Geek of the Week: Mark Tatulli, Cartoonist Behind Heart of the City & Lio

Mark Tatulli is an internationally syndicated cartoonist that is best known for his two comic strips: LIO and HEART OF THE CITY. He has also been working in Philadelphia since 1982.

While Tatulli has gained much notoriety from his cartoons, he also works full time at Center City Film and Video, a production house in Center City. This was the first year that Tatulli was invited to San Diego Comic Con as a guest. I had the chance to ask Mark a few questions for this week’s Geek of the Week.

You have two very different cartoons (HEART OF THE CITY + LIO) in syndication. Tell me about them.

MARK TATULLI: Both strips speak of very different sides of my personality. One is script-driven and more traditional (HEART), and one is all action with no dialogue and leans toward the darker (LIO). But both are “kid strips,” which tells you a little something about what the two sides of my personality tend to find interesting.

You set HEART OF THE CITY in Philadelphia. What is your connection to Philly?

MARK TATULLI: I’ve worked in Philadelphia on-and-off since 1982. I love this city and I know it like the back of my hand. It seemed to me that to set HEART in a real city would make her more believable. And what better city than the one I know and love!

Plus, I always loved the MADELINE books when I was a kid, especially how it was set in a whimsical-looking Paris . I wanted to do the same thing with HEART. For a long while HEART OF THE CITY ran daily in the Philadelphia Daily News and Sunday in the Inquirer.

The Daily News eventually cut a full page of comics, and HEART was one to go (along with all the other features from Universal Press, my syndicate, except for GARFIELD). And The Inquirer ended up replacing the HEART Sunday with another local person’s strip, Signe Wilkinson’s “Family Tree”. I’m not sure what the thought process was there, but editors never consult with cartoonists when making decisions, especially dumb ones.

When do you cartoon?

MARK TATULLI: No, it is not a full-time job, though it was for four years. But with the collapse of the economy in 2008 threatening my income as newspapers became threatened, I got concerned with having all my eggs in one basket, especially the newspaper basket. So I went back into the video post-production business as a precaution. And I must say, I missed it greatly and do love it. I love both my jobs, but cartooning takes place after the day job and on the weekends.

We noticed some zombie themes in your cartoons. What do you think of the obsession with Zombies right now? Overkill or just enough? What’s your favorite zombie movie (new and modern)?

MARK TATULLI: I love Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. I love the mindlessness of zombies, but I’m waiting for a more sympathetic portrayal. It’s not like they want to be obsessed with eating brains.

What’s your favorite STAR WARS movie? Who’s your favorite character?

MARK TATULLI: That’s a dumb question…anybody who knows anything about STAR WARS knows the best one is THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Frankly, I’m sort of insulted…almost as if you were testing me.

As for favorite character, I’d have to say Wedge Antilles. He’s in all three movies and he kills an AT-AT Walker. He’s totally cool and an unsung hero. And Wedge leaves Luke to fight the death star all by himself…and he doesn’t even look back!