Akbar and Jeff

Akbar and Jeff are fictional characters created in 1984 by Matt Groening for his comic strip "Life in Hell".

Profile

Akbar and Jeff are a gay couple, and their sexuality is part of the plot of many of the cartoons, though they swing between love and hate pendulously, often expressing both in a single strip. They never express any physical affection save touching fingers when they need to express their love for each other. To add to the weirdness, one strip states that they are siblings, "They're brothers. They're lovers" states the text.

Many of the Akbar and Jeff strips included recurring gags, such as Akbar and Jeff establishing a business operation in a hut (where the type of business operation would be quite odd to include the word "hut" in its name). Many of the gags revolve around their trademark fezzes. They also wear Charlie Brown shirts complete with the zigzag.

Appearances in other media

The Simpsons

*In "Moaning Lisa", the referee in the boxing video game has Akbar and Jeff's face.
*In "Homer's Triple Bypass", the finger puppets Homer uses to describe his surgery to Bart and Lisa resemble Akbar and Jeff.]
*In "Mom and Pop Art", Homer and Marge wander through a museum, where Homer finds Akbar and Jeff in a large, framed comic strip. Homer states "Matt Groening? What's he doing in a museum? He can barely draw!", at which a large pencil eraser rubs his head. Homer thinks he's being "erased" when, actually, two guys are moving in a large pencil as an exhibit in the museum.
*In "Bart Gets Hit by a Car", when Bart is on the witness stand, Akbar and Jeff can be spotted in the courtroom audience. They are to the right of Marge's head, and are seen after Lionel Hutz says, "Now that's what I call believable testimony...".
* They also make appearances as background characters in many episodes, although the commentary on season 2, disc 3 of "The Simpsons" says they look slightly different each time.
*Milhouse van Houten (and his parents) look similar in style to Akbar and Jeff.
*In She of Little Faith, when the rocket first exploded, blowing off Milhouse's eyebrows (which become mutton chops on Bart), Milhouse looks like one of either Akbar or Jeff.

Futurama

*In the first episode of the series, "Space Pilot 3000", a sign saying "Akbar" can be seen in the background when Fry's girlfriend breaks up with him.

8-Bit Theater

In the Brian Clevinger web comic 8-Bit Theater, there are two recurring merchants named after Akbar and Jeff: Akbar, who lies about his poor quality merchandise and Jeff, who is honest about them.

The Simpsons Game

During a battle with Matt Groening, Bart exclaims, "Akbar and Jeff can't save you now!"

References

External links

* [http://www.toonopedia.com/lifenhel.htm An article about Groening's Life in Hell, mentioning the origin of Akbar and Jeff]