Cartoonists memorialize the end of Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" strip

[eridani]

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/10/matt_groening_s_life_in_hell_a_tribute_in_comics_by_alison_bechdel_tom_tomorrow_and_others_.html

This past June, after 1,669 installments (and down to only 38 papers, amid the smoking wreckage that was once the alternative press), Matt Groening put an end to one the funniest and most caustic comic strips ever. To commemorate the dearly departed strip, 22 of Groening’s cartoonist friends, admirers, and sycophants decided to pay tribute. The comic strips below are a few that were assembled for a poster by the Center for Cartoon Studies and presented to Groening this week by the cartoonist and Simpsons producer, Tom Gammill.

When you create a superb, enduring television series you receive multiple Emmy awards and become rich. When you create a superb, enduring alternative weekly comic strip you get the admiration of your fellow cartoonists. And a poster!

[WCGreen]

1. I wrote for an alternative rag here in Cleveland for about 2.5 years in the late 90's...

It was a lot of fun and I learn so much from the people I worked with...

I remember reading Life in Hell from almost the beginning. In the early 80's, there were two Alt weeklies. I miss those days.

[knitter4democracy]

3. Hey, which one?

I lived there and read the alt weekly faithfully every week from 1997-2001. I probably read your stuff!

[Cooley Hurd]

2. My favorite from Jen Sorensen:

[progressoid]

4. Heh. We still have Futurama

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

5. There is literally no comparison to Matt Groening...

Thomas Nast?
Charlies Schultz?

Maybe a close second would be the combined work of Tex Avery and Bob McKimson (Looney Tunes).

But for creativity, longevity and fuck-you-if-you-don't-think-it's-funny, there's not equal to Groening.

[Kolesar]

6. Remember how intricate his cartoons from the 1980s were?

He had all these complicated stories and "bullet items".