‘Simpsons’ illustrator returns to Capital City Comic Con

Bill Morrison knows a thing or two about satire. The St. Clair Shores-based College for Creative Studies alumnus has served as executive editor of Mad magazine, an illustrator for “The Simpsons” and creative director of the now-defunct Bongo Comics, which published the “Simpsons” comics.

“Mad has always poked its finger in the eye of authority figures and institutions, whether it’s politicians, advertisers, film and TV shows, celebrities, corporations, et cetera. They’ve always done it with great style, wit and humor, and with the best illustrators, cartoonists and comedy writers in the business,” Morrison said. “Mad is the funny kid at the back of the class who’s always cracking jokes under his breath at the expense of the windbag teacher. That attitude resonates with Americans who don’t relish being under the thumb of authoritarians, I think.”

Morrison is one of many guests in store for Capital City Comic Con this weekend. Some other notable invitees include actors Garrett Wang (“Star Trek: Voyager”), Barry Lowin (“The Mandalorian”), Kevin Keppy (“Cabinet of Curiosities”) and Tara Sands (“Pokémon”)  and comic creators Dirk Manning (“Tales of Mr. Rhee”), Drew Moss (“ThunderCats”) and Tana Ford (“Silk”).

Morrison began his career as a technical illustrator. However, his passion was drawing comics and cartoons. Eventually, he moved to California and found work illustrating movie posters for Disney, including “Cinderella” and “The Little Mermaid.”

In fact, Morrison’s artwork on the cover of “The Little Mermaid” created quite the controversy as it was discovered that one of the towers in the background resembled a penis — something he insists was an accident.

“My excuse, or my explanation, is that it was a rushed job. On the video cassette art, I spent a lot of time on the characters and didn’t have much time to work on backgrounds, so it’s stripped down to basics,” he said. “Unfortunately, the one particular tower behind the Little Mermaid’s head ended up looking like a penis, unbeknownst to me until it was pointed out to me by a kid in my church youth group of all things. I’ve gone on the record several times and stated I didn’t mean to do it. This whole thing became an urban legend.”

In 1990, he became an illustrator for “The Simpsons,” primetime TV’s longest-running series, which returns for its 37th season this fall and has been renewed until its 40th season. From 1993 to 2012, he was the art director and later creative director at Bongo.

“It’s beyond incredible,” he said. “Everyone I know who was with the show at the beginning, including (creator) Matt Groening, never expected the show to last more than a few seasons.”

He explained what he thinks gives “The Simpsons” such staying power, a question he’s asked often.

“To me, ‘The Simpsons’ is a funhouse mirror of our society,” he said. “It does a brilliant job of taking everything in our culture and showing the funny side of it. We’re basically laughing at ourselves, and that’s why it works. I think it could go on forever.”

His favorite “Simpsons” character is Homer, the lovable doofus and patriarch of the titular family.

“He’s so hilarious,” Morrison said. “I love writing Homer. He’s fun to draw. There’s nothing about him that isn’t delightful.”

Capital City Comic Con co-owner Tim Hunt is looking forward to having Morrison back.

“Bill has had an epic and prolific career and is a great friend of ours,” Hunt said. “We’ve had the fortunate experience of hosting him before and will have him back whenever we can. His artwork is iconic, and his stories are legendary.”

Hunt hopes this year’s show will provide attendees with some hope “in the face of a challenging world.”

“We’ve been dedicated to ensuring we bring the best possible show to the Lansing Center to give loyal fans and new friends some joy this summer, even if it’s just for a weekend,” he said. “At Capital City Comic Con, everyone can get their must-haves, do what they love, find their people and, most importantly, be themselves.”