Editing Life in Hell

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{For|the song by Megadeth|The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!}}
{{Short description|Comic strip}}
{{Infobox comic strip
|title= Life in Hell
|image= [[File:Life-in-Hell-No-4.jpg|200px]]
|caption= Cover of ''Life in Hell'' No. 4, published in 1978
|author= [[Matt Groening]]
|url= 
|rss= 
|atom= 
|status= Ended
|syndicate= [[Copley Press|Copley News Service]]
|publisher= 
|first= 1977
|last= 2012
|genre= [[Black comedy]], [[gag-a-day]], [[satire]]
|rating= 
|preceded by= 
|followed by= 
}}
'''''Life in Hell''''' is a [[comic strip]] by [[Matt Groening]] that was published weekly from 1977 to 2012. Its main characters include [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] rabbits and a [[Homosexuality|gay]] couple. The comic covers a wide range of subjects, such as love, sex, work, and death, and explores themes of angst, social alienation, self-loathing, and fear of inevitable doom.

''Life in Hell'' caught the attention of producer [[James L. Brooks]], who resultantly hired Groening to create animated shorts for ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]''. Groening was unwilling to use his ''Life in Hell'' characters for the gig, instead creating [[Simpson family|the cast of characters]] that would go on to feature in the [[animated sitcom]] ''[[The Simpsons]]''.

==History==
[[File:Matt Groening by Gage Skidmore -retouch.jpg|thumb|left|[[Matt Groening]] created ''Life in Hell'' to describe life in Los Angeles to his friends.]]
''Life in Hell'' started in 1977 as a [[self-publishing|self-published]] comic book Groening used to describe life in Los Angeles to his friends.<ref name="salon"/> It was inspired by his move to the city that year; in an interview with ''[[Playboy (magazine)|Playboy]]'', Groening commented on his arrival: "I got [to [[Los Angeles]]] on a Friday night in August; it was about a hundred and two [[Fahrenheit|degrees]]; my car broke down in the fast lane of the [[Hollywood Freeway]] while I was listening to a drunken DJ who was giving his last program on a local rock station and bitterly denouncing the station's management. And then I had a series of lousy jobs."<ref name=Ortved>{{cite book|last=Ortved|first=John|title=The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History |chapter=The Matt Groening Show|year=2009|publisher=Greystone Books|isbn=978-1-55365-503-9|pages=11–26}}</ref> In the comic book, Groening attacked what many young adults found repellent: school, work, and love. He described it as "every ex-campus protester's, every [[Baby boomers|Boomer]] idealist's, conception of what adult existence in the '80s had turned out to be."<ref name=Ortved/>

Groening photocopied and distributed the magazines to friends, and also sold them for two dollars a copy<ref name=Ortved/> at the [[punk subculture|punk]] corner of the record store in which he worked, [[Licorice Pizza (store)|Licorice Pizza]] on [[Sunset Boulevard]].<ref name="salon">{{cite web|title=Matt Groening |work=[[Salon.com]] |url=http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/01/30/groening/index.html |last=Chocano |first=Carina |date=January 30, 2001 |access-date=January 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204032744/http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/01/30/groening/index.html |archive-date=February 4, 2007 }}</ref> These magazines contained comic strips, comedy sketches, letters, and photo collages. The magazine covers were humorous as well: the first issue saw Binky, a rabbit-humanoid character, standing in a cloud of smog and declaring, "What you see is what you breathe." Groening also worked other imagery into the covers, such as drawings from [[Jules Verne]]'s books and a photo of his family's living room.

An editor from [[Wet (magazine)|''Wet'']] magazine bought one of the magazines and liked it, and offered Groening a spot in the magazine; soon after, in 1978, ''Life in Hell'' debuted as a [[comic strip]] in the avant-garde ''Wet'', to which Groening made his first professional cartoon sale. The first strip, entitled "Forbidden Words", appeared in the September/October issue.<ref name="bigbook" /> Popular in the [[underground comix|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.<ref name="bigbook">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |chapter=About the Author |title=The Big Book of Hell |year=1990 |publisher=Pantheon Books |location=New York |isbn=0-679-72759-0}}</ref> Then-publisher of the ''Reader'' Jane Levine said Groening arrived at editor-in-chief James Vowell's office one day, showing him his "silly cartoons with the rabbit with one ear." After Groening left, Vowell came out of his office saying, "This guy is gonna be famous someday."<ref name="Ortved" />

