Now, you probably expected that Sergio Aragones would be a stupendous Simpsons artist. You probably would not expect his being a Simpsons scholar.

In the first tale, Aragones uses Professor Frink to facilitate a typical childhood pastime, building a play rocket. Aragones characterizes Frink as a likeable sort whose love for science is unparalleled. It's perfectly plausible that he would stop and help Bart and Milhouse in their construction.

Aragones exploits Montgomery Burns' arrogance as well as a disdain for the government. He furthermore distinguishes the group idiocy that Springfieldians gestalt from the dupes of the world. In one of Aragones' detailed, cast of thousands double page spread, one intelligence agent arrives at a very reasonable conclusion, but Kent Brockman ham-fists it with a laugh out loud embellishment to the facts.

In the spread, one must also note the realistic mecha construction in the design of copters and trucks. The intricacy contrasts the cartooniness of the characters, and this is in keeping with Matt Groening's original intent for the series.

Aragones in the second tale recalls the camaraderie in the television episode "Bart on the Road." For this story, Aragones teams up Bart, Nelson, Milhouse and Martin to escape a Cirque du Soilel field trip and witness the fun of a real circus. Things do not go as planned, and Aragones uses the natural setting of the Big Top to thwart the quartet panel after panel.

Aragones fills the remainder of the pages with shorts that detail Maggie's intelligence. Only one of these "Maggie's Crib" vignettes are funny, but their brevity makes them more like bonuses and does not affect the overall worth of the book.

Colorist Jacob Glaser does a nice job on these shorts, and I especially like his variegated shadow hues. Art Villanueva makes Bart Simpson Comics a vivid rainbow that always blends and never clashes. The extra colorful circus backdrop allows Villanueva to mix and match to generate some extraordinary eye-catching moments.

Sergio Aragones! Sergio Argones Aragones That's why Bart Simpson Comics earns five bullets. The Mad maestro makes merry with Matt Groening's brainchildren.

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