Bart Simpson Comics #19
"Little Devil"

"Bart Simpson is the most famous 10-year-old in America. He's even got his own comic book! But what happens when Bart is nowhere to be found? What happens when Martin and Milhouse have to spend a day without Bart?! Then, the Springfield Elementary holds an "All You Can Eat" competition. Find out who will "Outwit, Outplay, and Outeat" the rest."

Are You Gonna Eat That?
Writer: James Bates Pencils: Joey Nilges Inks: Mike Rote Colours: Nathan Hamill Letters: Karen Bates

When all the food in the school cafeteria is spoiled, Principal Skinner holds an "All You Can Eat" day. Bart, along with Nelson, Jimbo, Milhouse, and Wendell, decide to have a food eating competition, where, one-by-one, they are eliminated.

Art For Bart's Sake
Writer: Chris Yambar Pencils: Mike Kazaleh Inks: Jason Ho Colours: Nathan Hamill Letters: Karen Bates

It's the Springfield Elementary art show, and everyone has tried hard on their work, except Bart, who's exhibit is just his piece of canvas still in it's wrapper. Meanwhile, Homer gorges out on all the food, and becomes a fat mess laying on the ground. Professor Lombardo amazingly loves Bart's work, and gives him first prize. Much to Lisa's disgust, Homer wins second prize, even though he doesn't go to school.

Maggie's Mobilization
Writer: James Bates Pencils: Make Ervin Inks: Mike DeCarlo Colours: Nathan Hamill Letters: Karen Bates

The family surrounds Maggie while she looks at the mobile swinging around her cot. She imagines herself, along with the animals on the mobile, helping her family out. At the end, she falls asleep and dreams her family is sitting in the cot with her.

Bartless On A Tuesday
Writer: Tony Digerolamo Pencils: John Costanza Inks: Phyllis Novin Colours: Art Villanueva Letters: Karen Bates

Milhouse and Martin go to see if Bart is ready to visit Professor Frink with them. Marge says he isn't home, so they go for a walk around Springfield on their own. They find Cletus floating around on a chair tied to a bunch of balloons, and they realize they need Bart to use his slingshot to pop the balloons. Next, they find Nelson hurt on the ground. They have to skateboard to the hospital to get an ambulance, but Bart is the only one who can skateboard. They realize they need Bart, otherwise they are useless as a group.

My opinion

This issue had two great stories, one average story, and one mediocre story. The two great ones were "Are You Gonna Eat That?" and "Bartless on a Tuesday". In "Are You Gonna Eat That?" the script is fantastic, as is the art. There is also a few of those moments that made the Simpsons a classic show, especially the part where they're eating fish sticks for five minutes and suddenly Jimbo says "Dude, I just remembered. I'm allergic to fish," and there's also Milhouse's great "Ha! I'm spilling milk and I'm not crying over it!" In "Bartless on a Tuesday", the main bad trait is the art, by John Costanza. Nearly all the characters are on model, except for Milhouse, who is off in quite a few different panels. Also, Nelson looks quite babyish and young, which is another trait of Costanza's art. Other than that, this story is quite enjoyable. It's bad enough that "Art For Bart's Sake" was a pretty dull story, but also they were so creative that they had to steal the title from the main header of the cover of Simpsons Comics #13! The best thing is the art, where all the characters are on model. The storyline could have been stronger, and there were a few good moments, but nothing spectacular. The biggest problem I had was that Lunchlady Doris was in it. Now we're onto the dregs of the issue. "Maggie's Mobilization". Sorry, but there's no way I can like this story. Sure, it HAS a plot, but there is HARDLY ANY of it! Especially the end, which was terribly weak, where Maggie dreams that her family is walking around a zoo, where Homer imagines they're trapped in a cage. Lisa comments "no we're not, we're with Maggie", and suddenly they're the size of ants and sitting in her cot. Sorry, but in my opinion it's one of the worst stories in Bart Simpson comics that I have ever read. If the Maggie story had been stronger, I'd have given this issue a 5/5, but it's dragged it down to a 4/5. Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as #5 or #6, which are, in my opinion, the worst issues of the series.

In Australia, Bart Simpson comics used to include an issue of Radioactive Man inside it too. After they completed printing the Radioactive Man issues in Bart Simpson #15, they started printing random stories from the RM 80 page colossal, as well as the 4-part saga from Simpsons Comics #36-#39. In this issue we got part 4 of the saga, as well as the story "Gloria Grand, Radioactive Girl!" from the 80 page colossal. How did they end up getting the comic to be the usual 64 pages long? Ah, well they just padded it out with extra ads!