Three Men and a Comic Book
Encyclopedia
"Three Men and a Comic Book" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons
' second season
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 1991. In the episode, Bart
catches a glimpse of the original issue of Radioactive Man for sale at a comic book
convention, so he, Martin
, and Milhouse combine their money to buy the valuable comic book, only to lose it due to their selfishness and inability to share.
The episode was written by Jeff Martin
and directed by Wes Archer
. It features cultural references to comic book characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost
and Richie Rich. Several new characters make their first appearance on the show in the episode, including Comic Book Guy
, Radioactive Man, and Mrs. Glick. Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics for its use of parodies and cultural references. It acquired a Nielsen rating
of 12.9, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Bartman, he finds the first issue of Radioactive Man for $100 at the Android's Dungeon
sale table. However, he does not have enough money to buy it, and his parents refuse to give him extra money, so he decides to get a job. Bart turns to his neighbor Mrs. Glick, who has some rather unsavory chores around the house that he can do. When she only gives him fifty cents for his hard work, Bart protests, but is unsuccessful as Mrs. Glick thinks he is thanking her. Bart goes to the Android's Dungeon, with only a few cents extra, where he runs into Milhouse and Martin
. He talks them into pooling their money and buying the comic from the store's owner, Comic Book Guy
. Since none of them want to let the comic out of their sights, they decide to spend the night together in Bart's treehouse. The three get progressively more paranoid
and Bart becomes convinced that the other two are conspiring against him.
Eventually, the tension is at a breaking point. When Martin gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, Bart thinks he plans on stealing the comic and subsequently ties him up. Meanwhile, a storm approaches. Milhouse tries to alert Marge that Bart has gone crazy, but Bart thinks he is making a move for the comic and tackles him. Milhouse rolls over the side of the treehouse, almost falling down to the ground, but Bart catches him precariously by his sleeve. When a gust of wind takes hold of the comic so that it flies towards the treehouse's entrance, Bart is forced to decide between it and Milhouse. After mulling over his options, Bart chooses Milhouse and pulls him up into the treehouse. The comic flies out the entrance and is shredded by Santa's Little Helper
on the ground, hit by lightning, and completely destroyed. The next morning, the three boys reflect on how their inability to share led to the destruction of the comic, although Bart, at least, has learned nothing from the experience.
The episode was written by Jeff Martin
and directed by Wes Archer
. Characters making their first appearance on the show in the episode are Comic Book Guy, Mrs. Glick, Radioactive Man, Fallout Boy, and Bartman. Although many suggestions state that Comic Book Guy was inspired by the show's creator Matt Groening
, Comic Book Guy was partly inspired by a clerk at the Los Angeles
Amok book shop who, according to Simpsons writer George Meyer
, often "[sat] on the high stool, kind of lording over the store with that supercilious attitude and eating behind the counter a big Styrofoam container full of fried clams with a lot of tartar sauce." Matt Groening noted: "I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me and said, 'I know who you based that comic book guy on. It's that comic-book guy right down the block.' And I have to tell them, 'No, it's every comic-bookstore guy in America.'" Cast member Hank Azaria
based Comic Book Guy's voice on a student who went by the name "F" and lived in the room next door at his college
. Mrs. Glick was based on a old lady Martin and his brother used to do chores for when they were younger. Martin said they got to "pull weed until [their] hands would bleed", and yet they were only paid two quarter
s for several hours of work. American actress Cloris Leachman
provided the voice of Mrs. Glick in the episode.
The episode features a The Wonder Years
parody, in which Bart stares into the distance after realizing that he has to get his first job, and an older version of Bart's voice is heard saying "I didn't realize it at the time, but a little piece of my childhood had slipped away for ever that day." Daniel Stern
guest starred as the voice of the adult Bart, just like he did for the adult voice of the character Kevin in the television show The Wonder Years. According to Simpsons writer Mike Reiss
, Stern was a "pleasure" to work with and it only took him a few minutes to record his lines. Stern's brother David M. Stern
worked as a writer on both The Simpsons and The Wonder Years, so he helped the writers get the idiom
s and the wording of the parody right.
