Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, turns 54 today! I’ve been a fan of Matt since I was in high school and loved his comic strip, Life in Hell. He inspired me to write my own comic strip, which ran in my college newspaper from 1987-1990, called… well, Nacho Underpants. In fact, the name Nacho Underpants is a direct homage to one of Matt’s strips.
I wrote him a letter in 1989 telling him how much I liked him, about my strip, and my honoring him with the name. He not only wrote me back, but he drew me my own Bongo the Rabbit from Life in Hell with him saying “Yo, Tiffany!” It’s still framed in my office today – although now that it is almost 20 years old, the ink is fading fast.
Happy Birthday Matt! You are one of the greats.
