Happy Summer Everyone!
Time of leisure and hiatus – oops – I mean leisure and relaxation. Actually, those are both synonyms, so let’s
put it more simply: TIME OFF!!! (“[Time] off to the great white north, [Time]
off it’s a beauty way to start…”) You
know what’s funny about summer? I’m not sure when it actually begins. Oh sure, you have that whole solstice thingamajig,
but you also have Memorial Day weekend and the annual opening of the
neighborhood pool. Then there is the
summer movie season, which really starts the day before Free Comic Book Day
(and we all know what film kicked it off [and it is still kicking] this year and I’m
not going to mention it today – five weeks in a row is enough). I guess when it comes right down to it,
especially if you have children; the start of summer coincides with the end of
school. And miraculously due to no snow
days (because Jim flew south for the rest of his life), my kids just got out
yesterday, which is WAY earlier than they’ve ever been out before. So, to celebrate this wonderful event at
least until everyone starts to get on each other’s nerves (I predict by
Monday), I’m going to review the latest Simpsons Summer Shindig special by
Bongo Comics that came out the Wednesday before last. (C’mon, it hasn’t been that long since I
reviewed something; it just seems that way.)
Now, I did not ask for this book to be placed in my
box. However, I understand how it got
there. I signed up (after dropping
several titles) the week prior for the Simpsons One-Shot Wonders series, which
has already featured Martin and Millhouse (and will next spotlight Little
Homer). So, when what appeared to be a
Simpsons Comic one-shot showed up, it naturally went in my box. Forget the fact that it is issue number
six! With the exception of the
aforementioned O-S W’s, I always get the Simpsons Super Spectacular comics for
one reason only: Radioactive Man! I love
RM and besides maybe one backup story in a Simpson’s Comic, I’ve got every
single comic featuring the bolt-headed hero, including the ultra-rare 7-11
(#711) issue. When I perused the
Shindig, I was pleased to discover a brand new RM story! So, it was serendipitous that I did not miss
the latest installment of one of my favorite characters. I won’t bore you with the history of
Radioactive Man in comics, but suffice to say they’d all make a fine HC
collection one day – really entertaining stuff.
This 48-page special consisted of three 10-page stories
and one 15-page story, the latter being the RM one – All for only $4.99. (Boy,
that’s a lot of numbers in a single sentence.) Okay, five bucks for a comic is
pretty steep, but when you have this many pages and it’s actually GOOD, plus
only coming out annually, that’s not a bad deal. (See you can publish
sporadically and still maintain an audience.)
Bongo also uses a different paper stock that’s actually pretty hefty,
you could probably drive over it and not bend it too badly. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but compared
to what the Big Two use, I like it much better.
If you’ve been counting then you know we only have 45 pages so far, but
once you throw in the cover, the single House Ad (for Simpsons Super
Spectacular #15 on sale later this month), and the solitary “real” ad on the
back cover, you get to the proper page count.
I’m an old time Simpsons
TV fan, but haven’t seen it in recent years.
It’s not something I really want my children to watch, particularly
because of the way the kids interact with their parents, but as an adult I find
it funny without it (usually) being too offensive. Compared with the single episode of Family
Guy that I had the misfortune of catching one day, it’s pretty tame and even
though dysfunctional, it’s still more family oriented than not. The comic series is even more kid-friendly
(as it should be), so it’s a great way to continue my exposure to the
characters. Still, I usually have to
answer bewildering questions on why I can read a Simpsons Comic, but not allow
them to watch the show. I don’t know why
I felt compelled to offer that little tidbit – a confession/justification of
sorts, perhaps?
Anyway, here’s a quick lowdown on the four stories:
Tattoo You
Homer wants to get a manly
tattoo, but thinking that he needs to sway Marge first, he claims only to want
her name over his heart -- an initial “baby step” to flaming dagger and
snake-filled glory. Unfortunately, he
didn’t bargain for the 50 to 3,000 stabs per minute and the possible
diseases. So, it’s off to the family
doctor to see if he can take the stress.
“If my heart is good, I have to
get the tattoo. If my heart is bad…This
is a lose-lose situation!” He ends
up asking Lisa to help him out of this pickle.
Anchor Blues
Kent Brockman dressed as
Superman, having just completed hosting the annual Channel 6 All-Stars
Halloween Super Variety Showcase, is robbed of his payment (gold ingots) in
parody-ical Amazing Fantasy #15 fashion by Snake. Snake also steals his car and his Southwest
frequent flyer miles. “But those miles
aren’t transferable!” “Then I’ll trade them in for a gift certificate to
Appleby’s.” “Noooooo!” Once again,
it’s Lisa to the rescue with her Newsgirl Legion to spur the weathergirl lusty
anchorman to remember his investigative reporter roots and catch the thief, as
well as uncover an even broader crime spree.
The Radioactive Manqués!
The bumbling irradiated
crusader is upstaged by four copy-cat fans that are actually more effective at
catching criminals than he is. “Some fans want to start a club or build
a website…But my fans want to be me!” That is until they encounter their own
copy-cat super-villain team: Dr. Crab’s Crew!
“Hey! Th-that wasn’t nice!” “No spit, chubby…Why would you think fans of a super-villain…would be nice?!” After getting
over his jealousy at their success, RM tries to encourage them to continue the
good fight with unexpected results.
Locked In A Brewery
Homer and Barney take it
upon themselves to add some extra features to the “official” Duff Brewery tour and
end up there afterhours, when they stumble (literally) out of a top-secret
brewing room. “Wow! That was amazing! It
was like we were breathing beer!” “I never want to breathe any normal air ever
again!” They’re having the time of
their lives in the plant when they stumble (again) on a mafia plot to steal the
secret formula of New Duff. “Oh no!...The company could go out of business!” So, the inebriated and intrepid duo calls
upon their hero, Duffman, to save the day.
All of the stories were
great and filled with your typical Simpsons wry humor and puns. Honestly, the stories were so dense that it seemed
like the book was more than 48 pages. I
LOVED IT!!! So, celebrate the start of
summer yourselves and pick up a copy.
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