History ComicStrip / Lio

** His TakeThat at ''{{Peanuts}}'' could be seen as more of an AffectionateParody, as in the first treasury, his comments leave the impression he has great respect for the strip.
** There's also [[http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2007/02/28 this strip]] where Lio sets out flowers for the ''FoxTrot'' dailies in a cemetery for comic strips that also includes ''BloomCounty'', ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', and ''TheFarSide''. Outside the cemetery, for contrast, there's a parade of comic strip characters who are still alive despite having long ago lost any relevance or humor they may once have had, including Nancy, ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS, and [[{{Blondie}} Dagwood]].

It should be noted that Tatulli also writes another published comic strip, ''HeartOfTheCity'', which is far more mainstream.

* GenreBusting: When you get right down to it, it's like nothing else in America. The closest it gets to "normal" is when it emulates ''CalvinAndHobbes'', but it's just as likely to resemble a Victorian morality fable mixed with SurrealHorror.

** There's also [[http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2007/02/28 this strip]] where Lio sets out flowers for the ''FoxTrot'' dailies in a cemetery for comic strips that also includes ''BloomCounty'', ''CalvinAndHobbes'', and ''TheFarSide''. Outside the cemetery, for contrast, there's a parade of comic strip characters who are still alive despite having long ago lost any relevance or humor they may once have had, including Nancy, ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS, and [[{{Blondie}} Dagwood]].

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lio100113.jpg
[[caption-width:379:Just another day...]]

* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Among others, Lio is friends with Death, Michael Meyers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, and a giant man-eating fish monster.

** There's also [[http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2007/02/28 this strip]] where Lio sets out flowers for the ''FoxTrot'' dailies in a cemetery for comic strips that also includes ''BloomCounty'', ''CalvinAndHobbes'', and ''TheFarSide''. Outside the cemetery, for contrast, there's a parade of comic strip characters who are still alive despite having long ago lost any relevance or humor they may once have had, including Nancy, DennisTheMenace, and [[{{Blondie}} Dagwood]].

* FluffyTamer: Just look at all of Lio's "pets" [[http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/lio/?sample=3&type=sunday in the upper strip]]. Then, look at [[{{Cloverfield}} what he's trying to get]] as a new one in the lower strip.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Despite his strange taste in pets, and His friendships with slasher movie icons, Lio is a decent kid at heart.

* MrImagination: Lio, although it plays a smaller role in the strip than you might think. Almost all the weird stuff that happens is explicitly real -- backed up by WordOfGod -- and it's completely unambiguous about the rare occasions where it isn't.

* ObviouslyEvil: Anyone who's an AssholeVictim is readily identifiable by having bad teeth.

** There's also a strip where Lio sets out flowers for the ''FoxTrot'' dailies in a cemetery for comic strips that also includes ''BloomCounty'', ''CalvinAndHobbes'', and ''TheFarSide''. Outside the cemetery, for contrast, there's a parade of comic strip characters who are still alive despite having long ago lost any relevance or humor they may once have had, including Nancy, DennisTheMenace, and [[{{Blondie}} Dagwood]].

** There's also a strip where Lio sets out flowers for the ''FoxTrot'' dailies in a cemetery for comic strips that also includes ''BloomCounty'', ''CalvinAndHobbes'', and ''TheFarSide''. Outside the cemetery, for contrast, there's a parade of comic strip characters who are still alive despite having long ago lost any relevance or humor they may once have had, including Nancy, DennisTheMenace, and [[{{Blondie Dagwood]].

** There's also a strip where Lio sets out flowers for the ''FoxTrot'' dailies in a cemetery for comic strips that also includes ''BloomCounty'', ''CalvinAndHobbes'', and ''TheFarSide''. Outside the cemetery, for contrast, there's a parade of comic strip characters who are still alive despite having long ago lost any relevance or humor they may once have had, including [[{{Nancy}} Nancy]], DennisTheMenace, and [[{{Blondie Dagwood]].

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Lio loves and is loved by all animals, from monsters, to squids, to bunnies. His tendency to automatically take the side of the animals in any animal vs. human situations does manage to backfire rather spectacularly on one occasion, when he's mugged by some baby ducks he just saved from a hunter.

* FluffyTamer: Just look at all of Lio's "pets" [[http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/lio/?sample=3&type=sunday in the upper strip]]. Then, look at [[{{Cloverfield}} what he's trying to get]] as a new one in the lower strip.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Lio was much more genuinely malevolent in the first few months than he'd end up being even as soon as later that year, doing things like setting up fake pinatas full of angry wasps or filling mascot costumes with the same more or less ForTheEvulz.

* DarkIsNotEvil:despite his strange taste in pets,and His friendships with slasher movie icons, Lio is a decent kid at heart