"Life in Hell" now "Life is Swell"?
Charles Brubaker
"Life is Swell"?
D. D. Degg
> So, it's Matt Groening's offbeat comic "Life in Hell" now retitled
> "Life is Swell"?
Apparently so, didn't know that.
Thought maybe he was just goofing on the title,
but it appears to be a permanent change.
Happened early 2007.
From an July 2007 L.A.Weekly interview:
“By the way,” Groening says, “no one has noticed this, but if you look
in the upper left-hand corner of my comic strip, it no longer says
Life in Hell.”
“What does it say?”
“Life Is Swell.”
“No it doesn’t.”
“Yes it does. I changed it in 2007.”
“In the large type?”
“In my little Japanese calligraphy pen which I misuse to make that
scribbly look. It says Life Is Swell. Why? Well, I got sick of the
word ‘hell’ as a comedy term about 15 years ago. But it was my
trademark, my thing. So I was looking for a positive election in which
I would change the name. I even put it in the strip. I can’t remember
which election it was — Gore or Kerry — but I said, ‘If the election
turns out the way I want it to, I will change the name of the strip to
Life Is Swell.’ Then I kept it Hell until after the 2006 election. I
thought, ‘Okay, I’m happy enough with the midterms, so I’ll change it
in 2007.’ Like I said, nobody notices. I just think ‘swell’ is a funny
word.”
http://www.laweekly.com/2007-07-19/news/matt-groening-life-is-swell/
It doesn't get on the 'net regularly but here's
a sample of the strip from Spring 2007:
http://gaurangakishore.blogspot.com/2007/03/life-is-swell-comic-by-matt-groening.html
What the heck, a little Groening background...
BORN Matthew Abram Groening, 15 February 1954, Portland, Oregon.
EARLY LIFE After an unspectacular school career, he attended Evergreen
State College, Washington, where he edited the college newspaper and
contributed cartoons. Moved to Los Angeles, aged 23, and produced a
comic book for his friends called "Life in Hell", describing his life
in LA.
CAREER "Life in Hell" debuted in Wet magazine in 1978 and now appears
as a strip in 200 newspapers worldwide. In 1987, producer James L
Brooks offered Groening a short animation slot on The Tracey Ullman
Show and The Simpsons was born. The family was given its own show in
1989. It is now the most watched TV show on the planet. In March 1999,
Groening's show Futurama, about a delivery company in the year 3000,
was launched.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/matt-groening-cartoon-hero-458106.html
D.D.Degg