Liō: Making Friends
by Mark Tatulli
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2013
224 Pages
Children / All Ages
I just discovered Liō through Mark Tatulli’s published collections, (since upstate New York is way too lame to run his syndicated strip in the newspaper funnies,) and I am overwhelmed. My apologies to the public library for all those dog-eared pages. I have finally found a kindred spirit with whom to share the Zombie Apocalypse.
The latest collection is one of the best yet; I can tell because I can’t decide which side of the torn-out pages to pin to the wall. (Yeah, you’ll want a copy to do that. And a copy for the coffee table. And one to keep bagged in your comic box.) A night after procuring a new Liō collection in my house sounds something like this: “Dad, Dad– read this one. Look at this! Here’s a good one, read this…” followed shortly by “Honey, Honey– read this one. Look at this! Here’s a good one!”
It’s almost a cliché to describe his cartoons in this way, but there’s just no better way to present Liō other than what would result if Charles Addams wrote Calvin and Hobbes… and Calvin was a genius mad scientist like Franny K. Stine…
Reminiscent of our beloved Gahan Wilson, these strips capture the funny side of creepy and explore the creativity of childhood– when the child is obsessed with monsters and aliens… and the monsters are real.
Published Collections:Happiness is a Squishy Cephalopod (2007) |
Here you will find touching scenes of a loving and supportive, often very scared, single dad and a best-friend giant squid (named Ishmael) who likes to jump out of the calamari freezer at grocery store customers. My favorite character is Liō’s psycho cat Sybil, (her insanity really hits home since our family pet isn’t far off the mark.) Despite his unrequited love for the switchblade-toting girl from down the street (Eva Rose), Liō’s exploits make you feel all the love that is in Halloween. Every day.
Here’s the Feed: Today’s Liō Strip
