Love Is...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Love Is... is a comic strip produced by Stefano Casali, son of New Zealand artist Kim Grove who created the theme in the late 1960s. The strip is syndicated worldwide by Tribune Media.
Love Is... (the title includes the ellipsis mark), began as a series of little love notes that Kim Grove drew for her future husband, Roberto Casali. The strip was first syndicated in 1970, and one of her most famous drawings, "Love Is...being able to say you are sorry", published on February 9, 1972, was marketed internationally for many years in print, on cards and on souvenirs.
Kim Casali died in June 1997. Since then, her son Stefano Casali has maintained the strip although it is always shown as being "by Kim Casali" and signed "Kim" instead of Stefano. He remained in his regular occupation in advertising until September 1999 when he devoted his full time to the strip, working with Bill Asprey who draws the characters. Stefano also took control of Minikim, named after his mother, the company that holds the rights to Love Is....
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[edit] Comic Strip Features
Love Is... is a single-frame strip. The upper left-hand corner starts a simple phrase which always begins with "Love Is...", the drawing appears in the middle, and the remainder of the phrase at the bottom (along with the legal jargon). The phrase is always uplifting, though occasionally serious. Each strip is independent of the others; there are no "series" of strips running for a period of time covering the same topic.
The main characters are a male and a female (who are not named). The male has dark black, short hair while the female has light, waist-length hair. The characters have been featured in various stages of romance: just meeting, boyfriend/girlfriend, and husband and wife. They appear to be quite young, looking like toddlers, however, they are apparently supposed to represent adults. When featured as husband and wife, at times a child or children will appear who are much smaller than them, but never more than two children, a boy and a girl. The boy and girl have the hair coloring of their opposite gender parent (i.e., the girl has her father's black hair, while the boy has his mother's light hair). The children have been featured both as infants and as elementary school age; they have not been featured as teenagers.
From time to time the female's parents (one or both) are shown, both parents have light hair and are featured as being elderly. The male's parents have not been known to be featured; in one strip the couple is shown visiting the gravesite of his parents.
The characters may appear singly or together; when one is thinking about the other, the partner's face will appear (in various forms, such as a dream balloon, a photo, even a screensaver have been used). Items appearing in the strip are often shown in the shape of, or featuring, hearts, symbolic of the strip's theme.
The characters are often shown in the nude; however, no sexual characteristics are included, though it is clear which character is male and which is female. However, in some strips the characters will be dressed.
The strip is run six days a week but not on Sundays.
[edit] British version
In the 1980s an alternate version of the strip ran in the "Cartoons" paper in the British newspaper, the Mail on Sunday. This was a three- or four-panel strip, with the male and female characters drawn fully clothed.
[edit] Amor Es...
Love Is... also translated into Spanish under the title Amor Es..., featuring the same characters. Only the title and phrase differ from the English Love Is...; these are simply translated into Spanish.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- In The Simpsons episode, "A Milhouse Divided", Homer suggests the comic strip to a couple that is facing divorce, explaining it's "about two naked eight-year-olds who are married."
- In The Simpsons episode "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer", Milhouse has a Love Is... Binder.
