| Life in Hell | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Life in Hell No. 4, published in 1978 | |
| Author(s) | Matt Groening |
| Current status/schedule | Ended |
| Launch date | 1977 |
| End date | 2012 |
| Syndicate(s) | Copley News Service |
| Genre(s) | Black comedy, gag-a-day, satire |
Life in Hell is a comic strip by Matt Groening that was published weekly from 1977 to 2012. Its main characters include anthropomorphic rabbits and a 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. The Simpsons began development as an animated adaptation for a segment of The Tracey Ullman Show, before Groening decided to adapt his character archetypes as original characters to avoid a loss of ownership rights to publish Life in Hell.