The character designs of Akbar and Jeff were, in fact, failed attempts by Groening to draw [[Charlie Brown]]. In a 1999 interview, Groening said that he added Akbar and Jeff to the comic to appease a girlfriend. Early on in the comic, Groening used Binky and his wife to mirror the arguments Groening himself had with this girlfriend. However, she grew irritated with Groening because she felt he was portraying her unfairly. The addition of the twin-like Akbar and Jeff was meant to act as a mask of anonymity to hide who was who in such arguments. According to Groening, however, she still told him, "You think you're Akbar, but you’re really Jeff."{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In a 1991 interview about ''The Simpsons'', Groening said that ''Life in Hell'' was done entirely by himself, describing the comic as "Matt Groening pure and simple," and explained that the strips were often weird or entirely different every week because of however he was feeling at the time of a strip's creation.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In November 1984, Groening's then-girlfriend (and co-worker at the ''Reader''), Deborah Caplan, decided to publish a compilation of Groening's cartoons as a book entitled "Love is Hell".<ref name="loveishell">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |title=Love is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition |chapter=Introduction |year=1994 |publisher=Pantheon Books |location=New York |isbn=0-679-75665-5}}</ref> The book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Caplan had already left her career in advertising sales at the ''Reader'' to manage the Life in Hell Co./Acme Features Syndicate full time, which managed [[print syndication|syndication]] and merchandising for Groening's ''Life in Hell'' cartoons. The gift line included t-shirts, mugs, calendars, and greeting cards.<ref name="latimesmag">{{cite book |last=Morgenstern |first=Joe |author-link=Joe Morgenstern |title=Los Angeles Times Magazine |chapter=Bart Simpson's Real Father |pages=12–18, 20, 22 |date=April 29, 1990}}</ref> With Caplan's management and promotional talents his cartoon went from being published in 11 free weeklies to over 250 papers nationwide. In 1986, after Groening and Caplan had married, they published ''Work is Hell'' plus two calendars, one with cartoonist [[Lynda Barry]]. Matt's books soon drew the attention of Pantheon/Randomhouse, which obtained the rights to distribute the books. In 1989, Life in Hell Cartoon Co/Acme closed its doors.

''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]].<ref name="americasfirstfamily">{{cite video|people=BBC|date=2000|title=The Simpsons: America's First Family (6 minute edit for the season 1 DVD)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250735/|format=DVD|location=UK|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref><ref name="kim">{{cite web|title=Keep 'em Laughing |date=October 1999 |last=Kim |first=John W. |work=Scr(i)pt |url=http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening99d.html |access-date=January 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070526133854/http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening99d.html |archive-date=May 26, 2007 }}</ref> In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of developing a series of short animated [[sketch comedy|skit]]s, called "bumpers", for ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]''. Groening opted to not use the ''Life in Hell'' characters for the shorts, concerned that if the cartoons were not successful it would adversely affect the strip. Instead, Groening created an entirely new batch of characters: [[Simpson family|the Simpsons]].<ref name="avclub06">{{cite web |last1=Rabin |first1=Nathan |title=Matt Groening |url=https://www.avclub.com/matt-groening-1798209542 |website=The AV Club |access-date=19 February 2025 |date=26 April 2006}}</ref>

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 had also made the strip "safe enough for a number of newspapers to print", according to Groening, who said he had not "toned the strip down at all, other than no longer using profanity"<ref name="flux">{{cite web|title=Life in Hell |work=Flux Magazine |url=http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening95.html |last=Paul |first=Alan |date=September 30, 1995 |access-date=January 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208235641/http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening95.html |archive-date=February 8, 2007 }}</ref> as a concession to daily papers that carried the strip.<ref name="motherjones">{{cite web | title=Matt Groening | work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] | url=https://www.motherjones.com/arts/qa/1999/03/groening.html | last=Doherty | first=Brian | date=March–April 1999 | access-date=January 14, 2007}}</ref>

Groening registered the eponymous domain mattgroening.com on December 7, 1998, ostensibly to publish ''Life in Hell'' online; although Groening remarked in 2003 that he planned to eventually add content to the site,<ref name="ojr">{{cite web|url=http://www.ojr.org/ojr/entertainment/1042169162.php |title=Doh! Groening's Guide to Digital Cartooning |date=January 2003 |work=USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026112352/http://www.ojr.org/ojr/entertainment/1042169162.php |archive-date=October 26, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> nothing substantial has ever been posted to it. An index page consisting of an image of Binky captioned "This site is under construction" was in place from 2001 through 2011;<ref>{{cite web |title=MGP |url=http://www.mattgroening.com/ |website=mattgroening.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010721102346/http://www.mattgroening.com/ |archive-date=July 21, 2001}}</ref> since then, the site has simply consisted of generic [[Domain parking|parked domain]] landing pages.

