CHICAGO - Aye Carumba!

Marge Simpson has done something that Homer might not like but will make Bart the proudest kid in his school: She has posed for Playboy.

After more than a half century featuring women like Marilyn Monroe, Cindy Crawford and the girls of Hooters on its cover, the magazine has for the first time given the spot to a cartoon character.

And the magazine is giving the star of "The Simpsons" the star treatment, complete with a data sheet, an interview and a 2-page centerfold.

The magazine's editorial director, James Jellinek, won't say exactly how much of Marge will show in the November edition that hits newsstands on Oct. 16 - or whether she lets that big pile of blue hair down. But, he said, "It's very, very racy."

"She is a stunning example of the cartoon form," he said yesterday.

For Playboy, which has seen its circulation slip from 3.15 million to 2.6 million since 2006, putting Marge on the cover was designed to attract younger readers while not alienating older readers.