Customer Reviews

Heart Of The City

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a world where the comic pages have become increasing trite and bland, Mr. Tatulli's Heart of the City is both a surprise and a delight. The characters (Heart, her Mom, her friends) are complex and funny, but most of all believable. No other comic characters are more alive than Heart of the City's, and this first book refects that.

Not since early Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) and early Amend (Foxtrox) have I been this pleased with a comic book.

This one is a winner. Don't miss it.

Mark Tatulli enticed me from the beginning a year ago with this insightful character and I've been hooked ever since. The comic stays fresh, warm, witty and a delight in my day. Mr. Tatulli is gifted with an incredible imagination that brings the characters to life for me in a way no other writer has since the early work of Lynn Johnston. This first book is a treasure trove of fun family reading.

Kudos to Mark Tatulli for a wonderful book - I look forward with anticipation to many more.

What a CHARMING little comic strip!!! But it's so sad it isn't printed anywhere except in this nifty little book that I suddenly came upon at my college bookstore. Drawn in this adorable, whimsical cartoony style rather like Calvin and Hobbes (ooh...how I HATE imitations, but this seems to work here), it's all about a very spunky little girl who likes to dress up, play make-believe, dance in a glittery pink tutu and ragged stockings, bawl at sad movies on the tube, and tease her divorced mom about getting another man! Very girlish, yet it's got plenty of wit and a very insightful view about what it's like to be a single young mother living by herself with an very imaginative child and her hyperactive buddies in the very middle of a city as well as those terrific movie take-offs (especially of Star Wars) featuring our plucky young heroine in her famous demin bonnet and ballerina slippers!

My newspaper doesn't carry Heart. I ran into her by accident on Amazon.com, and Boy! am I glad I did.

Heart is a little girl living in Philadelphia with her single mom. She is sloppy like Calvin, and she has a fierce imagination, too. But she lives in the real world with her real friend Kat from the next apartment and her real "roly-poly lady" babysitter and her real dance class and her real homework. She's basically a good kid, although inclined to be messy. She'd rather play dress-up than study. She likes the theater, and has been known to practice her tap dancing on the coffee table.

Heart isn't as gritty as Stone Soup and while it has its sentimental moments, it isn't as touchingly honest as For Better or For Worse, but it is really good fun. I kind of wish I lived next door to this family, especially when they pull out the junk food and tissues for a chick-flick video fest. This is a family with a lot of love and good humour, and you will have a good time visiting with them.

You know how you stumble on a comic strip and then, it just worms its way into your life? That's Heart of the City. Tatulli comes at everyday life with a velvet hammer. And at a time when many strips are drawn in styles that hurt rather than help the content, Heart has a cartooning style that meshes perfectly with its temperment. And as for Tatulli's content: He gets it. He really gets it. This guy just has to have kids because the honesty and cleverness of life pours from his strip. Forget just buying one for yourself, this is a neat gift for someone you want to make smile.

I've never been a big comic strip fan. The only ones I've really liked were Calvin and Hobbes (I live in a fantasy world), Foxtrot (I'm a geek), and Garfield (I'm lazy). When my boyfriend Phillip pre-ordered this book and waited eagerly for its arrival, I wondered what the fuss was all about. But when I got my hands on it, my goodness, it got me hooked. It's incredibly funny, and the characters come to life with Mark Tatulli's artwork. I finished the whole book in two sittings, even before Phillip did ;-) And Mark, if you're reading this, great job! You've got a new fan :-D

I recently stumbled across "Heart of the City" at my local library. After a few pages in, I fell in love with it. There are obvious tangents towards Calvin and Hobbes in the style (Heart's mom looks like a more cartoonish version of Calvin's mom), humor and comic timing as well as Baldo (Heart reminded me a lot of Baldo's younger sister both in looks and personality). It doesn't matter to me though that it has a very similar look and feel to Calvin and Hobbes because it's good in its own right.

Right at the onset, the characters are well developed with distinct personalities that are all equally lovable. I especially liked the Star Wars nut, Dean. (I also loved Heart's picking apart Episode 1, extremely accurate too!) The style is just right. It's cartoonish enough to get great exaggerated expressions on the characters and feeling much more alive than many of the rotten comic strips filling up newspapers nowadays (Zits and Fox Trot notwithstanding).

I was shocked to find this book was published in 2000 and here I am finding out about it in mid-2003. Heart of the City is such a great comic strip that I'm surprised it isn't bigger than it is. Congratulations Mark Tatulli, you've made this 26 year old guy a fan of a little girl named Heart.

I remember reading Heart of the City back when it first came out. I was so anxiously awaiting the release of the first book. When I got the book, I didn't realize how many strips I had missed. I don't get the Sunday Versions, so it was nice to read all of those. Heart is very witty and all of the other characters have their strengths. There are many references to Disney films, Star Wars, Titanic, Wizard of Oz and certain toys. Mark's attention to detail is excellent. Quoting Star Wars exactly word for word. I really love this book and hope you do also. Keep up the good work, Mark. I can't wait for the second book.

The adventures of Heart, her friends and her single mom are so true to life. The comic strip is imaginative, inventive and extremely entertaining. A great book for parents and kids!

If your into Comics try this great story of a Little Girl named "Heart" living in Philadelphia, her single mom, housekeeper Mrs Angelina and her "Star Wars" super-science geek friend Dean. A most enjoyeable Comic collection from the comic strip featured in the NY Post daily.