Groening decided in 2007, in the wake of the [[2006 United States elections]], to write "Life Is Swell" above the comic instead of "Life in Hell".<ref name="laweekly">{{cite web | title=Matt Groening: Life is Swell | work=[[LA Weekly]] | url=http://www.laweekly.com/2007-07-19/news/matt-groening-life-is-swell/  | last=Shulman | first=Dave | date=July 19, 2007 | access-date=September 23, 2008}}</ref> Though Groening had previously stated that he would never give up the comic strip,<ref name="tvhost">{{cite web|title=Prime time is heaven for 'Life in Hell' Artist |work=TV Host |url=http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening89.html |last=Leopold |first=Todd |date=December 16, 1989 |access-date=March 23, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102171637/http://snpp.com/other/interviews/groening89.html |archive-date=January 2, 2007 }}</ref> in 2009 he indicated that due to troubling times for print newspapers and constant involvement with ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama'', he would likely one day drop the strip.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news | title=Matt Groening looks to the future | work=CNN | url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/26/matt.groening.futurama/index.html | last=Bergman | first=Erik H. | date=February 26, 2009 | access-date=February 26, 2009}}</ref> Three years later, Groening announced the strip's conclusion and the final new strip ran on June 16, 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-06-19/matt-groening-life-in-hell/55698336/1|title='Life in Hell' is over for cartoonist Matt Groening|author=Graham, Jefferson|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=June 20, 2012|date=June 19, 2012}}</ref> The final strip shows Akbar or Jeff dancing naked, while the other tells him to stop. At the end of the strip he gives up and dances along with him, saying "Well, I tried."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/06/22/matt-groening-and-the-reader-joined-at-the-hip |last=Miner |first=Michael |title=Matt Groening and the ''Reader''&ndash;joined at the hip |website=[[Chicago Reader]] |date=June 22, 2012 |access-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628085511/https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/06/22/matt-groening-and-the-reader-joined-at-the-hip |archive-date=June 28, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Format==
{{cleanup rewrite|section=yes|date=March 2019}}
The strip was published in a perfect square, unlike most Sunday strips which are published in rectangles. Various formats were used for different strip topics. When Akbar and Jeff were discussing love Groening would use four rows of boxes, each row with four in it. Other strips had one large panel, This is based on the way [[Lynda Barry]] made comics when they were in college, and the way it was published originally in the ''Reader''. Atop each strip is the handwritten title "Life in Hell" and "Copyright Matt Groening" and the year it was made. Sometimes the title would be stylized in different fonts, with "This is your" above "Life in Hell," or with alternate spelling's of Groening's name. In the strip "Why men growl" he wrote his name as Matt "Grrrrroening." In "Are you Easily Provoked?" he misspelled his name three times until getting it right and writing "godamnit" underneath. If the strip is cowritten, Groening writes the contributor's name(s) underneath his. Groening sometimes put where he was when he was making the strip, such as Chicago or Portland, underneath his name.

