Futurama Presents: Bender’s Guide to Life: By me, Bender!

by Matt Groening

128 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Matthew Abram Groening is an American cartoonist, television producer and writer from Portland, Oregon.

Groening is best known as the creator of The Simpsons. He is also the creator of Futurama and the author of the weekly comic strip Life in Hell. Groening distributed Life in Hell in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked.

He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The cartoon is still carried in 250 weekly newspapers.

Reviews

[Yael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny collection of great Futurama art and references. I couldn't help but to read it in Bender's voice in my head. Definitely recommend for meatbags that like Futurama

[Ezequiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book. With lots of references to episodes of the series, drawings of many characters quoting their tips on life. No big laughs, but made me smile here and there. And smart as always for Futurama!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bender’s guide to life is politically incorrect, biased, extremely funny, cynical, ironic and simultaneously challenging since it exposes robots as the ultimate goal of pragmatism and artificial intelligence. On the contrary, humans, well, humans seem to be as greedy, brainless, selfish, and arrogant as they have been portraying themselves while exploiting every single resource around millennium after millennium. It implies multiple voices and perspectives from all the Futurama’s characters in a complicated meltdown way ahead in the so-called “future”, definitely an apocalyptic one.

[DJ_Keyser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Futurama is probably my favourite animated TV show of all time, but the humour (and occasional smattering of pathos) that made the show so great doesn’t translate to the page. It may be a stretch to call this book a cash-in, as the show never really reached the highest stratospheres of commercial success, but it contains all the hallmarks of a lazy grab for a couple of extra bucks.

[Ash]

DNF. I thought there would be new information but with bender as narrator on the show Futurama. But it basically just talks about everything I already know about the characters and show with bender as narrator.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jon (age 11) gave this 5 stars and says it's the best book ever.