Cartoonists Mashing Up ‘Akira’ And ‘The Simpsons’ In ‘Bartkira’ Art Jam

If you've ever thought, "I like The Simpsons well enough, but I wish it had more psychic superpowers and people's arms being shot off," artists Ryan Humphrey and James Harvey have the mash-up comic for you: Bartkira.

After seeing Humphrey's initial drawings mashing up The Simpsons and Akira, Harvey decided that an art jam was in order. By his estimation, if 468 artists join in, working at five pages each, they can re-create all six volumes of the original Akira manga using characters from The Simpsons.

"Milhouse is Kaneda. Lisa is Kei. Bart is Tetsuo. Let's do it," Harvey wrote in his Tumblr post announcing the idea. He added that he has a list of which Akira characters match up with specific Simpsons counterparts, though volunteering artists will get some say-so in who portrays the minor players.

Addressing the legality of the project, Harvey says the project's non-profit, crowdsourced origins, as well as the parodical nature of the idea, ought to keep it on the safe side of the law. "If not, let's do it anyway," he wrote. "I'll take the rap."

Interested artists can contact Harvey at bartkiracommittee@gmail.com.