In the first comic, "Somewhere Over The Brain-bow!," The Planet Express crew are on their way to deliver all of Earth's comic books to the living planet of Nerdanus XII to be stored in peak condition for all of eternity. What the crew doesn't realize is that it is under invasion from the floating brain race and when the crew attempts to stop the evildoers, they are zapped into an issue of The Simpsons comic book. This story spills into the first Crisis book's second chapter, "Liquid Diamond is Forever!" as Fry tries to break his friends out of their odd roles and get back to their own universe. For those familiar with Futurama, you will remember that Fry is the only human who is too stupid to be affected by the alien brain powers, so he is the only one who remembers who he is. The rest of the crew end up with amnesia and attempt to integrate themselves into Springfield daily life.
With the help of Bart, Fry is able to gather everyone together and finally break through the interdenominational barrier, but in doing so, the rest of The Simpsons cast end up spilling out and into the Futurama universe. Apparently, this is where the story was supposed to stop, but later, the creators of the crossover comic continued the story and brought it up to a whole new level with the two issues, "Slaves of New New York!" and "The Read Menace!" where it is declared that fictional characters (i.e. the ones from The Simpsons) have no rights and can be sold into slavery. With this, each of the characters from the 20+ season long show find a new home in various Futurama locations.
The problem grows though when the device that let loose the fictional characters gets tossed into the New New York Public Library and every literary character ever created spills into the streets and attempts to take over the universe. Overall, these four comics are great, and would be worth the price of admission alone, but The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis book still has more to offer.
There are two The Simpsons comics referenced in the crossover story, one where Lisa's cat, Snowball II, ends up running for mayor and one that shows Chief Wiggum's side of the classic "Merciless Peppers of Quetzlzacatenango" story where Homer eats a pepper so hot he goes on a spirit quest. Apparently Wiggum has his own vision involving Ralph's Wiggle Dog character. To top it all off, there are a dozen or so pages of sketches leading up to various pages of the comic, pages for the cover art, artwork inspired by The Simpsons and Futurama, as well as a reprint of the first Bongo Simpsons Comics issue - which actually plays a vital role in the Crossover Comic event.
The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis graphic novel book is perfect for fans of The Simpsons and Futurama. Not only is the book packed with tons of added content, but the stories themselves just ring true to the original shows. This is simply a must buy for any Matt Groening fan out there.
