Liō

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Liō strip from July 26, 2006.

Liō is a daily comic created by Mark Tatulli and syndicated through Universal Press Syndicate. The strip debuted on May 15, 2006 in more than 100 newspapers, including Brussels-based Flemish newspaper De Morgen.^[1] The strip focuses on the adventures of a little boy named Liō. The strips sometimes involve the supernatural/occult, alien invasion, or mass destruction of many sorts, creating a disturbing atmosphere in the comics. Some of the strips recurring themes involve Liō getting even with grade-school bullies, helping animals (most of which are non-anthropomorphic but display obvious intelligence) defend themselves against humans or their predators, and performing mad scientist style experiments. He is often seen using robots that he constructs himself for causing mischief.

Liō has at least four pets: Spider, a spider who has helped him cheat on tests; Cybill, a white cat who has unique methods for getting Liō to feed her; Frank, a cobra that sometimes sleeps in Liō's bed; and Ishmael, a giant squid. While it may seem that all the strips are from Liō's imagination, Tatulli has stated that everything that goes on in the strip actually happens to Liō,^[2] though most of the time others turn a blind eye to it, not unlike the other-worldly situations that occured to Calvin in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Another different aspect of Liō is the general lack of dialogue (another is Ferd'nand), though there are on occasion vocalizations (such as "Eeck!" or "Aggh!") and there are labels on certain objects to make the gags more obvious. Also, one-time characters have sometimes spoken.

Although there are several frequently recurring characters (Liō's hunchbacked assistant, his grade-school teacher Mrs. Gatchi), the strip only has one other major character, Liō's unnamed father. He is frequently shown to be the subject of Liō's pranks and sometimes has to get his son out of difficult situations. On one occasion, when he watched a news report of an alien invasion, he gave Liō a hard spanking for holding an "alien ship" in the backyard.

Tatulli has claimed U.S. Civil War era caricaturist Adalbert J. Volck as an influence on Liō's visuals.^[2]

As of January 2007, Liō runs in more than 250 newspapers.^{[citation needed]}