Comic books and The Simpsons have a long history of intermingling. Whether it’s the series’ perennial comic book superhero Radioactive man, the Green Arrow origin story of the beer-peddling Duffman, or the fact that the characters may actually exist within the Marvel Universe, The Simpsons have a long history with the funny pages. Bart even has his own superhero alter-ego, Bartman, and while the character only appears sporadically on the show, he was given the full Batman Beyond treatment in comic book form when fans met Bartman of the Future. Or did they…?
Bartman made his first appearance back in 1991 in the season two episode Three Men and a Comic Book – incidentally, the same episode that introduced Radioactive Man – when Bart quickly needed to throw together a costume to gain a discount on admission to a comic convention. In the 2007 season 18 episode Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times, Bart spins a tale that even provides the character with a very Batman-inspired origin story, broken pearl necklace, and all (though, since they’re Marge’s pearls, they’re obviously red).
And though the character only shows up occasionally on the show, he’s actually played some pretty prominent roles in comic book form, with Bartman even getting his own solo series in the 90s. But it’s in the pages of Simpsons Comics Colossal Compendium #2 that fans were treated to the story of Bartman Beyond. When Chief Wiggum activates the Bart Signal, he’s surprised that it’s actually Bartman of the Future (rocking a very Azrael-looking Bartman costume) that answers the call. And he’s there with a dire message about the future for Bartman. Imagine that scene with the Flash in Batman v Superman, except everyone is a yellow cartoon character.
After a brief scuffle, Bartman of the Future explains that Bart’s crime-fighting was so effective that the country’s police and military forces were disbanded. Even the Salvation Army got the ax. However, when Bartman is laid up in bed one day with the flu, a swarm of mutated super-intelligent bees seized the opportunity to enslave humanity, which had grown complacent and lazy. Using Professor Frink’s time machine, future Bartman returns and warns his counterpart he has to stop his crime-fighting to save the future. Bartman reluctantly abides.
Bart returns to his normal life as a rash of crimes break out across Springfield, culminating in the appearance of The Censor, “sworn enemy of the lowest common denominator,” who begins disintegrating anything throughout town he finds tacky. He’s about to strike the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s “Tribute to the Music of Infomercials,” when none other than Bartman himself swoops in and unmasks him, revealing Sideshow Bob. Not only that, but Bartman has also deduced it was actually Bob that had presented himself as Bartman of the Future (he ordered the costume from “MacFarlane’s Capes and Cowls”). Bob’s signature giant feet were a dead giveaway and Bart was simply lying in wait, lulling him into a false sense of security before taking down his longtime nemesis for the umpteenth time.
Fans of the show will know that this isn’t the first time Bob’s feet foiled one of his dastardly plots to pull off a crime in disguise – it happened in one of his very first appearances. But with Bob captured, Springfield’s citizens are once again safe under the watchful gaze of Bartman. Except probably for Gil. That dude just can’t catch a break.
