Before the yellow skin of The Simpsons or the intergalactic delivery mishaps of Futurama, there was just a rabbit. A very depressed, very anxious, and very relatable rabbit named Binky. Life in Hell by Matt Groening didn't start in a high-tech animation studio with a million-dollar budget. It started in 1977 as a self-published, photocopied zine that Groening sold in the corner of a record store. It was raw. It was jagged. Honestly, it was a little bit mean, and that’s exactly why people couldn’t stop reading it.
You’ve probably seen the characters—Binky, his estranged girlfriend Sheba, the illegitimate one-eared son Bongo, and the fez-wearing, identical roommates Akbar and Jeff. They weren't heroes. They were just struggling to survive the soul-crushing weight of work, love, and existence in Los Angeles.
The Underground Roots of a Cartoon Empire
Most people think Matt Groening just fell into success with the Tracy Ullman shorts. Not even close. Life in Hell by Matt Groening was a grind. He was working at the Los Angeles Reader, doing everything from delivery to typesetting, and the strip was his way of venting about how much he hated his life. He wasn't trying to be the "King of Animation." He was just trying to pay rent without losing his mind.
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By the time the strip hit the big time in the 1980s, it was syndicated in over 250 weekly newspapers. This was the era of the "alternative weekly," those free papers you'd find in coffee shops that carried the stuff the New York Times wouldn't touch. Groening was writing about things that just weren't in the funny pages. He wasn't doing "Garfield" jokes about lasagna. He was writing "The 9 Types of Bosses" and "The 12 Stages of a Relationship," and they were terrifyingly accurate.
Binky and the Existential Dread
Binky is the heart of the strip. He’s a generic rabbit, but he’s basically every person who has ever felt stuck in a dead-end job. He’s anxious. He’s exploited. In one of the most famous strips, "Work is Hell," Groening breaks down the reality of employment with a cynicism that feels even more relevant in today's gig economy than it did in 1985.
Bongo, the one-eared son, represented the vulnerability of childhood. He was often seen in a cage or chained up, which sounds dark—because it was. Groening used these characters to explore the trauma of growing up and the weird, often cruel expectations adults place on kids. It was a precursor to the rebellious spirit of Bart Simpson, but without the "Eat my shorts" catchphrases to soften the blow.
Why Akbar and Jeff Changed Everything
Then there’s Akbar and Jeff. They look identical. They wear fezes and striped shirts. Are they brothers? Lovers? Best friends? Groening famously kept it vague, once saying they were "whatever is most offensive to you." This was groundbreaking for a comic strip in the early 80s.
They ran various businesses, all of which were scams or doomed to fail—Akbar and Jeff’s Tofu Hut, Akbar and Jeff’s Boot Camp. They fought constantly, yet they were inseparable. Through them, Groening explored the absurdity of modern consumerism and the friction of human relationships. Their dialogue was often a repetitive, cyclical argument that captured the frustration of living with someone you love but can't stand.
The Art of the "How-To" Strip
One of the defining features of Life in Hell by Matt Groening was the "How-To" format. He didn't always use traditional panels. Sometimes, the whole strip was just a list of cynical advice.
- Love is Hell: This became a best-selling book for a reason. It dissected the honeymoon phase, the inevitable decline, and the bitter aftermath with surgical precision.
- School is Hell: This one resonated with every kid who felt like the education system was a prison.
- Work is Hell: As mentioned, this was the anthem for the disgruntled office worker.
These weren't just jokes; they were survival guides for the disillusioned. Groening had this way of making you feel less alone in your misery. If Binky was miserable, and you were miserable, then maybe being miserable was just part of the human (or rabbit) condition.
The Connection to The Simpsons
It’s impossible to talk about this strip without mentioning the yellow family in Springfield. In 1987, James L. Brooks approached Groening about turning Life in Hell by Matt Groening into animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show.
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Groening panicked.
He realized that if he used Binky and the gang, he’d have to give up the rights to his characters. He didn't want to lose his "hell." So, while waiting in the lobby of Brooks' office, he famously sketched out a new set of characters based on his own family members: Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie, and a bratty kid named Bart.
Even though the characters changed, the DNA stayed the same. The anti-authoritarian streak, the satire of American institutions, and the deep-seated skepticism of "the system" all migrated from the black-and-white panels of the comic strip into the vibrant world of The Simpsons. If you look at early episodes of The Simpsons, they have a much darker, grittier tone that feels very much like a Life in Hell leftover.
The End of an Era
Groening kept the strip going for a remarkably long time. He didn't stop until 2012. Think about that. For 35 years, he kept this alt-comic alive while simultaneously running the most successful sitcom in history. The final strip featured Binky, alone, walking into the distance. It wasn't a grand finale. It was quiet. It was a little sad. It was perfect.
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People sometimes ask if the strip is still relevant. Honestly? Probably more now than ever. The themes of feeling like a cog in a machine, the complexity of weird relationships, and the general sense that the world is a bit of a dumpster fire haven't gone anywhere. We’re all still Binky, just with better smartphones.
How to Experience Life in Hell Today
If you’re tired of the polished, corporate feel of modern animation, going back to the source material is a palette cleanser. It reminds you that great art doesn't need 3D rendering or a massive writers' room. It just needs a pen, some paper, and a very honest look at how much life can suck.
- Track down the original collections: Books like Love is Hell, Work is Hell, and The Big Book of Hell are still widely available. They collect the best runs of the strip.
- Look for the "How to Go to Hell" posters: These were staples in college dorm rooms for decades. They are basically infographics of despair, and they are brilliant.
- Analyze the early Simpsons "Life in Hell" cameos: Keep an eye out for Binky posters or dolls in the background of early Simpsons episodes. It’s a fun Easter egg hunt for fans.
- Compare the satire: Read a "Work is Hell" strip and then watch a Season 2 episode of The Simpsons. You’ll see the exact moment where the underground cynicism met mainstream comedy.
The legacy of Life in Hell by Matt Groening isn't just that it birthed a TV empire. It’s that it gave a voice to the losers, the weirdos, and the chronically frustrated. It proved that you could be funny and depressing at the exact same time, which, when you think about it, is basically the definition of being alive.
Go find an old copy of The Big Book of Hell. Read it in a dive bar or a quiet corner of a library. It’ll make you feel better about feeling bad. That’s the magic of the rabbit. Even in hell, there’s something worth laughing at.
Next Steps for the Budding Collector:
Start by picking up The Big Book of Hell. It’s a massive compendium that covers the majority of the strip's most influential years. From there, look into the 1980s back issues of the LA Reader or the Village Voice in digital archives to see how the strips were originally presented next to era-specific advertisements and news—it provides a fascinating context for Groening's burgeoning world-view.