I don’t read Simpsons Comics every month. I know Matt Groening and Bongo Comics would love for me to, but I have to draw my comic budget somewhere. The reason that I picked up Simpsons Illustrated #12 is that A. It’s The Simpsons and B. It’s much thicker than the monthly book for only $1 more. I’m glad that I got Simpsons Illustrated #12 because it is really funny and a bit different than the regular comic.
Simpsons Illustrated is a comic book series that has reprints of Simpsons Comics. If you have every issue of Simpsons Comics then Simpsons Illustrated is really not for you. However, if you’re like me and get every 8th issue, then Simpsons Illustrated is for you.
In Simpsons Illustrated #12 we get a story about Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, Angry Dad, Bartman and a short about Bart in school. What is new for me was the length of the Cletus story, which felt like a Simpsons episode because it takes up about 80% of the pages. That is OK because it’s a funny story about one of the B characters who we don’t see spotlighted much.
Angry Dad is great too. That’s the cartoon that Bart started to mock Homer. The art in Angry Dad is rough, different than the normal art and written the way a child would.
Fans of 70’s DC comics will grin when they read Metal As Anything, the third story. Bartman accidentally creates a metallic version of his family that look like the Metal Men from the 70s.
Simpsons Illustrated seems to come out every other month. If you’re looking for a gateway into how wonderful the Simpsons are in comic form this could be it. It’s bigger than the monthly comic and very, very funny.