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Simpsons Comics #114
"Get the 4-1-1 on the good people of Springfield, as you become privy to the phone conversations, the wrong
numbers, the latest gossip, and the bad connections of everyone in town. Wish for the ish with all th dish (if you get our
gist)!"
Ring-A-Ding Springfield
Script: Eric Rogers Pencils: Jason Ho Inks: Mike
Rote Colours: Art Villanueva Letters: Karen Bates
It starts with Grampa receiving a cell phone for his birthday. It scares him, so he throws it out the window,
where Kang and Kodos are repairing their space ship. They call a tow service, but they accidentally call Chief Wiggum, who
has another caller on the line, demanding money, otherwise he'll blow up the school bus. The caller, Snake, flees when they
realize there's no bomb. His getaway car was the Simpsons, and he trapped Marge in the trunk. She uses her cell phone to call
Homer, but he accidentally swallows his phone. It rings again, this time a radio station saying he has won a prize. When he
doesn't answer, they call Disco Stu instead, who throws his phone while dancing. It lands in the church and rings. Flanders
answers it, and it's the mafia looking for Stu. He hangs up, and the mafia is about to hunt him down when they're phone rings
again. It is Sideshow Bob, who put in the wrong number. After he hangs up, Bob's phone rings again. It is Moe, saying he got
the number off a bus stop toilet wall. Bob hangs up on Moe. Moe's phone rings, and it is Bart prank calling him. He flees
when Apu tells him off. The Kwik-E-Mart phone rings, and it is Professor Frink trying out a new phone of his. Upon realizing
it doesn't work right, he ends the call, but then dials another number in hope of getting it to work. He calls Mayor Quimby's
telephone, which has been stolen by Nelson. Quimby finds him, and he runs away in front of Bart, who swerves in fron of a
car, which crashes near Kang and Kodos. The story ends with a two page spread of Springfield in havoc due to the phone calls.
"M" is for Zirconia
Script: Tony Digerolamo Pencils: James Lloyd Inks: Andrew
Pepoy Colours: Art Villanueva Letters: Karen Bates
Moe and Maggie go to a museum. The giant zirconia is stolen, and everyone has to stay in the museum until
the police arrive. Moe decides to try and solve the mystery. He blames Milhouse's grandmother numerous times, as well as Snake,
Dr. Colossus, and Mr. Burns. He then finds it was actually a magpie that stole it. The magpie is arrested and taken to jail
My opinion
The Ring-A-Ding Springfield story was very creative, and was a nice breath of fresh air after the previous
month's very bland Little Orphan Bart issue. The story was done like the episode 22 Short Films About Springfield, except
instead of none of the stories having anything in common with each other, this one is based around cell phones. The main plot
starts out very quickly, because with the style of the storytelling, it didn't need any setting up that would take up more
pages. My personal favourite part of the story was the 2 page spread at the very end of the story, because it shows how everyone's
different stories have tied together (much like another format bending episode, The Seemingly Never-Ending Story). The art
is very well done, and was the first main story in Simpsons Comics by Jason Ho (who had previously done art for the Bart Simpson
comic series), with wonderful inks by Mike Rote. The second story, "M" is For Zirconia, is a follow on from the story The
Willful Will from Bart Simpson #25. The story is good, but the art could have been better. James Llloyd's style isn't very
good for The Simpsons. He should probably try more for Futurama Comics instead, as they seem better with his art. The main
problem I had with this issue was because in the US, this was the issue where they abolished Junk Mail, and instead opted
to having more adverts in the story (for more annual revenue). It is a bit annoying when every three pages is an ad, because
it disrupts the story a bit, but at least it's better off in Australia because we have enough Simpsons series here that we
don't need to fill them with ads from other companies, so the whole book actually stays Simpsons-related. Couldn't wait for
#115...(even though I got #115 before I got this -- heh...US issues).
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