Saturday, December 30, 2023

The Simpsons: Homer For the Holidays

Enjoy the holidays with America's favorite family... in comic book form!

While most would incorporate the Simpsons with Halloween because of their annual Treehouse of Horror episodes, Christmas is synonymous with Bart, Lisa, Marge, Maggie & Homer. That's because their first full-length episode ever was a festive tale titled 'Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.' Technically, that was really The Simpsons Christmas Special and not the first episode. Yet, both Fox and fans have determined that the holiday special was the pilot and thus considered the premier of The Simpsons animated sitcom. The rest is 35 years plus of television history.

This was one of my last Christmas and holiday themed reads for 2023. If I had realized how much Hanukkah material was in this book, I would have started on this one a few weeks earlier. Of course! Krusty the Clown is Jewish! How could I forget how much of an icon to the Festival of Lights Krusty is. I didn't say he was a positive icon. But so many episodes of The Simpsons involve Krusty's ancestry and faith as a Jew, that it's natural here to have several stories and segments devoted to the celebration of those 8 crazy nights. 

Homer for the Holidays is not the definitive collection of Simpsons holiday comics. This collection was published in 2010. Bongo Comics would continue releasing Simpsons comics for another 8 years. That's not including titles devoted to individual Simpsons characters such as Bart and Lisa. I know off the bat that a Treehouse of Horror story in which Lisa dreams that her live Christmas tree enslaves the people of Springfield wasn't included in this book. And while a couple of New Year's themed adventures are here, there aren't any Thanksgiving stories and Bongo produced at least 1 Turkey Day set issue.

In the past 2 years, Harper Collins, operating under the defunct Bongo imprint, have been releasing omnibuses devoted to all of the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror annuals. I'm hoping that after Volume 3 releases next autumn that maybe an omnibus of November-February holiday tales might be forthcoming. It would save me a lot of time and money and I'd buy it, even though I've already collected and read a sizable chunk of Christmas and Hanukkah Simpsons comics. 

Just something to put out there to the publishing team behind those massive Halloween collections.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

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