At the beginning of the episode, Lisa reveals that she collects Casper the Friendly Ghost
comics. Radioactive Man's origin is nearly identical to the Marvel Comics
character The Incredible Hulk
, as they both gained their superpowers from absorbing massive amounts of radiation during an experimental detonation of a gamma bomb. The warning from the convention MC not to ask questions about the death of Radioactive Man's actor Dirk Richter is a reference to the mysterious death of Superman
's actor George Reeves
. When Bart asks Homer for money to buy the comic book, Homer replies: "One hundred bucks? For a comic book?! Who drew it, Micha-ma-langelo?" This is a reference to the Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo
, whose name Homer cannot pronounce.
The Radioactive Man commercial for Laramie
cigarettes that Bart and Lisa watch at the convention is a take-off of The Flintstones
starring in Winston
cigarette television commercials which aired during the 1960s. When Bart begs Mrs. Glick not to apply iodine
to his wounded arm, she grabs his arm and the scene shifts to their silhouettes as Bart screams, mirroring a scene in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
. The accusation and suspicion that grows between the boys is similar to the plot of the film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
. When Martin makes a squealing noise while falling in the treehouse, Bart calls him "Piggy" and threatens to stuff an apple into his mouth, resembling a similar quote from the 1954 book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
. Bart trying to save Milhouse from falling from the treehouse is a reference to a scene in the 1942 Alfred Hitchcock
film Saboteur
.
of 12.9, equivalent to twelve million viewing households. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. It was the first time The Simpsons beat The Cosby Show
in the ratings. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson lauded it for its use of new characters, commenting that "of all season two’s Bart-focused episodes, only 'Bart the Daredevil
' offers competition with 'Comic' as the best of the bunch. It’s a tough call, but I’ll take 'Comic' in a squeaker. The show melds the series’ deft satirical tone with exceptional character development. Bart seems to grow especially strongly, and his psychological meltdown in the third act is hilarious." "Three Men and a Comic Book" was named the best episode of the season by IGN
. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, commented that unless you have a "passing understanding of comic books and their buyers' behaviour, some of the jokes will pass you by." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone
contributor, criticized the episode for not being inspired enough, and added that the Wonder Years parody "seems pointless".
"Three Men and a Comic Book" is Bryce Wilson of Cinema Blend
's favorite episode of the season. Wilson praised the episode for its cultural references, calling them "true greatness". Surrey Nows Michael Roberds praised the Treasure of the Sierra Madre parody, saying that it is "one of the more clever film parodies hidden within a typical Simpsons plot." Colin Kennedy of Empire
called the Treasure of the Sierra Madre parody the ninth best film parody of the show, commenting that "Bart turns [into] a perfect Bogart
– grizzled, paranoid and sleep-deprived. With lighting and camera angles half-inched from Huston
, this priceless gag is joyfully pitched over the heads of 90 percent of the audience." The episode's reference to Saboteur was named the 25th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film
' s Nathan Ditum.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 1991. In the episode, Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
catches a glimpse of the original issue of Radioactive Man for sale at a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
convention, so he, Martin
Martin Prince
Martin Prince, Jr. is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Russi Taylor. Martin is Bart Simpson's classmate, and is Lisa Simpson's rival in intelligence, as well as Nelson Muntz's favorite target for bullying...
, and Milhouse combine their money to buy the valuable comic book, only to lose it due to their selfishness and inability to share.
The episode was written by Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (writer)
Jeff Martin is an American television producer and writer. He was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers...
and directed by Wes Archer
Wes Archer
Wesley Meyer Archer is a television animation director. He was one of the original three animators on The Simpsons' Tracey Ullman shorts and subsequently directed a number of The Simpsons episodes before becoming supervising director at King of the Hill. A...
