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Mark Tatulli, cartoonist, motivational speaker

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Mike Lynch has posted a motivational review of Mark Tatull’s rise as a comic strip cartoonist that was first posted on The Wisenheimer.

So what’s the point of all this? Well, back in ’97 I thought it was all over. I had to give up my dream out of necessity. Sales weren’t there and there was no money and it was too much work, the same reality so many of us face in this crazy business. So I stopped that strip … but not the dream. It wasn’t the end. Great things were to come because I was a cartoonist with passion and determination. And while now I would never recommend to anyone to start comic stripping for a living (it’s just too much of a crap shoot to become successful, and I had the benefit of good timing … but then again, you never know), it’s never over when it’s over. There are so many opportunities for cartoonists. And you’re never too old. I was 43 when I launched LIO, a lot older than the average mook just getting started in the comics-biz. But it took 10 years to get here. The simple truth is you just have to believe in yourself. Today ends, but tomorrow starts something new and better.

Go read the whole thing.

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Comments 4

  1. I saw Mark give this same speech poolside at the Ritz Carlton Reubens weekend in Orlando last May to me and Dave Coverly. He had about 6 frozen daquiris , a bottle of chianti and 4 strawberry cosmopolitans as he went on and on blathering about this and that, foaming and drooling from the mouth at one point and then passing out face down in a pool of his own vomit with his pants around his ankles mumbling something about sockless loafers and a Stephan Pastis fetish. Tony Robbins he is not.

  2. I think your memory is a bit faulty, Mr. Stromoski. It was a Pinot Noir.

  3. It’s a good thing that you didn’t quit after “Bent Halos,” Mark, because I really like both Heart and Lio.

    My paper runs “Heat of the City” but not “Lio,” which is suppose is unusual since most places it’s probably the other way around. Anyway, I think that “Heart” is great — engaging storylines, vibrant characters, and some good gags. One of my favorite recent storylines probably was the long series where Heart and Dean pursued the fruit bandit, only to find out that it was Heart’s friend, who was feeding a fruit bat that was a stray, so to speak.

    As for “Lio,” what more is there to say about it that hasn’t already been said? It’s brilliant, it’s hilarious, it’s beautifully drawn, and unbelievably clever, and it may be the best new comic strip of this decade. I read it online avidly and I only wish it was in my paper. I am going to write to them and suggest replacing “Sunshine Club,” which is ending due to the death of its creator, with “Lio.”

    Thanks for these excellent comics. Keep up the good work on both!

  4. It’s stories like these that fill me with both dread and excitement. I couldn’t be happier that it worked out for Mark, because now we all have a great new comic strip that is (as I read today) HUGE in Asia.

    I know conventional wisdom says those who make a living as cartoonists are an endangered species, but I can’t think of a better way in which to tell a story than comics. It truly is a beautiful thing.

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