The flexible comic nature of The Simpsons means the producers of the series have gotten the chance to have fun with all kinds of characters, concepts and genres, but one of the best superhero parodies the series ever did deserves to be reapproached -- especially given how big superheroes have become in culture. The Simpsons needs to bring back "Treehouse of Horror's" crime-fighting duo, Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl.

The Simpsons has made multiple superhero parodies over the years, with one segment of the annual "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween-anthology being dedicated to a version of Bart and Lisa who became major heroes in their own right. The middle segment of Season 11's "Treehouse of Horror X" was "Desperately Xeeking Xena," written by then-Simpsons staff writer Tim Long. Taking place on Halloween, the short imagines a world where an out-of-control x-ray machine accidentally bombards Bart and Lisa with energy, giving them both superpowers. Bart gains the ability to stretch his body like Mister Fantastic, while Lisa gains incredible strength and endurance.

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The pair dub themselves Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl and openly become superheroes. There's no hint of the pair trying to hide their identities, with the rest of Springfield Elementary witnessing their transformation and the first use of their powers. During a montage of their heroic partnership, the pair are shown fighting bank robbers and taking down Nazis, as well as former world leaders. The two are even respected enough to be honored by the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton. The short primarily focuses on their most recent battle with the Collector -- the supervillain alter-ego of Comic Book Guy, who has tried to kidnap people to add to his massive collection of nerd culture figures.

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The pair rush after him once he's kidnapped actress Lucy Lawless, intending to trap her in his dungeon. The two heroes confront him but are defeated and captured, and the Collector almost kills them by dipping them into molten Lucite plastic, only for Lawless to trick him into falling into the Lucite himself. Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl are a light-hearted parody of superheroes within The Simpsons universe, teasing multiple elements of nerd culture.

The two heroes haven't appeared again in The Simpsons cartoon, but they were characters in The Simpsons Super Spectacular comic series, which focused on superhero stories with Simpsons characters and concepts. Stretch Dude even got the chance to participate in his own Spider-Verse-like storyline where he and two alternate versions of Bart -- Bartman and the Cupcake Kid -- teamed up. However, it would be interesting to see a new incarnation of the duo's adventures in a future "Treehouse of Horror" short, especially considering how superheroes have transformed into one of the chief elements in modern pop culture.

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