The "A Springfield Christmas Carol" from 2000's "Simpsons Comics" #52 is another quick, wacky take on Charles Dickens's venerable story.
I think this is the closest the Simpsons franchise has ever come to a straight-up parody of the story, but it quickly goes off the rails!
I like how the framing story goes back to "The Front," which was the 19th episode of the fourth season of the TV series back in 1993. That was seven years before this comic book story and the series at the time was already in its twelfth season and that was 20 years ago! Kind of mind-boggling!
That memorable episode had Grampa Simpson taking credit for an "Itchy & Scratchy" cartoon that was actually written by Bart and Lisa.
Rather than Marley's Ghost, C. Montgomery Scrooge is visited by Homer's little pal Ozmodiar, the Great Gazoo homage(?) first seen in episode 24 from the eighth season, "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" from 1997.
And Ozmodiar squares off against Smilin' Joe Fission, who first appeared way back in "Homer's Odyssey," the third episode of Season One! I see him as a take-off on the Reddy Kilowatts of the world.
The back cover of the comic book features a spot-on take-off of the ubiquitous Evel Kneivel toy ads from the 1970s featuring Lance Murdock from "Bart the Daredevil" (Season 2, Episode 8):
Lots of fun for Simpsons fans!
Next up: The best Simpsons/Scrooge mash-up!
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