Lio by Mark Tatulli for December 24, 2009

Thank you for telling us what happened to Mom. I’ve long wondered.

Gotta love this strip.

Brings a tear to the eye.

Awwwww… Poor little Lio. Not even all the creepity crawlities in the world can really make up for something like that.

Awww. Such a good boy! Rest in eternal peace, Mom!

Thanks Mark. You are the best. I always wondered what happened to Lio’s Mom.

Would have been better if Lio’s Dad was with him.

Awww. Sniff Love ya’, Mom

:( But sweet.

I feel you Lio, I miss my Mom too. ;_;

Wow, very thoughtful. Way to go Lio.

it’s so cute!!!

It is touching. And I bet Dad goes there plenty often – with and without Lio.

Thanks, Mark. This strip helps those of us who are missing loved ones over the holidays.

Best. Strip. Ever.

Nice touch!

Love this strip more and more each day!

Now we know WHERE Lio’s Mother is. We don’t know WHAT happened. Accident? Illness? Died giving birth? Whatever the cause of death might be, it’s very sad that Lio’s Mother isn’t with the family, especially at Christmas.

Touche’ Mark…

Beautiful, such admirable restraint, to tell us now and this way. Thank you, Mark. We love you, Lio.

A great mind is usually one that has lost someone dear to them early on.

Willard, it’s what my elders told me when I was a young lad: “When you’re done living on this side, then it’s time for the good lord to take you onto the other side.” For those of who are atheists, scoff all you want!

This is why I love this strip, it can be so very silly but also it can be so touching at times

no my darling Muse is the athiest I am a pagan and i think it’s all the same god energy. different cultures gave it different names over the years. what gets me is why people want to commercialize it or fight over thier right to thier name for it being the only one that’s right.

beautifully wrought mark. i’ll be looking patiently forward to when you choose to reveal the HOW. (my guess is childbirth)

happy/merry whatever random holiday your society celebrates and if it’s one of the expensive ones blessings upon your pocketbooks.

Peace be with you.

snif

Thanks, Mark! Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Mark and thank you.

Mom’s not a zombie? What the heck?

Lovely, Mark. And Mom can know (at least I think she can) that Lio’s thinking about her, which is a gift in itself.

@lafantom: cheers!

Happy Christmas Eve, all. :)

Mark - Please issue a tissue alert when you do something like this.

To all those who want to know how: Truth is, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we know she passed away….when, why or how won’t change that fact. And I agree with all, this strip is the best! Brought a tear to my eye too!

I think that is the first time in this comic that Mark tellus about Lios mother.

Hey guys, dont need being sad, see Lio face, him is smiling.

(cdward said, about 4 hours ago

¨It is touching. And I bet Dad goes there plenty often – with and without Lio.¨)

I think that you are rigth. I think that was really tough for dad. :(.

Nothing new to add. Just weighing in to testify. This may be the best strip ever. Not just “Lio”, but any…I don’t even know what you’d call it but, comic certainly doesn’t describe it.

pd: MERRY CHRISTMAS FOR ALL LIO FANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAD A GOOD DAY TODAY AND HUG YOUR CHILDRENS,

THE BETTER GIFT IF A HUG AND A ¨I LOVE YOU¨ FROM PARENTS. THAT IS A UNFORGETTABLE GIFT.

I think this explains why Lio is the way he is. Bravo, Mark, Bravissimo!

Merry Christmas, Mark <3

Aw. That got me all teary. So sweet.

Good boy .

That is so poignant–and reminds me of how many kids are facing a holiday without a mom or dad, either because of military duty or for the same reason Lio is. Thanks, Mark, for the reminder.

I think I’ll go call my Mom. Thanks Mark. Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanks for showing some of the real Christmas other little ones go through….how melancholy.

This makes you appreciate the lo ved ones who are still with us. Hug someone everyday. MERRY CHRISTMAS hug,hug,hug

Poor Lio, I’ve never quite understood you and yet I see you everyday. Now I see a reason for why you are the way you are. There is still hope because you remember Mom and brought her flowers. And to batcweiss, this was a much better strip with Lio going alone, he lives his life mostly alone with his creatures real and imaginary. His dad doesn’t understand him. If he had gone with his dad we would have wondered if it was Lio’s idea or his dad’s idea to visit the grave.

Wow!

That is so sad. Lio is such a good boy.

I too am glad to know what happened to Lio’s mother. How very sad!!!! Bless you Lio!

My eyes!! My eyes!!

I LOVE YOU LIO!!!!

merry christmas eve!!!

What a quirky little sweetheart!

genious

Very nicely done Mark.

Aww, I love you, Lio!

Chilling.

Best strip in the history of print media.

Thanks Mark,

That will be me tomorrow except it is my Dad that I will be visiting. (May 2009) Like those comments above, it’s nice to see a strip that remembers that some of us will be remembering loved ones that are gone this Christmas in this way.

Mark

Good boy, Lio

This is a great strip. RIP Mrs. Lio.

To Mark and everyone who reads this: May God bless you and yours abundantly this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

My prayers are with those who are missing loved ones this holiday season. May God surround you with comfort, love, and peace.

Merry Christmas everyone!

It’s amazing just how much can be expressed without any words.

I’m there with you, Lio. I miss my mom, too.

