Matt Groening , creator of The Simpsons has also been drawing the comic “Life In Hell,” for 32 years, now he has announced that the comic strip is over.
The strip, which involves crudely drawn rabbits Binky, Sheba, and Bongo, as well as their gay pals Akbar and Jeff, never got as big as The Simpsons , saw its end last week, according to Rolling Stone.
Considering the new season of Futurama begins on June 20th, and that The Simpsons has seen more than 500 episodes, it’s no wonder Groening is throwing in the towel.
The New York Times reports that the creator stated:
“I’ve had great fun, in a Sisyphean kind of way…but the time has come to let Binky and Sheba and Bongo and Akbar and Jeff take some time off.”
Rolling Stone sat down to interview Groening at the conclusion of his comic strip, which has seen 1,669 installments. They asked The Simpsons creator what drove him to keep drawing the comic week after week. He stated:
“Actually, a TV producer sneered at the strip and said, “Why do you bother? Give it up.” Because of that, I dug in my heels and kept it going two decades longer than I might have. I also liked the idea of having one slice of my creative output being completely solo, unlike TV animation. It’s very satisfying to sit down at a drawing table by yourself and solve a puzzle with a deadline.”
Groening also recalled that, while the “Life In Hell” was in 38 papers at its conclusion, it was in as many as 250 at its height, according to Rolling Stone. He stated:
“I remember walking down Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles with Gary Panter one day, and both of us being thrilled when we saw our strips soaking in the gutter. We were part of the landscape!”
Did you read Matt Groening’s “Life In Hell?” Are you sad it is ending?
