I was always partial to his "Wendy Whitebread".

It is almost impossible to categorize the work of Don Simpson into a simple description like “outlandish parody” or “serious superhero comics.” His comics have ranged from the relentless humor of Megaton Man to hard science fiction in Border Worlds, with notable dips into straight superheroes and even underground/erotic comics. Instead of keeping all of these disparate comics separate, Simpson has decided to bring them all together into one “universe” with Bizarre Heroes, a self-published monthly comic.

Bizarre Heroes is one of the few comics published today that recognizes the inherent fun of superheroes. The comic features Megaton Man, Simpson’s most well-known hero, as well as a cast of unforgettable characters like X-Ray Boy (who got his powers from a pair of novelty X-ray specs), the Phantom Jungle Girl (who could have been pulled from a ’50s adventure comic), and the Meddler (a mysterious character shrouded in bandages and a cape).

The main plotline of Simpson’s new comic springs from a one-shot comic published in 1990 by Kitchen Sink called, oddly enough, Bizarre Heroes. Basically, Simpson’s heroes must overcome Project Mainstream, an evil plot to take over the world with an army of superpowered “megaclones” who are superior to their human counterparts. While the heroes of Simpson’s universe may eventually overcome the evil clones, Simpson states that “they won’t be able to get rid of them all. It’s sort of an underlying theme that there will always be these bad guys out there that will periodically ‘break out.’ I’ve intentionally left the identities of a lot of the clones unknown.”

Simpson has united his characters under one common story, but assembling all of them is not as simple as it sounds. One of the most difficult things for Simpson to resolve with Bizarre Heroes is the difference between his serious superheroes like the Meddler and the Slick and the not-so-serious Megaton Man and Yarn Man. “I can almost date them: The Slick and the Meddler come from junior high school, and Megaton Man came in the early ’80s when I had outgrown super-heroes. For me, it’s neat to have characters I created in high school. There’s less of a parody feel to it than some of the older stuff has. It’s a genuine affection for the superhero myth.”

Simpson relates that with Megaton Man, “I was trying to parody and ridicule superhero comics and exaggerate them. I thought I was being very iconoclastic, but the thing that I’ve discovered is that the whole superhero style today has sort of gone so far beyond what I was making fun of.” Simpson is inspired by the smooth and efficient comic art from classic superhero comics, but he feels that “today’s style has a techno, hard-edged feel. I just can’t do that. I do this kind of brushy, old-fashioned-looking stuff that harkens back to the early ’70s. So, people can’t really tell if I’m being serious or not when I draw.”

I got as far as the first issue and no further with it. I did love the art, so I'll give it another try. The story did seem weird, but not as well-structured as Megaton Man or Border Worlds. I think you're right to say he was kind of just winging it.