. It features cultural references to comic book characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...
and Richie Rich. Several new characters make their first appearance on the show in the episode, including Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
, Radioactive Man, and Mrs. Glick. Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics for its use of parodies and cultural references. It acquired a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 12.9, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Plot
When Bart attends a comic book convention dressed as his superhero alter egoAlter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
Bartman, he finds the first issue of Radioactive Man for $100 at the Android's Dungeon
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
sale table. However, he does not have enough money to buy it, and his parents refuse to give him extra money, so he decides to get a job. Bart turns to his neighbor Mrs. Glick, who has some rather unsavory chores around the house that he can do. When she only gives him fifty cents for his hard work, Bart protests, but is unsuccessful as Mrs. Glick thinks he is thanking her. Bart goes to the Android's Dungeon, with only a few cents extra, where he runs into Milhouse and Martin
Martin Prince
Martin Prince, Jr. is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Russi Taylor. Martin is Bart Simpson's classmate, and is Lisa Simpson's rival in intelligence, as well as Nelson Muntz's favorite target for bullying...
. He talks them into pooling their money and buying the comic from the store's owner, Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
. Since none of them want to let the comic out of their sights, they decide to spend the night together in Bart's treehouse. The three get progressively more paranoid
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
and Bart becomes convinced that the other two are conspiring against him.
Eventually, the tension is at a breaking point. When Martin gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, Bart thinks he plans on stealing the comic and subsequently ties him up. Meanwhile, a storm approaches. Milhouse tries to alert Marge that Bart has gone crazy, but Bart thinks he is making a move for the comic and tackles him. Milhouse rolls over the side of the treehouse, almost falling down to the ground, but Bart catches him precariously by his sleeve. When a gust of wind takes hold of the comic so that it flies towards the treehouse's entrance, Bart is forced to decide between it and Milhouse. After mulling over his options, Bart chooses Milhouse and pulls him up into the treehouse. The comic flies out the entrance and is shredded by Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
on the ground, hit by lightning, and completely destroyed. The next morning, the three boys reflect on how their inability to share led to the destruction of the comic, although Bart, at least, has learned nothing from the experience.
Production
Jeff Martin (writer)
Jeff Martin is an American television producer and writer. He was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers...
and directed by Wes Archer
Wes Archer
Wesley Meyer Archer is a television animation director. He was one of the original three animators on The Simpsons' Tracey Ullman shorts and subsequently directed a number of The Simpsons episodes before becoming supervising director at King of the Hill. A...
. Characters making their first appearance on the show in the episode are Comic Book Guy, Mrs. Glick, Radioactive Man, Fallout Boy, and Bartman. Although many suggestions state that Comic Book Guy was inspired by the show's creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, Comic Book Guy was partly inspired by a clerk at the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
Amok book shop who, according to Simpsons writer George Meyer
George Meyer
George A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
, often "[sat] on the high stool, kind of lording over the store with that supercilious attitude and eating behind the counter a big Styrofoam container full of fried clams with a lot of tartar sauce." Matt Groening noted: "I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me and said, 'I know who you based that comic book guy on. It's that comic-book guy right down the block.' And I have to tell them, 'No, it's every comic-bookstore guy in America.'" Cast member Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
based Comic Book Guy's voice on a student who went by the name "F" and lived in the room next door at his college
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
. Mrs. Glick was based on a old lady Martin and his brother used to do chores for when they were younger. Martin said they got to "pull weed until [their] hands would bleed", and yet they were only paid two quarter
Quarter (United States coin)
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The choice of 25¢ as a denomination, as opposed to 20¢ which is more common in other parts of the world, originated with the practice of dividing...
s for several hours of work. American actress Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
provided the voice of Mrs. Glick in the episode.
The episode features a The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
parody, in which Bart stares into the distance after realizing that he has to get his first job, and an older version of Bart's voice is heard saying "I didn't realize it at the time, but a little piece of my childhood had slipped away for ever that day." Daniel Stern
Daniel Stern (actor)
Daniel Jacob Stern is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Hollywood films C.H.U.D., Diner, City Slickers and the first two Home Alone films, and as the narrator for the television series The Wonder Years.-Early life:Stern was born in Bethesda, Maryland to a...
guest starred as the voice of the adult Bart, just like he did for the adult voice of the character Kevin in the television show The Wonder Years. According to Simpsons writer Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
, Stern was a "pleasure" to work with and it only took him a few minutes to record his lines. Stern's brother David M. Stern
David M. Stern
David M. Stern is an American television screenwriter. Among his first work in television was writing episodes of The Wonder Years in the late 1980s. He then proceeded to write several episodes of The Simpsons in the 1990s. In 2010, he developed the animated television series Ugly Americans...
worked as a writer on both The Simpsons and The Wonder Years, so he helped the writers get the idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
s and the wording of the parody right.
