The Legend of Bongo

In 1991, the explosive, worldwide popularity of Matt Groening’s upstart prime time animated series, “The Simpsons,” led to the publication of a fan magazine called Simpsons Illustrated. Matt created the magazine with the help of his longtime friends and fellow artists Steve and Cindy Vance. The periodical featured a few pages of comics written and drawn by the Vances and Bill Morrison, and in early 1993, the same creative team joined with Matt to produce the one-shot comic book Simpsons Comics & Stories.  It was an immediate success, and Matt decided to pursue his childhood dream of starting a comic book company. Beginning in November of that same year, “Simpsons” fans were rewarded with inaugural issues of Radioactive Man, Itchy & Scratchy Comics, Bartman, and Simpsons Comics, and Bongo Comics Group was born!