Everything about Life In Hell totally explained
Life in Hell is a weekly
comic strip by
Matt Groening. The strip features
anthropomorphic rabbits and a pair of
gay lovers. Groening uses these characters to explore a wide range of topics about love, sex, work, and death. His drawings are full of expressions of
angst,
alienation,
self-loathing, and fear of inevitable .
History
Life in Hell started in 1977 as a
self-published comic book Groening used to describe life in
Los Angeles to his friends. Groening
photocopied and distributed it in a small "
punk" corner of the record store in which he worked,
Licorice Pizza on
Sunset Boulevard.
Life in Hell debuted as a
comic strip in the avant-garde
Wet magazine in 1978, to which Groening made his first professional cartoon sale. The first strip, entitled "Forbidden Words", appeared in the September/October issue. Popular in the
underground,
Life in Hell was picked up by the
Los Angeles Reader (an alternative weekly newspaper where Groening also worked as a typesetter, editor, paste-up artist and music critic) in 1980, where it began appearing weekly.
The strip was frequently a
serial, discussing various topics such as "Love is Hell", a 1984 "13-chapter miniseries" pontificating on love and relationships. In November of that year, Groening's then-girlfriend (and co-worker at the
Reader) Deborah Caplan offered to
publish "Love is Hell" in book form. The book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left the
Reader and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled
syndication and
merchandising for Groening’s projects.
Life in Hell reached the attention of
Hollywood producer James L. Brooks, who received one strip — "The Los Angeles Way of Death" from 1982 — as a gift from fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of developing a series of short
animated skits, called "bumpers", for
The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks had wanted Groening to adapt his
Life in Hell characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights to his
characters, Groening instead created an entirely new batch of characters,
the Simpsons.
As television began to place more demands on his time, however, Groening came to almost exclusively feature single-panel strips or 16-panel grids in which Akbar and Jeff exchange terse jabs. This later period also saw the increase of
autobiographical strips, perhaps because Groening was influenced by this burgeoning trend in
alternative comics.
Television has also made the strip "safe enough for a number of newspapers to print", according to Groening, who claims that he hasn't "toned the strip down at all, other than no longer using
profanity" as a concession to daily papers that carry the strip.
On
December 7,
1998 Groening registered the domain
mattgroening.com
to publish
Life in Hell online; however, the Web site has remained in its "under construction" state since then, although Groening insists he'll "get around to it ... [whenhe's] ready to wade in on a regular basis."
Groening has stated that he'll "never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation."
Recurring characters
- Binky is a bitter, depressed and thus "normal" rabbit and star of the cartoon. He usually embodies dread and alienation. Binky is usually stuck in a dead end job, has a bad apartment and regularly sees a therapist. Binky usually is full of wise old sayings.
Sheba is Binky's estranged girlfriend. Appearance-wise, she's "basically Binky in drag." Binky and Sheba met at a coffee shop in a 1981 storyline, and are often used as a generic couple whenever Groening needs one.
Bongo is Binky's illegitimate son, the product of a drunken night of "jungle passion." He was introduced in a 1983 storyline in which his mother, Hulga, left him to Binky so she could seek her fortune in New York. Bongo's defining physical attribute is his one ear, which Groening admits is solely so that the casual viewer can tell him apart from Binky.
Akbar & Jeff are described in various strips and interviews as "brothers or lovers...and possibly both". In one interview, Groening says they're gay. There is also an annual calendar.
In the late 1980s, Groening drew several print advertisements for Apple Computer in the form of Life in Hell comic strips.
At the 2005 Comic-Con in San Diego, a series of deluxe Life in Hell vinyl figurines manufactured by CritterBox Toys was announced.
Books
1986 - Love is Hell - (ISBN 0-394-74454-3)
1986 - Work is Hell - (ISBN 0-394-74864-6)
1987 - School is Hell - (ISBN 0-394-75091-8)
1988 - Box Full of Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72111-8)
1988 - Childhood is Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72055-3)
1989 - Greetings from Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72678-0)
1989 - Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life - (ISBN 0-679-72680-2)
1990 - The Big Book of Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72759-0)
1991 - With Love From Hell - (ISBN 0-06-096583-5)
1991 - How to Go to Hell - (ISBN 0-06-096879-6)
1992 - The Road to Hell - (ISBN 0-06-096950-4)
1994 - Binky's Guide to Love - (ISBN 0-06-095078-1)
1994 - Love is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition - (ISBN 0-679-75665-5)
1997 - The Huge Book of Hell - (ISBN 0-14-026310-1)
2007 - Will and Abe's Guide To The Universe - (ISBN 0061340375)Further Information
Get more info on 'Life In Hell'.
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