In the month of October 2018, Bongo comics released Simpsons comic #245 with the caption above the title: “It’s a Simpsons send-off,” confirming that comic #245 was the last. It was announced at ComicCon International in San Diego that the series would be ending along with the Spongebob comic series taking an “extended break” which leaves questions about Bongo’s future.
Few know that the long running TV show The Simpsons had a comic series to go along with it. The comic series was a standalone series with a story having nothing to do with the TV show except for the occasional reference in certain episodes and comics. Despite the cancelation of the comics, the show will not be ending and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. It is currently in its 30th season.
There were rumors that the reason Simpsons comics are ending is because in 2018 Mad magazine rebooted with issue number one and Bill morrison, one of the founders of Bongo comics, moved to Las angeles, CA to take the position of editor at Mad magazine.
The comic #245 contains a number of references and funny jokes including a reference from Matt Groening’s old comic strip “Life in Hell” showing Maggie getting a one-eared bunny as a pet. The comic also makes a reference to Matt Groening’s new show Disenchantment. The comic ends with for pages of every Simpsons comic Bongo ever published, ending the series on a good note.
The Simpsons comics ended, and Bongo did not make a big deal of it. They just left it at, “ Smell you later,” to finish the series.
by Poyraz Ozer ’25 and Connor Simpkins ’25