History ComicBook / TheSimpsons

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The climax of "Krusty: Agent of K.L.O.W.N." - which apparently involves Krusty being kidnapped and taken to an island fortress, the entire team storming in with an army of Krusty clones to save him, and everyone escaping when a space station crashes into the fortress and sinks it - is completely skipped over and is only recounted by Krusty after the fact. When one of the executives complains about not getting to see it, Krusty notes that the show ran out of budget paying for his helicopter shoes.

* ChainedHeat: Bart and Sideshow Bob in Issue 2, after the two end up next to each other on a chain gang which Bob escapes, taking Bart with him. Bart manages to save his life by pointing out that it would be highly impractical for Bob to kill him before he can find a way to unchain them, as he'll be easily caught if he's dragging a body around.

* GuiltByAssociationGag: In Issue 2, Skinner summons Milhouse for punishment along with Bart.
-->'''Milhouse:''' But why me?! I didn't do anything!
-->'''Skinner:''' Let this be a lesson to you, young man--we're judged by the company we keep. [[DrunkWithPower Besides, arbitrary punishment is a prerogative of power]].

* OfferVoidInNebraska: Often utilized in the [[ParodyCommercial fake advertisements]]. A notable example is where's taken UpToEleven in an ad for Krusty's Three Fingered Fireworks, with the fine print on the bottom reading "This offer not valid in" and lists the initials for ''all fifty states'' of America!

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Parodied with the Z-Men, who have multiple titles for sale, including the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly titled]] ''Another Bunch of Z-Men''.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: A selection of deathtraps Mr. Burns and Krusty peruse over has the options of [[Film/TheWizardOfOz lions, tigers, bears, oh my]] and "bathroom at Moe's". They have no idea what it does.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Lampshaded, like every other superhero trope, when the inhabitants of Springfield all get superpowers, and the bullies pick a fight with the retirement home inhabitants.
--->'''Kearney:''' Why are we fighting, anyway?\\

* CrisisCrossover: A three-part story focuses on these. Bart and his friends hate them because of the sheer price involved with all the tie-in issues, and the fact that the stories aren't even that interesting. Others are mentioned and show, including one took so much work it sent the artist and inker mad.

* BackToFront: Issue #43, "Journey to the Cellar of the Kwik-E Mart", is told in this fashion, starting with the family driving off a bridge, then flashing back through the kids' investigation of an urban myth at the Kwik-E Mart, and ending with a flashback to decades earlier which confirms the story was true.

* GiganticGulp: In one issue, Bart, Lisa, Martin and Milhouse find giant squishee cups the size of children while exploring the Kwik-e-Mart; Squishzilla. Apu later explains that they weren't used because they were so heavy when filled that no one could carry them away, but circumstances inspire him to offer them as clothing instead after Lisa 'wears' one because her dress was destroyed while exploring the store basement.

* SuperheroEpisode: Quite common. Either focusing on [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl]], Bart being the Bartman character he dressed as in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E21ThreeMenAndAComicBook Three Men and A Comic Book]] or [[ShowWithinAShow comic book within a show]] character, ''ComicBook/RadioactiveMan''.

* DenserAndWackier: The comics often go into much crazier territory than the show does. Blatantly supernatural story premises are fairly common, and they come without the kind of framing devices that the show would use to ease the audience into them.

* CulturalTranslation: Parodied in "The Simpsons Comics Internationale!" with supposed examples of The Simpsons as adapted by other cultures. The issue presents a Bart Simpson manga, a story from Mexico, and a Belgian comic that mixes elements from both ''{{Tintin}}'' and ''Franchise/TheSmurfs''.[[note]]''The Simpsons'' #131 (2007)[[/note]]

* {{Animesque}}: "Too Crazy Juvenile Prankster: Bartomu!", featuring guest artist Creator/NinaMatsumoto, from ''Simpsons Comics #131'' also Murder He Wrote from Treehouse of Horror # 14 do to it being a parody of [[Manga/DeathNote]].

** In Issue 87, amongst the British invaders are [[Series/DoctorWho The Fourth Doctor]], [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus The Minister of Silly Walks]], [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry Potter]], [[Series/TheAvengers John Steed]], and [[Series/RedDwarf Arnold Rimmer]].

** One issue has a ''lot'' of these directed toward ''{{Series/Millennium}}'', rather gratuitously and mean-spiritedly, but that doesn't make it any less funny.

