Reading Comics #87 "Sergio's Simpsons & Zahn's Star Wars"

Last fall I did the unthinkable and sold my comic book collection.  And a few weeks ago, I discovered a remnant of that period of collecting that I really had completely forgotten about, probably because I'd set them aside to write about at some point.  Well, now here we are, closing that loop.

I bought Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson #50 when it was released, which was in 2009, although I might have gotten it in 2010, from Borders, where I worked for five years.  There was a point where I wrote about the comics I read and bought from Borders, for another website, because it was unusual for me to be working somewhere that sold comics and I figured I might as well exploit it. This particular issue was notable because, as the subtitle suggests, "Mad About Sergio," which means that this was an issue created entirely by Mad veteran Sergio Aragones.

Sergio is a legend not just because of his contributions to Mad, but also for his creation of Groo, who is more or less the idiot version of Conan the Barbarian.  Sergio collaborated a number of times with DC, but this issue for Bongo is pretty unique in that it combines two different-but-not-as-much-as-you-might-think comedic traditions, Matt Groening's Simpsons and Sergio Aragones.

If you've never read Sergio, he specializes in incidental slapstick situations, in which Murphy's Law is in full effect, so that anything that can go wrong will.  One of the surprising things is that his distinctive art works exceptionally well in the Simpsons style.  He does adapt to expectations, but for the most part you definitely know that you're reading a Sergio comic.  There are four stories of varying length, two that are wordless and feature Maggie, the baby who never grows up, and two that feature Bart, his pal Milhouse, and various other denizens of Springfield, the first about their abortive attempts to build a rocket that quickly spiral out of control when everyone (EVERYONE) becomes involved and the second about a school trip to the circus that Bart and pals try to improve upon and fail miserably.

It's a milestone confluence of creation and creator.  This is probably not something South Park or Family Guy, two erstwhile would-be successors to the Simpsons, could do, and speaks to the continuing strength of Groening's creations.  That and the phrase "best [adlib] ever" freely adapted from Comic Book Guy, which everyone says now.  (He actually began this meme by saying "worst [adlib] ever, and then switched to "best" when describing death by mylar.)

The other comic book was a more deliberate attempt to save for writing about later, because I'm always thinking about the comic books that come as part of a package deal, usually with an action figure or DVD.  It's Star Wars - Heir to the Empire #1, based on the Timothy Zahn book that gave birth to the modern expanded universe in the franchise (which some fans have supported as material for Episode VII).

The most obvious problem that developed for Heir to the Empire was that George Lucas later contradicted at least one major element of Zahn's story, which was his conception of the Clone Wars.  In Heir (and its subsequent sequels), the clones in question were of Jedi, notably represented by Jorus C'Baoth, not Jango Fett as later revealed in Attack of the Clones.  Say what you will, but to make the mysterious Clone Wars about the origins of the distinctive but anonymous Storm Troopers was something no fan, not even one who wrote official books, would have been able to come up with.  The other major detail of Heir is Grand Admiral Thrawn, the last great Imperial figure, although he deviates notably from Star Wars lore established well before the prequels in that he is not human.  Zahn also establishes Mara Jade, the erstwhile lover of Luke Skywalker, as well as Han and Leia's twins, who would go on to star in their own series of books as the next generation of Jedi (and wrinkle in the Skywalker legacy).

When Heir was first released in 1991 (this comic book, or at least the version released with action figures, dates to 2007), I was still eagerly reading fiction based on screen properties and wasn't much critical about it.  Now I will barely touch the stuff.  There are thematic flaws, inconsistencies with the source material, that their creators never seem to consider, and I'm not just talking details that can be contradicted, but things like Thrawn being an alien when every other Imperial officer was human.  Still, it's interesting to revisit this story, and see some of it depicted in images.  I do still have the action figures, who proudly stand on one of my bookshelves, one of them being Thrawn and the other Talon Karrde (Captain Pellaeon is the other notable character from this adventure), who is more or less Zahn's version of Han Solo (Shadows of the Empire has another variation on Han, because apparently he's everyone favorite character from Star Wars).

The added bonus of finding these is that I actually reread some of my old comics, the only thought that makes me feel better about not having my old collection.  Although now of course I'd love to reread those comics...