Life in Hell
Encyclopedia
Life in Hell is a weekly comic strip
by Matt Groening
. The strip features anthropomorphic
rabbits and a pair of gay lovers
. Groening uses these characters to explore a wide range of topics about love, sex, work, and death. His drawings are full of expressions of angst
, alienation
, self-loathing, and fear of inevitable doom.
Life in Hell started in 1977 as a self-published
comic book
Groening used to describe life in Los Angeles
to his friends. It was inspired by his move to the city that year; in an interview with Playboy, Groening commented on his arrival: "I got [to Los Angeles] on a Friday night in August; it was about a hundred and two degrees; my car broke down in the fast lane of the Hollywood Freeway
while I was listening to a drunken deejay who was giving his last program on a local rock station and bitterly denouncing the station's management. And then I had a series of lousy jobs." In the comic book, Groening attacked what many young adults found repellent: school, work, and love. He described it as "every ex-campus protester's, every Boomer idealist's, conception of what adult existence in the '80s had turned out to be."
Groening photocopied and distributed the comic book to friends. He also sold it for two dollars a copy at the "punk
" corner of the record store in which he worked, Licorice Pizza on Sunset Boulevard
. Life in Hell debuted as a comic strip
in the avant-garde Wet magazine
in 1978, to which Groening made his first professional cartoon sale. The first strip, entitled "Forbidden Words", appeared in the September/October issue. Popular in the underground
, Life in Hell was picked up by the Los Angeles Reader
(an alternative weekly newspaper where Groening also worked as a typesetter, editor, paste-up artist and music critic) in 1980, where it began appearing weekly. Then-publisher of the Reader Jane Levine said Groening arrived at editor-in-chief James Vowell's office one day, showing him his "silly cartoons with the rabbit with one ear." After Groening left, Vowell came out of his office saying, "This guy is gonna be famous someday."
The strip was frequently a serial
, discussing various topics such as "Love is Hell", a 1984 "13-chapter miniseries" pontificating on love and relationships. In November of that year, Groening's then-girlfriend (and co-worker at the Reader) Deborah Caplan offered to publish
"Love is Hell" in book form. The book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left the Reader and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled syndication
and merchandising
for Groening’s projects.
Life in Hell reached the attention of Hollywood producer
James L. Brooks
, who received one strip — "The Los Angeles Way of Death" from 1982 — as a gift from fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of developing a series of short animated
skit
s, called "bumpers", for The Tracey Ullman Show
. Originally, Brooks had wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights to his characters
, Groening instead created an entirely new batch of characters, the Simpsons
.
As television began to place more demands on his time, however, Groening came to almost exclusively feature single-panel strips or 16-panel grids in which Akbar and Jeff exchange terse jabs. This later period also saw the increase of autobiographical
strips, perhaps because Groening was influenced by this burgeoning trend in alternative comics
.
Television has also made the strip "safe enough for a number of newspapers to print", according to Groening, who claims that he has not "toned the strip down at all, other than no longer using profanity
" as a concession to daily papers that carry the strip.
On December 7, 1998 Groening registered the domain mattgroening.com to publish Life in Hell online; however, the Web site has remained in its "under construction" state since then, although Groening insists he'll "get around to it ... [when he's] ready to wade in on a regular basis."
Groening decided in 2007, in the wake of the 2006 U.S. election results
, to write "Life Is Swell" above the comic instead of "Life in Hell." Though Groening had previously stated that he would never give up the comic strip, in 2009 he admitted that due to troubling times for print newspapers and constant involvement with The Simpsons and Futurama, he may have to drop the strip one day.
And he appears in another episode
as a plush toy in Lisa`s room.
In addition to the books, the comic also spawned T-shirt
s, greeting cards, posters, coffee mugs, and a short-lived newsletter
called the "Life in Hell Times." There is also an annual calendar.
In the late 1980s, Groening drew several print advertisements for Apple Computer
in the form of Life in Hell comic strips.
At the 2005 Comic-Con
in San Diego, a series of deluxe Life in Hell vinyl figurines manufactured by CritterBox Toys was announced.
