Millionaire Losing Job

It’s official—the lousy economy is affecting everyone. According to this interview with CNN, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening and his long-running “Life In Hell” comic strip are being dropped from the LA Weekly after next week because the California alternative “can’t afford to pay.” This has caused Groening to consider ending “Hell,” despite the fact the strip currently runs in a load of other papers.

So many questions are raised here. How much was the LA Weekly paying Matt for “Life In Hell?” Enough that he’s already considering giving up the strip? What about all the other papers the thing runs in? Are they paying him? What’s the cost of markers these days? Can’t Matt Groening, who ostensibly makes enough money from “The Simpsons” and “Futurama” to live in a mansion twice as ostentatious at the one MC Hammer used to own, just do “Life In Hell” for the fans or for the fun of it? Why is he concerned about bank? Is he concerned about bank? Is this just a show of solidarity for all the other Weekly cartoonists losing their jobs?

Matt Groening, gimme some goddamn answers. Stop being so coy already, you Evergreen graduatin’, scruffy beard-havin’, animation creatin’ four-eyed American treasure.