Metapost: News Roundup

So before I do that book review, I figured a news roundup was also in order. First up, we have an article from Editor and Publisher that discusses the current circulation of the comic. Highlights include that you can now read Liō in nearly 275 papers, that the pantomime format is ideal for selling the comic overseas, and that it has quite a foothold in Asia.

Also, the Hattiesburg American is currently giving several new strips a trial after the end of Kudzu. If you live in an area serviced by that paper, now is your chance to ensure a permanent place for our Dark Child! Hopefully in lieu of B.C. or the Wizard of Id. Which are far darker than Liō considering the dead writers and artists involved and all.

The Liō Sundays will be replacing the Kudzu Sundays in North Carolina's News and Observer. The dailies are not running, but it's always worth a few letters to the editor if you're in the area to beg for a daily dose.

Metapost: Back from the depths

So in the time since my last post, several significant things happened.

1) I missed a great storyline about Liō at summer camp.
2) My personal life went topsy-turvy between my cousin's wedding and numerous other crazy things that are too boring and chaotic to be of interest
3) The first Liō collection came out.

So here's what I'm going to do. Much as I hate it, I have to let July go, sadly. Hope all two of you that read this out there at least got to read it. Hope you got to read August's material too, because I'm just going to start with today, fresh and clean.

So the first update will be today's comic. The second update, which will go up tonight, will be a review of the new collection, which arrived at my home yesterday. Before the review goes up, however, I definitely recommend it. Full color Sundays, amusing opening by Steve Pastis of the equally humorous Pearls Before Swine, and naturally, the earliest days of Liō.

Enjoy guys, and feel free to flog me in the future when I slack off like that again.

Metapost: Retail roundup

As this is a fan blog, I'd like to try and post roundups of Liō in the news or references in interesting sources. While not entirely on topic of the commenting on Liō strips, its kind of nice to see Liō getting around.

Retail, 6/18/07
I hadn't even heard of Retail, but a run through the Google news finder brought to my attention that it had made an amusing Liō reference. I particularly like how Liō is rendered only in black and white. It makes him appear even creepier than usual. While Liō is no stranger to making jokes about other comics, this is the first strip I know of that has referenced Liō. The Dark Child spreads his tendrils further!

Another sighting came yesterday in a letter to the editor in the Winston-Salem Journal. I appreciate that the writer not only defended the Dark Child, but also taken shots at the never-ending hells of Blondie and Dennis the Menace. The latter of whom Liō seems to be putting to shame as far as the menacing factor.

I'd like to note that the Winston-Salem Journal is one of quite a few papers that seems to be swapping Peanuts with Liō. Now I have nothing against Peanuts, except that its in endless reruns and Shulz was pretty adamant that there be no reruns. But I find it amusing that when people seem to think of Peanuts replacements, our Dark Child comes to mind, especially considering today's catapulting strip.

The First Post

Currently it seems blogs about comic strips are all the rage. While perhaps it was the likes of The Comics Curmudgeon that kicked off the fun by reading the comics so we don't have to, many others have come to life to focus on specific strips. Things like This Week in Milford (for your boring sports needs), Permanent Monday, and Stuck Funky. There's even a blog for that really crappy newspaper Spider-Man.

What all these blogs have in common is that they mainly stick to highlighting the shortcomings of the newspaper comics. Which is normally fine, because its no secret that most people absolutely hate newspaper comic strips.

And it was with great joy to find out that not only was I not a lone, a comic writer agreed with me and was willing to express it on the comics page. As shown on The Comics Curmudgeon with an attack on the dreaded FOOBiverse and later the morbid pleasure of many comics characters being devoured by giant ants.

That man is Mark Tatulli. And that delightful comic that he draws (he draws two of them, ya know!) is Liō.

Liō is one of two comics that do not exist solely on the Internet that consistantly make me laugh (the other is Pearls Before Swine). Liō is the tale of a bright, imaginative young boy that lives in and perpetuates a surreal, almost gothicly twisted world. Or as the press blurb puts it:

"LIO is an unusual kind of comic strip and we think you’ll love it.

First LIO has no dialog. It tells stories only with images -- a "pantomine strip" says Mark Tatulli, the creator. Next, LIO’s main character is a curious young boy with an imagination that’s unleashed by bumps in the night and things hiding under the bed. And LIO offers various shades of dark humor along with straightforward laughs.

This strip offers a fresh outlook and appeals to everyone, especially young readers..and readers who remember being young..and those who wish they were young. LIO is a comic strip that’s edgy, funny, visually stunning and truly different."

But that doesn't really summon the perverse pleasure of a Liō strip. In Liō, you are usually guaranteed a truly perverse spin on something seemingly innocuous. And when its surrounded by the tired humor of the Family Circus or B.C., it stands out as a really well-written funny.

This blog came about as my attempt to spread the dark joy that is Liō. As it is just barely a year old, many newspapers don't carry it. And as Liō is a genuinely funny strip most of the time, few comics blogs speak of it because it's a lot more fun to rip on Funky Cancercancer. Here at The Dark Child, I'll be talking about the daily Liō strip, what I enjoy about it, and possibly give some kind of witty insight.

Outside of your newspaper, Liō is most easily read at gomics.com, which gives you a full month of previous strips for free.

Here begins - the chronicles of The Dark Child.