Several characters from Life In Hell make a cameo appearance in Gary Wolf's 1981 noir novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
by Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
. The strip features anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
rabbits and a pair of gay lovers
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. Groening uses these characters to explore a wide range of topics about love, sex, work, and death. His drawings are full of expressions of angst
Angst
Angst is an English, German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety . It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil...
, alienation
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
, self-loathing, and fear of inevitable doom.
History
Self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Groening used to describe life in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to his friends. It was inspired by his move to the city that year; in an interview with Playboy, Groening commented on his arrival: "I got [to Los Angeles] on a Friday night in August; it was about a hundred and two degrees; my car broke down in the fast lane of the Hollywood Freeway
Hollywood Freeway
The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route over the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley...
while I was listening to a drunken deejay who was giving his last program on a local rock station and bitterly denouncing the station's management. And then I had a series of lousy jobs." In the comic book, Groening attacked what many young adults found repellent: school, work, and love. He described it as "every ex-campus protester's, every Boomer idealist's, conception of what adult existence in the '80s had turned out to be."
Groening photocopied and distributed the comic book to friends. He also sold it for two dollars a copy at the "punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
" corner of the record store in which he worked, Licorice Pizza on Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
. Life in Hell debuted as a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in the avant-garde Wet magazine
Wet (magazine)
Wet was an avant-garde Los Angeles-based magazine that revolved around the idea of "gourmet bathing" and later evolved to "gourmet bathing and beyond." Its publisher and creator was Leonard Koren, an architecture school graduate...
in 1978, to which Groening made his first professional cartoon sale. The first strip, entitled "Forbidden Words", appeared in the September/October issue. Popular in the underground
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
, Life in Hell was picked up by the Los Angeles Reader
Los Angeles Reader
Los Angeles Reader was a weekly paper established in 1978 and distributed in Los Angeles, USA. It followed the format of the Chicago Reader. The paper was known for having lengthy, thoughtful reviews of movies, plays and concerts in the LA area. James Vowell was its founding editor...
(an alternative weekly newspaper where Groening also worked as a typesetter, editor, paste-up artist and music critic) in 1980, where it began appearing weekly. Then-publisher of the Reader Jane Levine said Groening arrived at editor-in-chief James Vowell's office one day, showing him his "silly cartoons with the rabbit with one ear." After Groening left, Vowell came out of his office saying, "This guy is gonna be famous someday."
The strip was frequently a serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
, discussing various topics such as "Love is Hell", a 1984 "13-chapter miniseries" pontificating on love and relationships. In November of that year, Groening's then-girlfriend (and co-worker at the Reader) Deborah Caplan offered to publish
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
"Love is Hell" in book form. The book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left the Reader and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled syndication
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
and merchandising
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
for Groening’s projects.
Life in Hell reached the attention of Hollywood producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
, who received one strip — "The Los Angeles Way of Death" from 1982 — as a gift from fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of developing a series of short animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
skit
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
s, called "bumpers", for The Tracey Ullman Show
The Tracey Ullman Show
The Tracey Ullman Show was an American television variety show, hosted by British comedian and onetime pop singer Tracey Ullman. It debuted on April 5, 1987 as the Fox network's second primetime series after Married... with Children, and ran until May 26, 1990. The show blended sketch comedy shorts...
. Originally, Brooks had wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights to his characters
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, Groening instead created an entirely new batch of characters, the Simpsons
Simpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
.
As television began to place more demands on his time, however, Groening came to almost exclusively feature single-panel strips or 16-panel grids in which Akbar and Jeff exchange terse jabs. This later period also saw the increase of autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
strips, perhaps because Groening was influenced by this burgeoning trend in alternative comics
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
.
Television has also made the strip "safe enough for a number of newspapers to print", according to Groening, who claims that he has not "toned the strip down at all, other than no longer using profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
" as a concession to daily papers that carry the strip.
