Hate to nitpick, but The Simpsons has had an ongoing comic almost as long as the show. Specifically, Bongo Comics, an imprint Matt Groening founded to bring actual comedy focused comics back to the mainstream (it was founded in 1993 during the Dark Age of Comics. Groening had a point.). It actually has just as big an effect in comics as it does in animation.
Simpsons is actually huge in Japan too.