REVIEW (from Kimota #9)

The Simpsons comics are being gathered into a series of collections and the latest, On Parade, contains four comics (24-27).

Fans of the TV cartoon will see a lack of subtlety of expression that characterised the programmes. A comic can after all take only single frames. To enjoy the comics the reader has to fill in the rest including the voices. The stories here do vary in quality of story telling, however the pictures are consistently of a high standard. The best story is written by Doug Tuber and Tim Maile and concerns the convoluted way Homer becomes involved in an experiment to make him smarter. Lovely allusions and a subtle interaction of characters make this comic very similar to the TV series. This subtlety is lacking in the other stories here.

All in all The Simpsons comics can spark the imagination into seeing something quite close to the TV. As a stand alone product it doesn’t quite work as no-one who has seen the original animation can fail to compare and carry over parts of the experience. That said if you’re in the mood for some Springfield humour and there’s none on the box this is a very acceptable second best.