 | |
| Founded | 1993 (1993) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Matt Groening, Steve Vance, Cindy Vance, Bill Morrison |
| Defunct | 2018 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Santa Monica, California |
| Distribution | United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa |
| Key people | Nathan Kane, creative director Matt Groening, publisher |
| Publication types | Comics |
| Fiction genres | Comedy |
| Official website | www |
Bongo Comics Group was a comic book publishing company founded in 1993 by Matt Groening along with Steve & Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison.[1] It published comics related to the animated television series The Simpsons and Futurama, as well as the SpongeBob SquarePants comics, along with original material. The company was named after Bongo, a rabbit character in Groening's comic strip Life in Hell.
Bongo, at some time in its history, printed Simpsons Comics, Simpsons Comics and Stories, Futurama Comics, Krusty Comics, Lisa Comics, Bart Simpson, Bartman, Itchy & Scratchy Comics and Radioactive Man.
Zongo Comics, also created by Groening, was Bongo Comics' counterpart geared towards mature audiences.
Groening launched Bongo Comics Group in 1993, perceiving a lack of funny books in the comic book industry at the time: "I go into comic book stores and look at all the stuff, and, for the most part, it looks like fairly grim science-fiction and superhero stuff ... I guess I just thought there was room out there for funny comic books."[2] The company launched four titles, the bi-monthly Simpsons Comics and Radioactive Man Vol. 1, and the thrice-annually Itchy & Scratchy Comics and Bartman.[2] Groening hoped that the new company would revitalise the industry, and held discussions to publish cross-overs with characters from other publishing companies.[2] The comics use original story-lines rather than simply adapting episodes of the television series; however, in 2011 editor Bill Morrison explained that the stories "fit in with the continuity of the shows."[3]
The company launched Futurama Comics, based on the cartoon series of the same name, in 2000.[4]
2012 saw the company change their logo, and a new creative director was unveiled, with Nathan Kane promoted internally to replace the departing Bill Morrison.[5]
It was announced at San Diego Comic Con in July 2018 that Bongo would be shutting down in October. Simpsons Comics #245 was the final issue released by Bongo.[6]
|
| |
|---|---|
| |
| TV series |
|
| Films |
|
| Comics |
|
| Other |
|
| See also |
|
