# Does anyone here hate the Simpsons artwork as much as I do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [October 30, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273 "2026-10-30T20:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/1 "2026-10-30T20:41:25Z")
It’s just horrible. I never even bothered to read any of it in any form because of this. Maybe there are some interesting or funny bits, but the style totally repelled me. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/2 "2026-10-30T21:39:43Z")
Read it? Are you talking about Simpsons comics? ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/3 "2026-10-30T21:48:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are you talking about Simpsons comics? Yes, of course it started as a newspaper comic. In a California paper, I think. And then morphed into an animated series. The visual style stayed much the same though I believe. It’s a personal reaction: but I hate it. Sorry… ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/4 "2026-10-30T21:50:14Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Yes, of course it started as a newspaper comic. In a California paper, I think. This is not correct, I think. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/5 "2026-10-30T21:50:55Z")
Do you mean _Life in Hell_, the comic by Matt Groening? It’s a similar visual style to the Simpsons, but it was not at all the Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/6 "2026-10-30T21:51:44Z")
I seem to remember it in the San Jose Mercury news? Could be wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/7 "2026-10-30T21:53:06Z")
I thought The Simpsons started as animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/8 "2026-10-30T21:54:49Z")
Matt Groening somewhat famously designed and named the Simpsons right before the pitch meeting with Fox as he decided he didn’t want to sell the rights to Life in Hell. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/9 "2026-10-30T21:55:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I thought The Simpsons started as animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. Correct. James L. Brooks hired Groening to produce shorts for the Tracey Ullman Show based on liking what Groening had done with _Life in Hell_. But Groening didn’t want to use the _LiH_ characters, so he created the Simpsons. So OP, what don’t you like – _Life in Hell_, the Simpsons, or Matt Groening? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/10 "2026-10-30T21:57:05Z")
So what is @xtenkfarpl referring to? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/11 "2026-10-30T21:57:28Z")
Are you talking about this > **[The Simpson Family Made Its Television Debut 30 Years Ago](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/simpson-family-television-debut-30-years-ago-180962482/)** > > When they arrived on the Tracey Ullman show, their look was a little more ragged or this? > **[List of The Simpsons comics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Simpsons_comics)** > > The following is a list of comic book series published by Bongo Comics based on the American animated television series The Simpsons. The first comic strips based on The Simpsons appeared in 1991 in the magazine Simpsons Illustrated (not to be confused with the comic publications from 2012 bearing the same name), which was a companion magazine to the show. The comic strips were popular and a one-shot comic book entitled Simpsons Comics and Stories, containing three different stories, was rel Si... ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/12 "2026-10-30T22:02:03Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > I seem to remember it in the San Jose Mercury news? Guess that was a different strip, now I look into it, Presumably syndicated, not tied to a particular paper. OK, what I don’t like the appearance of seems to be the cartoon. Sorry, I just don’t. Your mileage may vary… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/13 "2026-10-30T22:03:43Z")
Tastes vary. Personally I dislike the visual style of Bob’s Burgers. Also I don’t like South Park or Beavis and Butthead. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/14 "2026-10-30T22:11:38Z")
I could never get used to the way Seth MacFarlane’s characters always look like they’re saying “jabjabjabjabjab.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/15 "2026-10-30T22:28:51Z")
The artwork in the originals comic was basic, but the ideas were funny - which is all that matters to me. The TV show has vastly superior artwork but I like it. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/16 "2026-10-30T22:30:03Z")
I do not. But I do loathe the animation style of _South Park_, to the extent that I can never watch more that a couple minutes of it. And their infantile “humor” seals the deal of non-watching-ness. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/17 "2026-10-30T22:34:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Personally I dislike the visual style of Bob’s Burgers. I was joking with a friend last weekend about how that show takes place in a parallel dimension where human beings evolved without chins for some reason. As to the Groening art style, I like it. Then again, I was a fan of _Life in Hell_ (and I have a couple of the books around here somewhere). ETA: Ooh, these are the books I own, which are probably in a box in the garage somewhere. [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/5/58/Life_in_Hell_%282%29.jpg) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/5/58/Life_in_Hell_%282%29.jpg) [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTD11EYtIgxS0dP-BIveMQhKuc-4vue8V3W3CWRh09LWg&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTD11EYtIgxS0dP-BIveMQhKuc-4vue8V3W3CWRh09LWg&s) I got into them when I was a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/18 "2026-10-30T22:45:42Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > The artwork in the originals comic was basic, but the ideas were funny - which is all that matters to me. The TV show has vastly superior artwork but I like it. What “originals comic” are you referring to? I’m deeply confused. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/19 "2026-10-31T01:59:27Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > But Groening didn’t want to use the _LiH_ characters, so he created the Simpsons. I find it curious that the original Simpsons characters and art is so much cruder and uglier looking than the simpler rounder figures of Life in Hell. Maybe he was trying for more “realism” before reverting closer to his sweet spot? Or just wanted them to look different to have less connection to his other work? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273/20 "2026-10-31T02:11:44Z")
The story goes that Matt Groening intended to pitch the Fox network execs a cartoon based on his “Life in Hell” characters, but decided at the last minute that he didn’t want to sign away the rights. So at the last minute - while he was sitting in the Fox waiting room! - he hastily sketched a five-person family and called them “the Simpsons.” To his surprise, the animators for the Tracy Ullman Show ended up using his crude sketches as their character models before he had a chance to clean the drawings up. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-hate-the-simpsons-artwork-as-much-as-i-do/1034273.md?page=2)