MORRISON MONDAYS!
By BILL MORRISON
The animated comedy series that wouldn’t die, Futurama, was resuscitated in 2023 by Hulu and is now in its 12th season. And though each new season of Matt Groening’s sci-fi opus is eagerly anticipated, fans recently received the thing they have been clamoring for since the show’s first trip to the grave, The Art of Futurama book!
This beautifully designed and illustrated album is a wonderful peek behind the curtain of Matt’s follow-up to The Simpsons (which, by the way, still doesn’t have an art book!)
I was fortunate to have been asked by Matt to work on the initial visual development of the show, alongside Dale Hendrickson, Mili Smythe, and Dave Cooper. I also served as art director after the show was greenlit by Fox, and for those reasons my contributions to the art of the series are well represented in the book.
But the real stars of this tome are the artists of Rough Draft Studios, the animation outfit that Matt selected to bring his ideas, and those of the writing staff, to visual life. What a treat it is to see so many brilliant character model sheets, background designs, and storyboards from the entire run of the series. They illuminate the creative process perfectly and satisfy the Futurama fanatic’s desire for real insider information.
The Art of Futurama would just be a big pile of great drawings if not for the beautiful book design by my old Bongo cohort, Serban Cristescu, who also served as designer on the first 10 seasons of the series, and as art consultant on the current incarnation. This book shows his design ability at peak performance.
And the artwork is elucidated through text and captions by Jamie Angell, who interviewed several principal contributors to the series, including yours truly. Jamie has been a major contributor to many of Matt Groening’s publishing endeavors over the past decades, and he also served as a writer on Matt’s third series, Disenchantment.
I’m very proud to have my work included in this fantastic book, but I’m also just a big fan and zealously recommend it to everyone who marvels at the adventures of the employees of Planet Express.
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The Art of Futurama was published by Abrams ComicArts. It lists for $35 and is available now.
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Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below!
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MORE
— A SIMPSONS Valentine to Golden Age DC Comics. Click here.
— The Magnificent — and Outrageous — 1960s DC COMICS FOLDEES-SIMPSONS Mash-Up. Click here.
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Eisner winner BILL MORRISON has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has changed.
Bill is on Instagram (@atomicbattery) and Facebook (Bill Morrison/Atomic Battery Studios), and regularly takes commissions and sells published art through 4C Comics.
February 17, 2025
An amazing book. I bought mine when the publisher had a 50% off sale. Now, let us have the collected Futurama comic! PS: I want my copy of The Art of Futurama SIGNED by Bill Morrison! You should offer for sale signed bookplates!
February 19, 2025
Not a bad idea, John! I’m going to give that some thought!