On December 7, 1998 Groening registered the domain mattgroening.com to publish Life in Hell online; however, the Web site has remained in its "under construction" state since then, although Groening insists he'll "get around to it ... [when he's] ready to wade in on a regular basis."
Groening decided in 2007, in the wake of the 2006 U.S. election results
110th United States Congress
The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of...
, to write "Life Is Swell" above the comic instead of "Life in Hell." Though Groening had previously stated that he would never give up the comic strip, in 2009 he admitted that due to troubling times for print newspapers and constant involvement with The Simpsons and Futurama, he may have to drop the strip one day.
Recurring characters
- Binky is a bitter, depressed and thus "normal" rabbit and star of the cartoon. He usually embodies dread and alienation. Binky is usually stuck in a dead end job, has a bad apartment and regularly sees a therapist. Binky usually is full of wise old sayings.
- Sheba is Binky's estranged girlfriend. Appearance-wise, she is "basically Binky in drag." Binky and Sheba met at a coffee shop in a 1981 storyline, and are often used as a generic couple whenever Groening needs one.
- Bongo is Binky's illegitimate son, the product of a drunken night of "jungle passion." He was introduced in a 1983 storyline in which his mother, Hulga, left him to Binky so she could seek her fortune in New York. Bongo's defining physical attribute is his one ear, which Groening admits is solely so that the casual viewer can tell him apart from Binky. Bongo once made an appearance in the FuturamaFuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
episode Xmas StoryXmas Story"Xmas Story" is the fourth episode in the second production season of Futurama. It originally aired as the eighth episode in the second broadcast season in North America on December 19, 1999. The episode was written by David X. Cohen and directed by Peter Avanzino. John Goodman guest stars in this...
, where he is seen being sold in a pet shop. He also appeared in The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode Treehouse of Horror XIITreehouse of Horror XII“Treehouse of Horror XII” is the first episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. Because of Fox’s contract with Major League Baseball’s World Series, the episode first aired on the Fox Network in the United States on November 6, 2001, nearly one week after Halloween. It is the twelfth annual...
as one of the rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s that HomerHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
catches in the trap.
And he appears in another episode
The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants
"The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants" is the seventh episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on November 27, 2011 and is rated TV-14-DLSV.-Plot:...
as a plush toy in Lisa`s room.
- Akbar & Jeff are described in various strips and interviews as "brothers or lovers...and possibly both". In one interview, Groening says they are gay. They have large noses and wear fezzesFez (clothing)The fez , or tarboosh is a felt hat either in the shape of a red truncated cone or in the shape of a short cylinder made of kilim fabric. Both usually have tassels...
and Charlie BrownCharlie BrownCharles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
-like striped shirts. They have run numerous businesses over the years, including Akbar & Jeff's Tofu Hut, Akbar & Jeff's Earthquake T-Shirt Hut, and Akbar & Jeff's Bootleg "Akbar & Jeff" T-Shirt Hut. Like Binky and Sheba, Akbar and Jeff are often used as a generic couple when needed. According to Groening, "the reason why I draw a strip with Akbar and Jeff instead of Binky and Sheba is that I figure that no one can accuse me of trying to score points against men or women if the characters are identical." They have been given cameo appearances in The Simpsons, such as during "Homer's Triple BypassHomer's Triple Bypass"Homer's Triple Bypass" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired in the United States on December 17, 1992. In the episode, Homer Simpson suffers a heart attack when Mr. Burns shouts at him at work. Dr...
", where Homer uses finger puppets resembling the characters to describe his surgery to Bart and Lisa.
- Matt Groening appears in the strip as a bearded, bespectacled rabbit. He is also sometimes represented as Binky.
- Will and Abe are Matt Groening's two sons, represented in rabbit form.
- Snarla, a cat, is Bongo's classmate and love interest. She bears a resemblance to Lisa SimpsonLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
.
- Bart SimpsonBart SimpsonBartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
, has never spoken - except when he uttered his former catch phrase "Don't have a cow, man!" in a "forbidden words" strip - but is seen in the background of a number of strips.
