Simpsons Comics #4 Review

simpsons comics #4 review

CARD GIMMICK? Date Released: May, 1994
By Michael Daaboul | February 05, 2012

Something is rotten at Springfield Elementary or maybe it’s this comic?

To begin with, the cover will not give you any hints to what this issue will be about. No links at all, it's nice, but merely exists for the sake of having a cover art.

It's in the Cards (21 pages) concerns an unknown illness that strikes Springfield Elementary School where the teacher's suddenly become sick. Substitute teachers arrive and Bart finally receives the attention he deserves, he’s finally seen as a smart student and beyond Lisa’s control finds out what's it like to be in Bart's shoes for once as an underachiever. There's baseball in here, trading cards and Homer has a lot to do with the chaos that unfolds in this story.

The story progresses along without standing still, there's enough drive to keep you reading, however, you won't care much for it. The reason being that it’s not that entertaining; the factors of comedy don't play a big part as they should. The comic tries to deliver, but fails to bring most of the humour to make the reader laugh. I'm not sure how younger readers will respond to this issue as they might get bored while missing what happens, while older readers will pass them along with maybe a little smile on their face if their easily amused. Please don’t be insulted if you did find this comic hilarious, some parts will amuse you, but not that many at all.

This issue comes with an exclusive Simpsons Skybox Trading Card if you have the American version, however, the Australian version didn't come with one, although the cover said it would? With this in mind, I would then question which countries did get the card. If the card wasn’t included, at least take the heading on the cover indicating one exists off as it would save buyers the hassle of thinking where the card disappeared to and ripping apart their comic trying to find something not included.

Presentation values are good throughout the comic, but similar problems seem to plague most issues with not being consistent with a few drawings this time. Bart especially looked awkward in a few scenes, but it doesn't happen often enough. No errors are present in this comic which is a nice level of polish comics should have anyway and the colours are coherent throughout.

The second story, The Gnarly Adventures of Busman #1 (5 pages) displays a fantastic cover but the actual tale is not worth reading, it adds little to no value to this comic.

Despite the nice cover for the second story, I didn't find this issue too appealing. The issue lacks any memorable moments, no comedy values and I wouldn't see this lasting long in anyone's shelf unless you're a collector. The story needed to nail the jokes well or develop a way to make the reader laugh which it failed to do so.

An ordinary effort which had the foundations of a great story which was poorly executed, I wouldn't bother with this issue.