-->'''Mrs Krabappel:''' ''(smug grin)'' France.\\

** Bart performs a stunt with Grampa on live TV which involves spraypainting the Duff blimp with a message ordering the returns of a product called Westphal's Auxiliator. Upon seeing it, Mr Burns becomes nostalgic over the product until it was discontinued, then declares that he'll buy the company that used to produce it and resume production. The end shows that he kept his promise, as Bart finds a couple cans on sale.
* PinballProtagonist: Marge in the donut issue; she rallies the town when Mr. Burns addictive donuts starts to threaten the local economy, loses in court, and Burns stops donut production anyway for unrelated reasons. Lampshaded by Lisa, who notes that the problem solved itself regardless of Marge's actions.

* PetTheDog: Bart has all the teachers in Springfield deported, and as they're being bundled onto an airplane, Miss Hoover asks where Mrs Krabappel's being sent.

There have also been several [[SpinOff spin-offs]] such as ''ComicBook/BartSimpson'', ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'', and ''Radioactive Man''.

** And again with a Radioactive Man issue, where a clone of his becomes a nastier, edgier Radioactive Man, who is much more popular with children and marketing executives. The original defeats him with an attorney.
** Another Radioactive Man story that's supposed to be set during the Silver Age features his friend Radioactive Ape undergoing a series of bizarre transformations, the last of which sees him becoming an ultra-muscled, gun-toting thug covered in spikes and belts. After curing him, the two joke about how [[TemptingFate super heroes would never look that ridiculous in the future]].

* AsYouKnow:
** Parodied in a ''Radioactive Man'' comic, where a villain, after describing her plan declares "a sudden irrelevant desire to recount my origins!", much to her henchman's annoyance.
--->'''Henchman:''' ''(in thought caption)'' Here we go again...\\
'''Other Henchman:''' We just went over this at breakfast.
** Subverted in another instance, when Magmo the Lava-Man begins monologuing about why he's attacking the surface, only to stop when he realizes he already knows what his plan is.

* BaitAndSwitch:
** After finding Fallout Boy's long-lost brother, Radioactive Man assures Todd he'll find him a place where he'll get the love and support he needs... at military academy.
** In Issue #241, Bart has to deal with a group of nerds protesting the new [[GenderFlip female]] Radioactive Man movie. It turns out they're ''not'' mad about the GenderFlip as Bart initially believed, but about the character's costume being the wrong shade of red.

* BornInTheWrongCentury: In an issue of Radioactive Man, a curvaceous modern woman is told by a former beauty queen turned agent she is too 'zaftig' to be a model nowadays, so she goes back in time to the fifties when the agent was competing, where her 'zaftig' figure is admired by everyone (including the future agent).

* ComicBookTime: Radioactive Man notes that Bug Boy has been trying to cure his shrapnel problem for thirty-six years, but has stayed twelve years old all that time. Bug Boy spends the next several hours (off-panel)explaining how that's possible with math before Radioactive Man asks him to get back to his new solution to the shrapnel).

* DeathIsCheap: In the Radioactive Man comics, this is parodied. When the eponymous hero is blasted with a death ray, and his sidekick mournfully announces he's dead, one of the other heroes just thinks "show-off. He'll be back by the end of the next issue." He is.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The Radioactive Man comics have fifties sensibilities played for laughs, so characters have disdain for reds and pinkos. Radioactive Man will go after peaceful hippie protesters the same as violent criminals because he believes proclamations of peace and love are communist propaganda. He dislikes discrimination but is obliviously proud to be an American when kids are put through the same and believes that citizens should unquestioningly follow authority such as the president.

* EvilGloating: A power-crazed Radioactive Man, driven insane after receiving an overload of power, hangs a [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] on this, saying he now knows why villains do it: Because it's ''fun''.

* {{Expy}}: Radioactive Man gets more development in the comics that he does in the show. As it turns out he's part-Superman (well-respected superhero with a long-standing crush on a reporter), part-Batman (foppish layabout with a teenaged sidekick), and part-Hulk (got his powers from an atomic bomb).
** A great many of Radioactive Man's supporting cast (and RM himself) take a great deal from other superhero comics.
*** His sidekick Fallout Boy is a mix of Robin (teenaged sidekick who lives with superhero), and Spider-Man (social outcast with an elderly aunt).
*** Bleeding Heart is Captain America (patriotic superhero, with the name change after his faith is shaken) mixed with Green Arrow (vocal left-wing after massive upshift in life) and Tony Stark (the Superior Squad's financial backer and former weapons developer).
*** Weasel Woman is a gender-flipped Wolverine.
*** Plasmo the Mystic is just Doctor Strange (fancy cape, tendency to make dramatic proclamations). He later turns out to have his own version of Baron Mordo, the Ancient One, and Dormammu.

