Episode Title: Three Men and a Comic Book
Episode Number: 34
Original Air Date: May 9, 1991
Plot Synopsis: The Simpsons attend a local comic book convention where Bart spots a copy of "Radioactive Man #1" on sale for $100. It's the first appearance of his favorite superhero and he simply has to have it. The proprietor of the Android's Dungeon comic book shop, the fabled Comic Book Guy, won't budge on the price. His parents won't just give him the $100 and insist that he has to work for it. In a misguided attempt to do just that, Bart starts doing chores for Mrs. Glick, an impossibly old lady who lives... somewhere around town. It's not clear, exactly.
Anyway, Mrs. Glick's chores suck and Bart only gets paid fifty cents for them anyway. Completely dejected and now possessing the true knowledge of the value of a dollar (it's essentially worthless), Bart returns to the Android's Dungeon to try to haggle over the price. He spots Martin Prince doing the same, and Milhouse trying to buy a stupid baseball card like the dopey nerd that he is. Bart realizes that if they all pool their money together they can buy the comic and each own a third. Which they then proceed to do. They also proceed to almost immediately begin fighting over where the comic gets to "live" as all three of the boys insist that it should be kept in their respective homes.
The boys all spend the night in Bart's treehouse to try to figure out what to do with the comic. They end up reading it, and quite frankly it's a pretty honest representation of the quality of superhero comics from the era. Anyway, all three boys get more and more paranoid about their intentions. Bart thinks that Martin and Milhouse are conspiring against him to take the comic for themselves. Martin devises a system where they have a kind of "time share" system for the comic, but for the night the issue is staying put.
When Martin gets up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, Bart thinks he's trying to take the comic and ties him up. Milhouse tries to go talk to Marge about how crazy Bart is getting and Bart attacks him. Right around this time a storm rolls in and it starts getting windy. Milhouse falls out of the treehouse and is saved at the last second by Bart. At the same time, the window blows the comic up against the treehouse wall. Bart has to choose between saving his friend and saving the comic. He ultimately chooses his friend, and the comic is blown out onto the ground. The combination of rain, a well-timed lightning strike and Santa's Little Helper completely destroy the issue. The episode ends the next morning as the boys both reveal that they know what the lesson that should have learned is (that they lost their new favorite thing because that couldn't share it properly) and that they didn't actually learn that lesson at all because they're eight and eight-year-olds are stupid.
Anyway, Mrs. Glick's chores suck and Bart only gets paid fifty cents for them anyway. Completely dejected and now possessing the true knowledge of the value of a dollar (it's essentially worthless), Bart returns to the Android's Dungeon to try to haggle over the price. He spots Martin Prince doing the same, and Milhouse trying to buy a stupid baseball card like the dopey nerd that he is. Bart realizes that if they all pool their money together they can buy the comic and each own a third. Which they then proceed to do. They also proceed to almost immediately begin fighting over where the comic gets to "live" as all three of the boys insist that it should be kept in their respective homes.
The boys all spend the night in Bart's treehouse to try to figure out what to do with the comic. They end up reading it, and quite frankly it's a pretty honest representation of the quality of superhero comics from the era. Anyway, all three boys get more and more paranoid about their intentions. Bart thinks that Martin and Milhouse are conspiring against him to take the comic for themselves. Martin devises a system where they have a kind of "time share" system for the comic, but for the night the issue is staying put.
When Martin gets up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, Bart thinks he's trying to take the comic and ties him up. Milhouse tries to go talk to Marge about how crazy Bart is getting and Bart attacks him. Right around this time a storm rolls in and it starts getting windy. Milhouse falls out of the treehouse and is saved at the last second by Bart. At the same time, the window blows the comic up against the treehouse wall. Bart has to choose between saving his friend and saving the comic. He ultimately chooses his friend, and the comic is blown out onto the ground. The combination of rain, a well-timed lightning strike and Santa's Little Helper completely destroy the issue. The episode ends the next morning as the boys both reveal that they know what the lesson that should have learned is (that they lost their new favorite thing because that couldn't share it properly) and that they didn't actually learn that lesson at all because they're eight and eight-year-olds are stupid.
Overall Thoughts: This is the third of my "Top Ten" episodes of the season. Season two has been pretty consistently good overall, but these three episodes (the other two being "Bart the Daredevil" and "Lisa's Substitute") are the ones that I consider GREAT. Like, shockingly great.
What Works: This episode marks the first appearance of Comic Book Guy who is immediately a lot of fun, even if his voice isn't quite "right" just yet. Hank Azaria quickly figures out how to tweak his performance and make it just a little bit funnier than it is here. Still, for a random new character, he makes a hell of a first impression.
On a nerdy personal note, this episode really captures what going to comic book conventions as a kid was like. I've been to a few in my day, though I was a bit older than the kids in this particular episode, and they're all more or less pretty much as represented.
I really like Marge's flashback with her stupid tiny oven. It's nice to see flashbacks to a Young Marge in a period of her life where hopes and dreams hadn't been beaten out of her yet. Maybe that's going a little too far, but Young Marge always seems a lot happier and care-free than Current Marge. It's an interesting dynamic.