Mark, that was powerful stuff — Thank you.

Merry Christmas!!

Wow…, just Wow…sniff, sniff…waahhh..I miss my mom too!

Merry Christmas!

And to the regulars such as Marg, Doctor Toon, Sisyphos and rac0308 (and many others)..I don’t comment often, but I always enjoy reading your comments! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year..

Awww, so sad. This strip made me tear up.

Thank you, Mark - this is simply wonderful.

This strip made me finally register - I had to say how touching I found this strip! Beautiful.

Very nice, and unexpected.

I want to know what he got for Cousin Bubbles though.

I always wondered about his mother…

This is a good Christmas strip for Lio.

Dear Mr. Tatulli:

Thank you for your touching strip. We really do not need to know how or why Lio’s mom passed away. just that he thinks of her in a loving manner.

thanks mark. this is the best strip going…got to wipe my eyes and blow my nose now…

to all: merry christmas!

A very heartfelt strip today.Thank you. A lot of the comments made me think of The Eskimo Legend.

The Eskimo Legend Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, But rather openings, where our loved ones shine down, To let us know They are happy.

Dad’s watching, & this is why he puts up with so much. They couldn’t go together because they’d just cry on eachother. Been there.

@Josh 1360 - Way to drag your petty bias into a simple, touching moment.

thi is such an amazing strip, thanks for telling us about his mom. <3

Wow…Mark really does have a heart…I think I’ll go visit my Mom’s grave now…

what a wonderful strip! thank you mark and merry Christmas! btw, i know it isn’t keeping with the melancholy mood of the strip, but i wonder what lio got his cousin bubbles…

Number 1 comic from Lio

Thanks to Mark

Having just lost my own beloved mom recently (though my mom was much older than Lio’s mom would have been, and we had known she was on borrowed time), I could certainly relate. What a lovely, poignant strip. Beautifully done, Mark!

well done…period.

That is so sad, but still sweet.

Lio is that little kid that lives in us all. The imagination the adventurer, the unstoppable spirit ,, thanks Mark, for everything.

First time a comic strip has ever brought me to tears

Good to see this strip isn’t always just funny; it has some depth to it also…

Whow! So much is explained in so short a story. Genius indeed.

Merry Christmas, Mark!

Marvelous.

I went to see my mother on an afternoon walk a few days ago myself. Sure it’s far from the house, but at least I visited her.

thats so sad. I am new to reading Lio, so this kinda caught me off guard.

My apologies for that bias remark this morning. But let’s just say that Mark Tatulli has put to rest (no pun intended) about what became of Lio’s mother. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you Mark, and to both of your strips, Heart Of The City and Lio.

Mark, with four little panels (plus the earlier lead-in) you have told a story worthy of a great novel. Congratulations.

What more can I say? sniff

Yes, yes, needed tissue alert for this one. I LOVE Lio!

Whoa, I didn’t see that coming and now I’ve a huge lump in my throat. Poor little Lio. I wanna give him a hug.

Mark you are indeed a gifted observer/commentator of life.

Mark, you touched us all today. Much love from me to you, and to all who posted.

Perfect.

i never saw it coming and i will never interpret lio’s actions in the same way again. no comic strip in my many years of reading comic strips ever hit as hard as this one. unbelievable. from now on, every time lio does something crazy, i will think of todays strip.

thanks for making me laugh for 364 days and cry for one. I take my mom an orange every christmas because back in the ‘20’s, that was her favorite gift growing up on the farm in canada

Mark - You said so much in this one strip. Thank you.

May everyone have a Merry Christmas, however you choose to celebrate.

This may be the best Christmas comic strip panel I have ever seen. Merry Christmas, Mark! Thanks for making us laugh and making us cry.

thanks kfaatz :)

Thank you. As someone who lost my dad when I was a kid, I’ve always kept the Father’s Day comic from Heart in the City, where Heart givers her mom flowers for the occasion. Now I will keep this Lio comic also. Well played, Mark, well played. (~in memory of Liam, 1979-2009~)

I’m just signing in to say:

BAAAAAAAAAAAAWWW ;_;

What an absolute heartbreaker. And one that obviously many can relate to in one way or another. Truly the best single installment of this strip, ever.

Mr. Tatulli,

A most poignant strip. It captured the breadth of feelings that the holidays bring out.

…….beautiful. Thanks Mark.

wow, never saw that coming…..shows what a sweet kid he really is.

i know what you mean Lio i miss mine too :(

God bless Lio

Poor lio….so sad! :( I LOVE U MOM!

Never EVER saw this coming Its pretty sad.

Lio is a very good boy that just happens to like different things; and there’s not a thing wrong with that.

May God bless all children without their parents on Christmas Day!

awww

RIP Loio’s mom.this made me cry a little.

Too bad Eva never found out.

DDDDDD:

Lucky me! Turning 70 this week and still have my mom. She’s still healthy and sound of mind!

An interesting, and moving, strip, since I hadn’t known about Lio’s mom. What a nice way to honor her, too, Lio. Well done.

Very touching

Knowing Lio, in panel 5 a skeleton hand is going to reach out and grab it.

T_T I want to cry. T_T

I want to cry right now :(

Today, 5 22 2021, Jerry gave us this link.