* FormerTeenRebel: Rodd Runtelidge, also known as Fallout Boy, was a shoplifter and small-time gang member when he met Radioactive Man. After meeting Radioactive Man, he starts cleaning up his act, and promptly becomes a social pariah.

* FunetikAksent: Dr. Crab, arch-enemy of Radioactive Man, speaks with a stereotypical German accent, which gets more ludicrous the more he mutates. At one point, Radioactive Man misunderstands a statement of his. He doesn't known what being "keelled" entails, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to find out.

* GeneralRipper: Subverted in one Radioactive Man comic, with a general who looks like [[ComicBook/SpiderMan J. Jonah Jameson]], but is actually reasonable, trusting and even-tempered.

* GoodIsDumb: Radioactive Man is (more or less) a good person, but is completely lacking in any manner of common sense.

* IHaveManyNames: One of Radioactive Man's fellow superheroes changes his name frequently. He starts off as Purple Heart, later changed to Purple Badge of Courage after delivered C&D notices by the U.S. Army lawyers, then Bleeding Heart, then finally Broken Heart, when he becomes a brooding anti-hero. Bleeding Heart seems to be the one that won out in the end.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Radioactive Man is stuck with a piece of metal embedded in his forehead which cannot be removed, thus denying him the ability to go out and about without a hat.
** The bolt was removed after one of Radioactive Man's deaths, but it was subsequently revealed that the bolt essentially served to moderate and limit Radioactive Man's power; he was brought back to life by the subsequent power boost, but the power increase affected his mind and drove him insane, making subsequent attempts to remove it even more challenging as the full length of the bolt is needed to stop Radioactive Man going evil again.
* ILoveNuclearPower: A given with a character named Radioactive Man, who owes his origin to being near ground zero of a nuclear bomb test, along with his side-kick Fallout Boy.

* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: Invoked during Radioactive Man's [[ComicBookDeath latest funeral]], where's it's pouring down due to several men operating a massive hose, making it look like it's raining. The nearby newsreporter is standing in the dry of a lovely, clear day.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
** One issue of Radioactive Man has the title character and fellow superheroes Bleeding Heart and Black Partridge traveling across America. After stopping at a diner, Partridge thinks to herself the idea of [[ComicBook/GreenArrow superheroes travelling across America]] is ludicrous. Just to ram the point home, what's clearly Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan can be seen behind her.
** Another parodies the whole idea of Spider-Man, with Radioactive Man declaring at the end that spider-based heroes with real life issues will never catch on.

* JerkJock: Subverted in one Radioactive Man parody of Spider-Man's origin, with a jock who's trying to be supportive towards a nerd, who assumes he's this. He's even seen lamenting his inability to "help his fellow man".
* JiveTurkey: Purple Haze, one of Radioactive Man's teammates. Lampshaded, of course.
-->'''Henchman:''' Oh, you lousy stereotype!

* LetsYouAndHimFight:
** Lampshaded, like every other superhero trope, when the inhabitants of Springfield all get superpowers, and the bullies pick a fight with the retirement home inhabitants.

** And again in an issue of Radioactive Man, when he and Bleeding Heart encounter the Black Partridge, who attacks them. They point out this is the standard, and ask if they can skip things as they're in a hurry and Radioactive Man doesn't like fighting women.

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: In the very first issue of Radioactive Man, when he gets his powers, an earthworm can be seen burrowing into the ground. Much later on, that earthworm turns out to have gained powers as well.

* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Radioactive Man doesn't get along with the Radioactive Man of Beta-Earth, in one instance trying to trick the guy into sacrificing himself at the drop of a hat (albeit after circumstances which led him to believe Beta-Earth had been destroyed and the other him wouldn't have anywhere to go).
* PaperThinDisguise:
** In order to avoid an angry mob, Mr. Burns disguises himself as Marie Antoinette. It doesn't work for an instant.
** An issue of Radioactive Man has the hero and his associate, Bleeding Heart, disguise themselves as hippies, largely by wearing hippie clothing over their superhero outfits.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Radioactive Man represents the conservative 50s viewpoint, no matter the era he's in, so when he and fellow superhero Bleeding Heart are kicked out of a diner for dressing like hippies, and Bleeding Heart ruminates on how they live in a country where people are denied service just because they're slightly different, Radioactive Man chimes in with "it makes me ''proud'' to be an American."

** According to the makers of Radioactive Man, the artist and inker behind the last big crossover event had to be institutionalised, there were so many characters.
-->'''Inker:''' The roll call never ends! ''It never ends!''

* ShowWithinAShow: The "Radioactive Man" comics. Some of them were printed by Bongo, with the conceit that they're the actual comics enjoyed by Bart and friends in ''The Simpsons'' (for example, an issue allegedly from the 1970s features a letter from young Marge Simpson). This also lets the writers parody comic book tropes and well-known stories (to illustrate, an issue dated from the 1990s might parody the comic book "Dark Age").

* SpinOff: ''Bart Simpson'', ''Treehouse of Horror'', and ''Radioactive Man''.

* StuffBlowingUp: Instead of the Bat-Signal, Radioactive Man has the Atomo-Signal, which is an actual explosion (the mayor's aid observes that they need to sort out a better signal).

* SuperheroEpisode: Quite common. Either focusing on [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl]], Bart being the Bartman character he dressed as in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E21ThreeMenAndAComicBook Three Men and A Comic Book]] or [[ShowWithinAShow comic book within a show]] character, ''Radioactive Man''.

%% * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

After its success in prime time TV, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' spawned into ComicBook territory with its own series based on the show. The comics were created by Creator/BongoComics, a publisher operated by show creator Creator/MattGroening. Groening ran the ''Simpsons'' comic line without involvement from series executive producer Creator/JamesLBrooks or any of the dozens of other producers, show runners or writers that worked or are currently working on the television series.

** Sideshow Bob has a slightly lighter complexion from many of the other characters in animation, but in the comics and many merchandising appearances, his skin tone is the same as the rest of the yellow-skinned characters.

* [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare Shout-Out to Shakespeare]]: Before "Twenty-Two Short Tales about Springfield" aired, Bumblebee Man spoke exclusively like this.

** In the very first issue, Mr. Burns' scientists warn him against messing with dangerous experiments by reminding him about "[[NoodleIncident Project Q]]" (sealed in a vault that absolutely must not be opened until the year 10,000 A.D.). About thirty issues later, Homer becomes amnesiac and, believing that he's actually Radioactive Man, accidentally releases it to wreak havoc on the nuclear plant.

* ComicBookTime: Radioactive Man notes that Bug Boy has been trying to cure his shrapnel problem for thirty-six years, but has stayed twelve years old all that time. Bug Boy spends the next several hours explaining how that's possible with math.

* EvilGloating: A power-crazed Radioactive Man hangs a [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] on this, saying he now knows why villains do it: Because it's ''fun''.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GiganticGulp: In one issue, Bart, Lisa, Martin and Milhouse find giant squishee cups the size of children while exploring the Kwik-e-Mart; Squishzilla. Apu later explains that they weren't used because they were so heavy when filled that no one could carry them away.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Radioactive Man is stuck with a piece of metal embedded in his forehead which cannot be removed, thus denying him the ability to go back to being boring old millionaire playboy Claude Kane the Third.

** And again in an issue of Radioactive Man, when he and Bleeding Heart encounter the Partridge, who attacks them. They point out this is the standard, and ask if they can skip things.

* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Radioactive Man doesn't get along with the Radioactive Man of Beta-Earth, in one instance trying to trick the guy into sacrificing himself at the drop of a hat.

* StuffBlowingUp: Instead of the Bat-Signal, Radioactive Man has the Atomo-Signal, which is an actual explosion.

** Mr. Burns thinks he can save money by getting his workers addicted to specially engineered donuts and offering them as pay, but a month into their addictions his employees are now incredibly fat and have such a hard time doing their jobs the drop in productivity and the money it takes to keep them in donuts means Burns is now losing his profits.

** Mr. Smithers is perfectly fine having Homer killed via poison chainsaws, and poisoned darts, but [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers James Cameron's Oscar acceptance speech on a continuous loop]]?