When I picked up my books this week I wasn't really planning on drawing comparisons between the Simpsons and The Boys: Herogasm...but anything can happen in comics. Both books are parodies of crossover events, both take shots at Final Civil Secret Crisis Invasion (yeah I don't like that I said it either but it's what we do now right?) but one is a well written, educated and satirical look at huge line-wide events and the other is The Boys: Herogasm.

Ok obviously I take to this review with the knowledge that comparing these books is like comparing apples and snuff films. However, I must say that taken for what they're worth the Simpsons was much more enjoyable than Herogasm-and not just because I didn't have to shower afterwards.

Radioactive Man sales are dropping and the company, now owned by Krusty (why not?), is attempting to rejuvinate sales. Fans, such as Bart, Milhouse and Martin, are tired and suffering from a major case of event fatigue. The company (which they never name) vows to take the books in a new direction, one that is both shocking and familiar. The media, Kent Brockman, gets a hold of this news and create an overblown sensation that leads to a veritable frenzied atmosphere at The Androids Dungeon. (I guess that paragraph constitutes a spoiler warning?)

This issue is filled with self-referential winks and nods but they're done in a way that is actually humorus and doesn't come off as simple pandering. Among the allusions are an awesome blue and white Radioactive Man costume, the alien race known as the Krullers and an awesome Bane-like character snapping RM's back.

This book is fun, smart, amusing and it's only 2.99. It's more bang for your satirical buck than Garth Ennis' --please insert your own joke about the Boys and banging or words that rhyme with buck.