Cultural references
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...
comics. Radioactive Man's origin is nearly identical to the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
character The Incredible Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
, as they both gained their superpowers from absorbing massive amounts of radiation during an experimental detonation of a gamma bomb. The warning from the convention MC not to ask questions about the death of Radioactive Man's actor Dirk Richter is a reference to the mysterious death of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's actor George Reeves
George Reeves
George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
. When Bart asks Homer for money to buy the comic book, Homer replies: "One hundred bucks? For a comic book?! Who drew it, Micha-ma-langelo?" This is a reference to the Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, whose name Homer cannot pronounce.
The Radioactive Man commercial for Laramie
Laramie (cigarette)
Laramie was a brand of cigarettes extant in the United States from the 1930s into the 1950s.Later, the name was used for a cigarette rolling system ....
cigarettes that Bart and Lisa watch at the convention is a take-off of The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
starring in Winston
Winston (cigarette)
Winston cigarettes are manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company or its newer incarnation as RJR Nabisco and/or its affiliates.The brand was introduced in 1954, and became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the United States...
cigarette television commercials which aired during the 1960s. When Bart begs Mrs. Glick not to apply iodine
Iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The name is pronounced , , or . The name is from the , meaning violet or purple, due to the color of elemental iodine vapor....
to his wounded arm, she grabs his arm and the scene shifts to their silhouettes as Bart screams, mirroring a scene in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. The accusation and suspicion that grows between the boys is similar to the plot of the film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 American film written and directed by John Huston, a feature film adaptation of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, in which two Americans Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin during the 1920s in Mexico join with an old-timer, Howard , to prospect for gold...
. When Martin makes a squealing noise while falling in the treehouse, Bart calls him "Piggy" and threatens to stuff an apple into his mouth, resembling a similar quote from the 1954 book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
. Bart trying to save Milhouse from falling from the treehouse is a reference to a scene in the 1942 Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
film Saboteur
Saboteur (film)
Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Three Men and a Comic Book" finished twenty-third in the ratings for the week of May 6–12, 1991, with a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 12.9, equivalent to twelve million viewing households. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. It was the first time The Simpsons beat The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
in the ratings. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson lauded it for its use of new characters, commenting that "of all season two’s Bart-focused episodes, only 'Bart the Daredevil
Bart the Daredevil
"Bart the Daredevil" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons second season and aired on December 6, 1990. It was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by Wes Archer. In the episode, the Simpsons go to a Monster truck rally that features famous daredevil Lance Murdock. Bart...
' offers competition with 'Comic' as the best of the bunch. It’s a tough call, but I’ll take 'Comic' in a squeaker. The show melds the series’ deft satirical tone with exceptional character development. Bart seems to grow especially strongly, and his psychological meltdown in the third act is hilarious." "Three Men and a Comic Book" was named the best episode of the season by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, commented that unless you have a "passing understanding of comic books and their buyers' behaviour, some of the jokes will pass you by." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
contributor, criticized the episode for not being inspired enough, and added that the Wonder Years parody "seems pointless".
"Three Men and a Comic Book" is Bryce Wilson of Cinema Blend
Cinema Blend
Cinema Blend is a website founded and run by Josh Tyler dedicated to news and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films, movie projects, Television Shows, and a newly founded Music section which covers album reviews, band interviews and daily news from the industry. It combines gossip from...
's favorite episode of the season. Wilson praised the episode for its cultural references, calling them "true greatness". Surrey Nows Michael Roberds praised the Treasure of the Sierra Madre parody, saying that it is "one of the more clever film parodies hidden within a typical Simpsons plot." Colin Kennedy of Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
called the Treasure of the Sierra Madre parody the ninth best film parody of the show, commenting that "Bart turns [into] a perfect Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
– grizzled, paranoid and sleep-deprived. With lighting and camera angles half-inched from Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
, this priceless gag is joyfully pitched over the heads of 90 percent of the audience." The episode's reference to Saboteur was named the 25th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
External links
- "Three Men and a Comic Book" at The Simpsons.com