This episode has so. Many. References. It's legitimately difficult to keep track of them all. From "The Wonder Years" to the 1960s "Batman" TV series to the Fantastic Four, a wide variety of different pop culture icons are all represented, and they're all spot on. I know that the conceit is that we begin the episode at a comic book convention, which is a bit different from the situations the Simpsons usually find themselves in, but the show has never been this reference-heavy before. Even still, it all manages to work and it doesn't feel like "references for references" sake. None of the jokes are "Hey, remember that thing? Wasn't that thing funny?!" Which is good.
All told, this episode is very, very funny from top to bottom. I can't really think of a joke that doesn't land just right. It may actually be the most joke-heavy episode of the season, now that I think of it. There's SO MUCH that happens in such a short amount of time, and all of it's funny. It's kind of like the comedy equivalent of "Lisa's Substitute" in that that particular episode packed a shocking amount of sentiment into such a short run time.
This episode also has its morality on display in ways that fit really comfortably in between all of those jokes. Bart (sort of) learns the value of a dollar though hard work and pain. It's also a "Learn to Share/Something Coming Between Friends" episode that is told in a really effective way, even though I'd hardly call Martin their "friend" but more of an "acquaintance" at this point. I don't know if he ever actually becomes a true "friend," to be honest.
Bart Simpson is a such sarcastic little bastard, but he's so genuine in certain aspects of his personality. We've previously seen just how much he loves Krusty the Clown. Here his love of Radioactive Man is on display. When Bart says that he needs to own that comic, I believe him. It's a great "little kid" aspect of his personality that helps to ground the character in reality, even if he does talk like the most sarcastic adult I've ever met for most of the series.
On a nerdy personal note, this episode really captures what going to comic book conventions as a kid was like. I've been to a few in my day, though I was a bit older than the kids in this particular episode, and they're all more or less pretty much as represented.
I really like Marge's flashback with her stupid tiny oven. It's nice to see flashbacks to a Young Marge in a period of her life where hopes and dreams hadn't been beaten out of her yet. Maybe that's going a little too far, but Young Marge always seems a lot happier and care-free than Current Marge. It's an interesting dynamic.
This episode has so. Many. References. It's legitimately difficult to keep track of them all. From "The Wonder Years" to the 1960s "Batman" TV series to the Fantastic Four, a wide variety of different pop culture icons are all represented, and they're all spot on. I know that the conceit is that we begin the episode at a comic book convention, which is a bit different from the situations the Simpsons usually find themselves in, but the show has never been this reference-heavy before. Even still, it all manages to work and it doesn't feel like "references for references" sake. None of the jokes are "Hey, remember that thing? Wasn't that thing funny?!" Which is good.
All told, this episode is very, very funny from top to bottom. I can't really think of a joke that doesn't land just right. It may actually be the most joke-heavy episode of the season, now that I think of it. There's SO MUCH that happens in such a short amount of time, and all of it's funny. It's kind of like the comedy equivalent of "Lisa's Substitute" in that that particular episode packed a shocking amount of sentiment into such a short run time.
This episode also has its morality on display in ways that fit really comfortably in between all of those jokes. Bart (sort of) learns the value of a dollar though hard work and pain. It's also a "Learn to Share/Something Coming Between Friends" episode that is told in a really effective way, even though I'd hardly call Martin their "friend" but more of an "acquaintance" at this point. I don't know if he ever actually becomes a true "friend," to be honest.
Bart Simpson is a such sarcastic little bastard, but he's so genuine in certain aspects of his personality. We've previously seen just how much he loves Krusty the Clown. Here his love of Radioactive Man is on display. When Bart says that he needs to own that comic, I believe him. It's a great "little kid" aspect of his personality that helps to ground the character in reality, even if he does talk like the most sarcastic adult I've ever met for most of the series.
What Doesn't Work: The animation is still doing that weird thing where their faces twist in half sometimes. It's happening less and less as season two goes on, but it's still happening just enough to creep me out.
Closing Thoughts: I don't know why Bart doesn't just say that he's Batman to get in to the comic book convention. He's basically dressed exactly like Batman. "Bartman" isn't exactly the most original idea he's ever had. I think it totally would have worked.
It's interesting that Milhouse is depicted as just a tiny, tiny bit smarter than Bart. The scene I'm referencing is when Milhouse is the first to figure out that Martin is kind of screwing the other two out of getting to hang onto the "Radioactive Man" comic. I'd never really thought of him quite like that. In my mind, he's always just been the sycophantic Smithers to Bart's Mr. Burns (minus all of that gay stuff).
There's also a hilarious amount of smoking in this episode. Even a guy in the background at Krusty Burger is smoking at one point.
Final Grade (out of 10): 10It's interesting that Milhouse is depicted as just a tiny, tiny bit smarter than Bart. The scene I'm referencing is when Milhouse is the first to figure out that Martin is kind of screwing the other two out of getting to hang onto the "Radioactive Man" comic. I'd never really thought of him quite like that. In my mind, he's always just been the sycophantic Smithers to Bart's Mr. Burns (minus all of that gay stuff).
There's also a hilarious amount of smoking in this episode. Even a guy in the background at Krusty Burger is smoking at one point.
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