- Mr. Simpson is Binky's anthropomorphic dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
boss at his job. His name predates The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
.
- Gooey, Screwy, and Ratatouille are Akbar and/or Jeff's triplet nephews. The names are an obvious spoof of the DisneyThe Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
characters Huey, Dewey and LouieHuey, Dewey and LouieHuey, Dewey, and Louie Duck are a trio of fictional, anthropomorphic ducks who appear in animated cartoons and comic books published by the Walt Disney Company. Identical triplets, the three are Donald Duck's nephews. Huey, Dewey, and Louie were created by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro, and first...
(Donald DuckDonald DuckDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
's nephews).
Recurring jokes and situations
- Fake magazines such as "Lonely Tyrant: The magazine for abusive bosses whose employees hate their guts." Stories inside include, "The fine art of the meaningless memo."
- The X types of Y: The 9 types of college teachers, the 81 types of high school students, the 16 types of brothers, the 9 types of relationships.
- How-To Guides: Examples include "So You Want To Be An Unrecognized Genius," "How To Be a Clever Film Critic," and "How To Get Into The College of Your Choice."
- Miniseries - A series of strips focusing on a particular theme in a mock textbook manner, such as "School is Hell" and "Love is Hell," both of which have been collected in their entirety in book form.
- Akbar & Jeff discussing their relationship - Arguably the most common set-up. A 1992 strip, "The Dart Game of Love," was prefaced with "I hope this cartoon pleases you gripers who whined about all those Akbar & Jeff strips where they stared at each other."
- Binky attempting to meditate
- Advertisements for disreputable businesses run by Akbar & Jeff such as "Akbar & Jeff's Lucky Psychic Hut."
- Bongo locked in a detention room
- Bongo unsatisfied with the huge assortment of presents he has received on Christmas morning
- Shadow rabbit - Binky's looming shadow towers over Bongo, who has clearly committed a crime despite his assurances to the contrary. Occasionally there would also be a shadow Akbar & Jeff looming over Bongo and their nephews.
- Forbidden Words - An annual compilation of buzzwords used over the past year that Groening has deemed "forbidden."
- "How to draw Binky"
Merchandise and advertising
After the success of Love is Hell, more book collections followed, including Work is Hell and Childhood is Hell. To date, 15 books have been released.In addition to the books, the comic also spawned T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s, greeting cards, posters, coffee mugs, and a short-lived newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
called the "Life in Hell Times." There is also an annual calendar.
In the late 1980s, Groening drew several print advertisements for Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
in the form of Life in Hell comic strips.
At the 2005 Comic-Con
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
in San Diego, a series of deluxe Life in Hell vinyl figurines manufactured by CritterBox Toys was announced.
Several characters from Life In Hell make a cameo appearance in Gary Wolf's 1981 noir novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is a mystery novel written by Gary K. Wolf in 1981, later adapted into the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit .-Plot:Eddie Valiant is a hard-boiled private eye, and Roger Rabbit is a second-banana cartoon character...
Books
- 1986 - Love is Hell - (ISBN 0-394-74454-3)
- 1986 - Work is Hell - (ISBN 0-394-74864-6)
- 1987 - School is Hell - (ISBN 0-394-75091-8)
- 1988 - Box Full of Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72111-8)
- 1988 - Childhood is Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72055-3)
- 1989 - Greetings from Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72678-0)
- 1989 - Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life - (ISBN 0-679-72680-2)
- 1990 - The Big Book of Hell - (ISBN 0-679-72759-0)
- 1991 - With Love From Hell - (ISBN 0-06-096583-5)
- 1991 - How to Go to Hell - (ISBN 0-06-096879-6)
- 1992 - The Road to Hell - (ISBN 0-06-096950-4)
- 1994 - Binky's Guide to Love - (ISBN 0-06-095078-1)
- 1994 - Love is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition - (ISBN 0-679-75665-5)
- 1997 - The Huge Book of Hell - (ISBN 0-14-026310-1)
- 2007 - Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe - (ISBN 0-06-134037-5)