Before leaving for New York to cover the con, Chris Mautner posted an interview with Mark Tatulli, the creator of one of my new favorite comic strips, Lio:

Q: What are some of your influences for the strip? I sense a bit of Charles Addams and Edward Gorey in there.

A: Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, Gahan Wilson. All of the dark stuff. I remember when I was a kid I loved the dark illustrations. My father would buy National Lampoon and hide it, but I would always find it. I always felt so guilty for reading these comics that were drawn in a kid style but were clearly meant for adults. I kind of liked that feel of it.

Today’s kids are exposed to so much on television. You may say Lio’s dark. Well, yeah, Lio’s dark when you compare it to Beetle Bailey and Hagar the Horrible, but you put it out in the real world and it’s pretty soft. Kids are more sophisticated, they see a lot more. I don’t think there’s anything in Lio that’s disturbing. There are ongoing themes in the strip and that is love and tolerance. Even though it’s in a dark world, it’s not in the way we usually see it. But they are there.

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