroom graffiti that clearly involves the names of the story’s production team (“Nathan loves all the girls”), and all the famous Brits (with a key at the end!) There was even a good cutaway involving Kirk Van Houten and the third amendment.

We also saw a good throwback joke to earlier in the issue (“Really? It’s not in any of the history magazines.”) and a strange-but-true fun fact about a parrot that ran for governor of North Dakota in 1967. (Okay, that probably isn’t actually a real thing.) In addition, there were surprise cameos by Jimmy the Scumbag and Hans Moleman, among others.

Sure, the story had a couple distracting head-scratchers (Why would the mayor’s tax-skimming affect the news station?) but there were also questions of the humorous kind, like: Why would Homer sign a troll’s contract?

I also didn’t appreciate the regicide joke – not because I have an affinity or respect for monarchies, but because regicide already played a classic part in a classic joke from a classic episode, “Bart of Darkness.”

Sandwiched between the two major stories, the two mini-segments were cute and enjoyable, with the exception of the last scene of Angry Dad. I must say, was a bit put-off by the crashing space shuttle that was probably filled with innocent, well-meaning astronauts – but I digress. I’m probably over-thinking this cartoon of a cartoon within a cartoon.

As for the Wiggum story, I was a bit apprehensive at first. It was clearly a spin-off of the season 8 classic “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer,” instead showing the Chief’s post- chili festival shenanigans. However, the writing was so good that I forgot this halfway though.

Unlike Simpsons Illustrated #17, Ralph was actually pretty funny in this one, and his pop made a good central character with some great lines. The scene invoking the all-knowing Wiggle Puppy explaining The Matrix to him was fantastic.

The animation & visuals were impressive and amusing as well, be it the trippy sequences (quite the feat for a comic book), a Mr. Sparkle & Poochie cameo, or even the fact that Wiggle Puppy looks a hell of a lot like Ralph – I was intrigued throughout.

In the end, the spin-off felt less like a rip-off and more like a tribute, which made a major difference. They even poked fun at the idea, saying “And to make a long and already syndicated story short…”

This was head-and-shoulders above the last issue, and it’s one of the better Simpsons comics that I’ve covered, if not the best. I have no real complaints, other than the short stories being a bit light and the fact that I wasn’t laughing my ass off the whole time. But hey, that’s still good enough for one of the highest scores I’ve ever given a comic.