==Characters==
*'''Binky''' is a stressed 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 is usually full of wise old sayings.
*'''Sheba''' is Binky's estranged girlfriend. Her character design is "basically Binky in drag".<ref name="sheba">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |title=The Huge Book of Hell |chapter=Hell For Beginners |page=137 |year=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=0-14-026310-1}}</ref> 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 with 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.<ref name="royale">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |title=Simpsons Comics Royale |chapter=The Secret Life of Lisa Simpson |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomicsro00groe/page/128 128] |year=2001 |publisher=Perennial |location=New York |isbn=0-06-093378-X |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomicsro00groe/page/128 }}</ref> Bongo made an appearance in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "[[Xmas Story]]", where he is seen being sold in a [[pet store|pet shop]]. He also appeared in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Treehouse of Horror XII]]" as one of the rabbits that [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] catches in the trap. He appears in ''The Simpsons'' again in [[The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants|another episode]] as a plush toy in [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]]'s room, though he is called Madam Bunny. He is shown as a plush toy in "[[The Fool Monty]]" where [[Mr. Burns]] is eating it in Bart's closet.  He has a cameo in "[[Simpsorama]]" as one of the rabbit-like creatures rampaging New New York, where he writes on a wall "Crossovers are hell".
*'''Akbar & Jeff''' are described in various strips and interviews as "either brothers or lovers — or both. Whatever offends you most, that’s what they are". In one interview, Groening says they are gay.<ref name="flux"/> They have large noses and wear [[Fez (clothing)|fezzes]] and [[Charlie Brown]]-like striped shirts. They have run numerous businesses over the years, including Akbar & Jeff's Tofu Hut, Akbar & Jeff's Earthquake T-shirt Hut, and Akbar & Jeff's Bootleg "Akbar & Jeff" T-shirt Hut. Like Binky and Sheba, Akbar and Jeff are often used as a generic couple when needed. According to Groening, "the reason why I draw a strip with Akbar and Jeff instead of Binky and Sheba is that I figure that no one can accuse me of trying to score points against men or women if the characters are identical."<ref name="loveishell"/> They have been given cameo appearances in ''The Simpsons'', such as during "[[Homer's Triple Bypass]]", where Homer uses finger puppets resembling the characters to describe his surgery to Bart and Lisa.<ref name=Jean>{{cite video | people=Jean, Al|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
*'''Matt Groening''' appears in the strip as a bearded, bespectacled rabbit. He is also sometimes represented as Binky.
*'''Will and Abe''' are Matt Groening's two sons, represented in rabbit form. They usually talk about vampires, zombies, and other child-fantasy topics.
*'''Snarla''', a cat, is Bongo's classmate and love interest. She bears a resemblance to [[Lisa Simpson]].
*'''[[Bart Simpson]]''', has never spoken—except when he uttered his former catch phrase "Don't have a cow, man!" in a "forbidden words" strip—but is seen in the background of a number of strips.
*'''Mr. Simpson''' is Binky's [[anthropomorphic]] dog boss at his job. His name predates ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
*'''Gooey, Screwy, and Ratatouille''' are Akbar and/or Jeff's triplet nephews.  The names are an obvious spoof of the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] characters [[Huey, Dewey and Louie]] ([[Donald Duck]]'s nephews).

==Recurring jokes and situations==
*'''Fake magazines''' such as "Lonely Tyrant: The magazine for abusive bosses whose employees hate their guts". Stories inside include, "The fine art of the meaningless memo".
*'''The X types of Y:''' The 9 types of college teachers, the 81 types of high school students, the 16 types of brothers, the 9 types of relationships.
*'''How-To Guides:''' Examples include "So You Want to Be an Unrecognized Genius", "How to Be a Clever Film Critic", and "How to Get into the College of Your Choice".
*'''Miniseries'''&nbsp;– A series of strips focusing on a particular theme in a mock textbook manner, such as "School is Hell" and "Love is Hell", both of which have been collected in their entirety in book form.
*'''Akbar & Jeff discussing their relationship'''&nbsp;– Arguably the most common set-up. A 1992 strip, "The Dart Game of Love", was prefaced with "I hope this cartoon pleases you gripers who whined about all those Akbar & Jeff strips where they stared at each other."
*'''Binky attempting to meditate'''
*'''Advertisements for disreputable businesses run by Akbar & Jeff''' such as "Akbar & Jeff's Lucky Psychic Hut".
*'''Bongo locked in a detention room or orphanage''' - Usually, with 1 or 2 pairs of eyes watching him.
*'''Bongo unsatisfied with the huge assortment of presents he has received on Christmas morning'''
*'''Shadow rabbit'''&nbsp;– Binky's looming shadow towers over Bongo, who has clearly committed a crime despite his assurances to the contrary. Several of Bongo's excuses parodied those of politicians, such as "[[Mistakes were made]]". Occasionally there would also be a shadow Akbar & Jeff looming over Bongo and their nephews, or Binky looming over Bongo, Jeff, and Akbar, whom are pointing fingers at each other. One comic showed Bongo's shadow looming over Binky.
*'''Pledge of Allegiance:''' Bongo's class is forced to recite the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]]. Bongo intentionally butchers the Pledge, usually criticizing the government in the process ("and to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] which I can't stand"). One strip, released after the death of musician [[Frank Zappa]] in 1993, has Bongo replacing most of the words of the Pledge with names of Zappa albums ("With [[The Yellow Shark|yellow sharks]] and [[Hot Rats|hot rats]] for all"). The comic would always end with Bongo's teacher angrily leering at him, and often Bongo would be tied to his desk and gagged as punishment.
*'''Forbidden Words'''&nbsp;– An annual compilation of buzzwords used over the past year that Groening has deemed "forbidden". This topic was the first ever comic by Groening, published in 1980. These also appear in ''Simpsons'' annuals.
*'''"How to draw Binky"''' - Often comedic ways on how to draw Binky, usually one of which is drawing randomly with your eyes closed.

