How to Go to Hell [Paperback]

Matt Groening (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1991

Find out how in the hell to get to Hell in Matt Groening's indispensable collection of comic strips on which 'The Simpsons' was based. This handy compendium of creepy cartoons won't pay your taxes, bring you true love, or help you achieve nirvana, but it will help you cope with the hell we call life with a few more giggles and snorts. With dozens of hints for the hellbound, this sizzling smorgasbord of a book featuring Blinky, Bongo, Sheba, Akbar and Jeff is just the thing if you're in Hell, from Hell, going to Hell or hellbent. Life in Hell was the syndicated newspaper cartoon strip by Matt Groening which ran in the States during the 80s and early 90s. Asked to turn the characters into TV animation, Groening instead developed The Simpsons, retaining many of the characteristics of Binky, Bongo, Sheba, Jeff and Akbar in the series. In a world where The Simpsons and Futurama are as popular as ever, these hellish cartoons featuring Matt Groening's zany brand of comic genius are simply gold dust.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"America's sharpest cartoon strip" Observer "Hilarious, wise and subversive" Newsday "No other cartoonist these days is more fatalistic -- or funnier" Booklist "The jokes hit too close to home" LA Times "Groening's wit is double-edged, cutting ferociously from hilarity to painful, recognizable truth" Saturday Review "Funniest, most sneakily radical strip in the country" Village Voice --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Matt Groening is the genius behind 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama'. Which says it all really. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Perennial; First Edition first Printing edition (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060968796
• ISBN-13: 978-0060968793
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 8.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matt Groening, creator and executive producer of Fox's Emmy Award®-winning series The Simpsons, made television history by bringing animation back to primetime and creating an immortal nuclear family. The Simpsons is the longest running primetime animated series in television history and is currently the longest-running comedy on television, having aired more than 400 episodes. In July 2007, the highly anticipated feature film The Simpsons Movie opened in theaters with worldwide grosses of more than $525 million to date.

Originally brought to life in 1987 for The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons was Groening's amazing entry into the television animation world. Previously, he was best-known for his "Life in Hell" cartoon strip, an irreverent portrayal of love, work, school, life and relationships that currently appears in more than 250 newspapers worldwide and in a multitude of books.

Groening's other Emmy-Award®-winning creation, Futurama, launched on Fox in March 1999 and ran for five seasons. Last year Fox released the direct-to-DVD full-length original feature Futurama: Bender's Big Score. Three additional films will be released and the entire series with new episodes will air on Comedy Central this year.

In 1993, Groening formed Bongo Comics Group, where he serves as publisher of The Simpsons Library of Wisdom, Simpsons Episode Guides, Simpsons Comics, Bart Simpson Comics, Radioactive Man Comics, Simpsons Comics Treasure Trove, the annual Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror, Futurama Comics, more than 36 comic compilations, as well as instant classics including Bart Simpsons Guide to Life, The Simpsons Handbook, and The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album among others!

In addition to the many awards bestowed on his creations (including Emmys, Annies, and the prestigious Peabody Award), Groening was personally honored with the Rueben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, the highest honor presented by the National Cartoonist Society. To date there are more than 14 million copies of books from HarperCollins in print throughout North America, the UK, and Australia based on The Simpsons, Futurama, and Life in Hell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars funny adventures with Binky, Akbar & Jeff, July 23, 2000

By 

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Go to Hell (Paperback)

Who doesn't love Matt Groening? Long before I ever saw the first episode of "The Simpsons," I was reading the "Life is Hell" cartoon by Groening in a local weekly paper. Campy and dryly hilarious most of the time, and occaisionally drop-dead funny material.

I've got this book on my coffee table. The whimsical drawing style of Groening is adorable and humorous to look at w/o even reading the voice bubbles and captions. As much as I enjoy thumbing through this book once in a while, I didn't find any one cartoon that made me laugh outloud... it was more of an intellectual, "now -that's- funny!" that I would say to myself... but still insightful cartoons. I already had "Love is Hell" which made me laugh outloud consistently... this book is not in par with that one on the laugh meter, but it is in intelligence.