Big Beefy Book of Bart Simpson Book

Another meh collection of Simpsons comics.

I don't know why I keep reading these if I know I'm not going to like them. Maybe it's the hope of finding a gem, like some of the Treehouse of Horror comics. Seriously, THOSE are the only good Simpsons comics out there. Guest artists and writers, interesting stories. The regular Simpsons comics don't even compare.

Bart travels through time, Bart creates a computer virus that infects the city, Maggie gets abducted by aliens. These SOUND like interesting stories, but the execution is so bland. The dialogue reads as stilted. And the jokes? Simpsons comics fall into that category where jokes are clearly set up, but the punchline never delivers, or delivers weakly. It's more . . . humorously circumstantial than it is humorous.

And it's hard to tell who the audience is for these comics. The Simpsons has never been a strictly-for-kids show, but it has a kids audience. Yet the writing and content suggests that the Simpsons comics ARE geared towards kids? I have no problem with something being marketed towards kid, and content being altered for perceived appropriateness. But form? There's a way to write for kids that is simple but simple evocative and engaging. But not here. Stilted, stilted writing. It's painful.

I want to like the Simpsons comics because the Futurama comics definitely hold up and I liked the Simpsons comics a lot when I was a kid. But being honest, those Simpsons comics were some of the first Simpsons comics to exist, and those, to me, are possessed of a more anarchic, devil-may-care attitude reminiscent of Groening's original Life in Hell comics. I know that comes off as fanboyish "IT WAS BETTER BEFORE" talk, but it really feels that way. If nothing else, the writing was so much better, and the writing now really, REALLY bothers me.

Don't check it out, man.