Lio: Making Friends

Liō

by Mark Tatulli

A curious young scientist and comic book fan, Lio is the defender of the defenseless and the inventor of a legion of zombie bunnies. Lio is joined in his day-to-day exploits by his exasperated and sleep-deprived father, a pet snake named Frank, a squid named Ishmael, and various imaginary robots and creepy, crawly monsters. Within this humorously macabre framework of sarcasm, parody, and high jinks, sidesplitting laughter abounds—all without so much as a word.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2013

About the author

Mark Tatulli is a comic artist and film maker, mostly known for his dark comedic newspaper strip Liō. He is the recipient of three Emmy Awards. He works for Banyan Productions. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and children.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is this story about?

Check out more adventures of Lio and his spooky friends in this graphic novel series as Lio gets into more hilarious and creepy situations such as sending a “thank you” note to the Grim Reaper, trying to attract the attention of his love interest, a girl who constantly beats him up, receiving a birthday cake that explodes on impact and taking Godzilla to Tokyo!

What I loved about this story:

After I had read the previous volume “There’s a Monster in my Socks,” I wanted to check out more of Mark Tatulli’s hilarious and creepy “Lio” series and I was certainly not disappointed with this installment! I loved the way that Mark Tatulli manages to weave both horror and comedy into this volume as I found myself laughing at some of the situations that Lio gets himself into, especially the “exploding birthday cake” scene which I found to be the funniest strip in this volume! Mark Tatulli’s artwork helps narrate the stories in this volume as this series does not have any text to narrate the stories and yet, the artwork itself tells the stories and bring out the punchlines of the dark jokes. I also loved the appearance of Lio himself as he has blank eyes and slick hair and he really stands out from the monster characters he is constantly hanging out with as he looks adorable while the monster characters look creepy and goofy.



What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

A bit of a warning for anyone who does not like dark humor; this volume contains some punchlines that might be too dark for some readers to handle such as a child being eaten by a shark when Lio holds a bobbing for apples game and Lio’s toy bunny eating up a bully.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Lio: Making Friends” is another fantastic read from Mark Tatulli’s legendary “Lio” series!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Debra Lowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

See my other review. Funny stuff here!

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still no words I think words would help me better understand a part

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liō, a wordless comic, could be a lost cousin of Pugsly, is definitely a darker version of Dennis the Menace, and may be an apprentice to Spy Vs. Spy.

[RSC_Collecting · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely hilarious! I had never heard of Lio, so I didn't know what to expect. This is a collection of comedy strips. I assumed they were geared towards children, and some of them are. But there's a ton of nuance and references that an adult would find hilarious while a child was lost. Lio is an odd kid. He loves making things, being friends with strange creatures that he finds, and playing pranks. Robots, giant squids, monsters, spiders, snakes, ghosts, and more! Lio loves the weird and wacky! Just like me! With that cast of characters, you know this is gonna be a blast. It is definitely very surreal too. Crazy scenarios and situations that are so outlandish and wild that you just have to chuckle. I loved this book and I now love Lio. This was excellent. Highly highly recommend.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of comics about Liō, a boy with a fascination for things that would normally scare other kids. He has a pet giant squid, a snake, and other monstrous creatures. And a creative mind he employs in unusual ways.

Liō's humor is slightly dark, making this one that definitely won't be for every reader, and I'd recommend it mostly for upper middle school and high school. It'd be great for secondary ESL students since the word count is very low. Liō's cat's antics had me laughing out loud every time it made an appearance. Hilarious. And I liked the great relationship between Liō and his dad.

Notes on content: Liō hangs out with werewolves, some gross monsters (though the comics are all black and white, so not too gross), and plays soccer with Death. So know the person you hand this to and whether they can handle that kind of content.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always Halloween for Lio, the world's creepiest kid. He's like wordless Calvin and Hobbes, if Hobbes was a collection of monsters, misfits, and wild animals. Cute and funny comics for little creeps.

[Kevin Harber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lio. It’s my favorite contemporary comic strip. If you’ve not read it before, it’s like a mix of Calvin & Hobbes and the Addams Family.

[Sharyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lio always makes me giggle but I found myself laughing out loud many times reading this book.

[Sooraya Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. That ghost reading People magazine was hilarious.

[Jonathan gandara · Rating 3 out of 5]

all it showed was pictures

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little spooky, but never scary, reading these comics makes it feel like it's almost time for Halloween (even though its only August). A fun, quirky collection and an easy read.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a funny book. The main character is great at science and there are lots of little storylines that entertaining.

[PyranopterinMo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the Far Side but these almost wordless cartoon were enjoyable and I used them as exercises for English students. I tried to get them to draw out adjectives and short sentences in English.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love everything about Lio and all his adventures! I giggle through the whole book. Every page gets better and better! Fun read as always with Lio!!!!

[Koji · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a really fun book that has a lot of funny and stuff and it ended like this is really funny, so I recommend it to a lot of people they’re like funny stuff

[Awake at Midnight · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

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.

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.

For the full review: Lio: Making Friends

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lio! This really is one of those rare comics that will appeal to both kids and adults. I think he and Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) would be great friends! Kids who like the Mal and Chad books by Stephen McCranie will like these too. I love that he has a pet squid, and all the monsters under the bed. And what cat owner would not be grateful that their cat and household mice have NOT formed the “It’s Time to Feed the Cat Band”?

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of entertaining weirdness. Compared to the other Lio book I've read, this one featured more of the vicious cat, the girl Lio has a crush on, and a few sequences of a story/idea playing out over several comics (Lio with a jet pack, and Lio with a missing tooth).

[Jaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very good - in a subversive style, this is for the child who thinks Calvin and Hobbes is tame....My son and I love it - it's so funny and just the right pitch for the child who sees themselves as an outsider.

Funny, biting and always entertaining.

[Ilib4kids · Rating 4 out of 5]

J741.56973 TAT

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lio is such a strange little kid and I love him for it. I can't wait to share this book with my comics loving, equally strange little kid.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a strange but funny book. Reads like Calvin and hobs comic strips, but with monsters.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lio is one odd kiddo. Slightly Dark Humor. Lio beats to his own drummer, unfortunately it didn't really strike my funny bone.