COMICS REVIEW: SIMPSONS ILLUSTRATED #4

Simpsons Illustrated provides a seasonal showcase for some of the very best ‘Treehouse of Horror’ stories from Bongo Halloweens gone by. First, the Simpsons contend with an ravenous alien plant species in ‘Little Shop of Homers.’

Then, Apu is transported to another world where he joins forces with Kang (and not Kodos) to overthrow a surprisingly familiar despotic ruler on Rigel VII. Finally, Moe exacts a pound of flesh from Homer in ‘The Cask of Amontilla-D’oh.’

Spoilers Below

LITTLE SHOP OF HOMERS

Lisa has a new plant that she brings home and tries to raise herself but instead the plant just slumps and pretty much dies. That said, the plant stinks really bad and Bart decides to bring it to the Kwik-E-Mart so as to leave a smelly surprise at the front door for Apu. Well, the cops catch him and Bart decides to take them all inside and see if they can find out from Apu’s new plant selling business what this plant is all about! Turns out this plant LOVES donuts so much so that Apu keeps the plant and uses it as an advertising attraction to bring more business to the store. Problem is, the plant gets REALLY big and the donuts are starting to run thin at the store so the plant goes crazy nearly killing everyone until Homer comes by and burns the ‘carnivorous creature’ once and for all!

APU ON RIGEL 7

Apu gets himself zapped to the planet of Rigel 7 where he accidentally lands on Kodos killing him instantly and breaking the machine that got him there. Thankfully, Kodos’ sister Kang knows how to fix the machine but Apu has to help him overthrow the dictator first. A fight ensues and Apu destroys the dictator with a donut killing him instantly and landing him a trip back home where he catches Homer drinking from the Squishee machine.

THE CASK OF AMONTILLA-D’OH

A gruesome take on Moe’s revenge on unpaying customers that provides a pretty striking cameo on the way! Just don’t mention the stinky eggs!

What I really loved about this Illustrated issue is the diversity of all the stories strewn through out in terms of style. The first story is somewhat standard fare compared to the other stories but Mike Allred’s story was very funny and it was great seeing Bart Simpson in the old school blue shirt. Then we got a spooky effort from Doug TenNapel that I tried to hate but failed miserably because the story was so well done and the shading on the Colors by Nathan Kane were just out of control good, Lastly Moe’s scary tale was probably the best looking story of the bunch and Paul Dini certainly puts on a clinic in the story-telling department that should surprise anyone that’s followed his Batman career. A definite value for $4.

(9.0 out of 10)