==Merchandise and advertising==
After the success of ''Love Is Hell'', Deborah Caplan, later Groening's wife, published ''Work Is Hell'' and two calendars, one in collaboration with cartoonist Lynda Barry. The books caught the attention of Pantheon/Randomhouse who wanted to expand the market for his books to include bookstores nationwide. The Life in Hell Cartoon Co. reserved the right to continue to sell the books to hip novelty and comic book stores along with the line of novelty items the couple had produced over the previous 5 years.

In addition to the books, the comic also spawned T-shirts, sweatshirts, greeting cards, posters,<ref name="latimesmag"/> coffee mugs, and a short-lived newsletter called the "Life in Hell Times".<ref name="whatthehell">{{cite web|author=Romanov, Alexander |title=Rare Life in Hell Merchandise |date=July 27, 2005 |work=What the Hell |url=http://hell.capefeare.com/items.php |access-date=February 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206214505/http://hell.capefeare.com/items.php |archive-date=February 6, 2007 }}</ref>

In the late 1980s, Groening drew several print advertisements for [[Apple Computer]] in the form of ''Life in Hell'' comic strips.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vintagezen.com/zen/2013/2/26/matt-groenings-artwork-for-apple |title=Matt Groening Apple Ad from 1989 |website=vintagezen.com |access-date=August 10, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718102055/http://vintagezen.com/zen/2013/2/26/matt-groenings-artwork-for-apple |archive-date=July 18, 2014 }}</ref>

In 1989, after the birth of their first son, Deborah Caplan Groening and Matt decided to end their business because Deborah wanted to focus on motherhood and Matt was launching his career in television.

At the 2005 [[Comic-Con International|Comic-Con]] in [[San Diego]], a series of deluxe ''Life in Hell'' vinyl figurines manufactured by CritterBox Toys was announced.<ref name="scs">{{cite web | title=Life Is Heaven with Life In Hell Line | date=July 18, 2005 | work=Simpsons Collector Sector | url=http://www.simpsonscollectors.com/news.asp?archive=7/2005/ | access-date=February 10, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716075553/http://www.simpsonscollectors.com/news.asp?archive=7%2F2005%2F | archive-date=July 16, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Binky and Bongo appear as background and enemy characters in the [[The Simpsons (video game)|Simpsons arcade video game]] (coin-op).

===Books===
*1984&nbsp;– ''Love Is Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-394-74454-3}})
*1986&nbsp;– ''Work Is Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-394-74864-6}})
*1987&nbsp;– ''School Is Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-394-75091-8}})
*1988&nbsp;– ''Box Full of Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-679-72111-8}})
*1988&nbsp;– ''Childhood Is Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-679-72055-3}})
*1989&nbsp;– ''Greetings from Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-679-72678-0}})
*1989&nbsp;– ''Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-679-72680-2}})
*1990&nbsp;– ''The Big Book of Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-679-72759-0}})
*1991&nbsp;– ''With Love From Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-06-096583-5}})
*1991&nbsp;– ''How to Go to Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-06-096879-6}})
*1992&nbsp;– ''The Road to Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-06-096950-4}})
*1994&nbsp;– ''Binky's Guide to Love''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-06-095078-1}})
*1994&nbsp;– ''Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-679-75665-5}})
*1997&nbsp;– ''The Huge Book of Hell''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-14-026310-1}})
*2007&nbsp;– ''Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe''&nbsp;– ({{ISBN|0-06-134037-5}})

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101127175912/http://snpp.com/guides/lifeinhell.html ''Life In Hell'' References On The Simpsons]
*[http://toonopedia.com/lifenhel.htm ''Life In Hell''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527120444/https://www.webcitation.org/6bCQLBEPZ?url=http://toonopedia.com/lifenhel.htm Archived] from the original on August 31, 2015.

{{Matt Groening}}

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