Lio (11/16/09)

Dead fish are a staple of the comics. They’re often used (along with dead birds) to teach young children valuable lessons about mortality. But it seems to me that Lio is breaking new ground by showing an actual goldfish floating belly-up in a fishbowl. It’s a bracing image that makes the character’s trademark silence seem genuinely affecting. I’ve also been rendered speechless at the loss of a pet. As for the miniature grim reaper that shows up on Lio’s doorstep wielding a small fish scooping device? I think stunned silence is the only remotely appropriate response to that.

Lio (10/12/09)

Viciousness aside, I’m intimidated by the notion of caring for an abominable snowman. I have enough trouble caring for my cat, who is probably the lowest maintenance house-pet imaginable. He sleeps most of the day and only requires intermitent food, water and litter scooping. But a Yeti? I would have to empty out my refrigerator and stuff the beast inside, no mean feat considering its size. Then again, it will be winter soon and if past years are any indication, an abominable snowman would be quite comfortable amid the bone-chilling Chicago temperatures.

Lio (10/1/09)

It’s taken me a while to get used to text speak. As soon as I became fluent in the intricacies of LOL, I ran smack dab into the sheer insanity of LMAO. When I first encountered this acronym in an e-mail, I had to ask my fiance what it stood for. When she told me it was short for “laughing my ass off,” I felt as if that should have been obvious. Then again, I have a low tolerance for shorthand and try to avoid it at all costs. For a while, I refused to use the phrase 9/11, instead referring to “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.” But that didn’t last long, and now I fear it’s only a matter of time before the rest of my writing devolves into acronyms.

Lio (9/18/09)

The queasy notes emanating from Lio’s instrument in panel one suggest that he’s playing some type of classical composition in an excruciatingly sour manner. But my preferred interpretation is that he’s playing a violin version of a classic punk rock song by the Dead Kennedys. Or the wavy lines could denote the manic energy of an early Talking Heads record. That’s the type of music that would infuriate Lio’s teacher even if it was played flawlessly.

Lio (9/5/09)

I’m a huge fan of geography, so much so that I can spend hours examining the intricacies of a map. I once went into a luggage store and spent an indefensible amount of time playing with their largest and most expensive globe. I walked out without making a purchase. When my long-time girlfriend and I got engaged recently, I spent 10 minutes enlarging and rotating the web-based product image of a globe as we were trying to choose items for our wedding registry. It didn’t make the cut thanks to its pale hue and prohibitive cost. I’m sure I’ll get a globe some day, and when I do I’m equally sure that I’ll whittle away countless hours looking at faraway cities in faraway countries and pretending they’re only a short spin away.

Lio (8/19/09)

This strip reminds me of a poem I read as a child wherein a street vendor made his living by selling a variety of less appetizing alternatives to ice cream. These included lice cream, rice cream, and even mice cream. Come to think of it, spice cream would be pretty sickening as well. Consider a big bowl of rocky road topped with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. The bowl would get even more vile with addition of hot seasonings like curry. It’s enough to make me long for the wonders of plain vanilla.

Lio (8/12/09)

Is it just me, or do Lio’s eyes seem a little bigger in the final panel? Maybe he’s hearing things from that skull that no living person was meant to hear. Maybe the skull belongs to Yorick from Hamlet and has floated from Denmark all the way to the Atlantic Coast. It may even have bobbed its way through the Great Lakes, depending on where Lio is set. What stories might Yorick have to tell after such a journey? Either harrowing and wondrous tales of life after death or dull anecdotes about plankton. From the rapt look on Lio’s face, I’m willing to bet it’s the former.