Well, yes and no. When I was a kid, the Greats were still around and in the funny papers… Harold Gray, Walt Kelly, Chester Gould… The comics pages weren’t micro-sized. And you didn’t have to go online to find them.
From the various links posted here I can see that the art style will change drastically. Whether or not the stories and jokes do the same is yet to be seen.
I just hope the comments do not become an old fogies complaint page like Alley Oop. They closed the comments to that strip because too many were there to just say “It was better in the olden days,” and “Read my Alley Oop fan fiction.” I would hope the readers of Heart are more intelligent and more generous than that. Looking forward to Monday. Steenz has her own style. Give her a chance. You’ll be surprised.
Started reading Hart when she started first grade…So funny, she imagined her teacher was a monster. Kept that toon on refrigerator for years. Wish I hadn’t thrown it out all those memories ago.
I started this strip just before I started 2nd grade. I am about to graduate high school. This strip was with me through those important years and I will carry it with me into the future!
I’m saddened by the transition. The quick move to middle school & the interpretation of Heart as a pre-teen was a shock. C’mon, this isn’t a soap opera…kids grow slower than this representation.
3 months ago, I started reading this strip from the earliest one available, Jul 1, 1999. With this, I have read all of Mark Tatulli’s run on HotC that’s available on GoComics. It’s time for the VERDICT.
The Good: there were always comparisons between this strip and Calvin & Hobbes, and I think part of that is the art. That’s not a bad thing of course; we only had 9-10 years of that art before it ended. I certainly became interested in HotC because it reminded me so much of C&H, and I enjoyed it throughout.
The setting was also good. I can’t think of many strips about a single mom and her daughter, and I enjoyed in earlier years Heart and Addy talking about the past. I also thought Angelini was a good character to give Heart insight about Philly’s past.
What I enjoy most about Heart the character is her desire to shine. I always assumed that the name of the strip was a reference to a future where she, in some way, becomes an important figure to Philadelphia. I know that’s just my head cannon.
The Bad: DEAN. Seriously, I don’t even hate the idea of the character. But he just took up so much screen time. That’s time we could have spent with Heart and Addy, Angelini, or Kat. Especially Kat, Heart’s so-called best friend who was constantly omitted from stories. We spent so much time with Dean that I became convinced that Mark wanted to call this strip Dean & Heart or something.
Then there’s the dream and story sequences that come from nowhere or go nowhere. These dragged on, especially in the last 2 years, and never had some kind of relevant payoff. I also didn’t enjoy storylines that seemed important and just ended: Addy’s potential boyfriends; Heart learning about her father; various kooky characters in and around Heart’s apartment that she’s met. Bear in mind, I’m fine with Heart’s father never appearing in the strip, but there was a hint of them possibly meeting after Heart tried to give him a gift. It’s ok to close that off for good.
The Mixed: I think the decision to have Heart enter middle school was a good one. For many years, the strip felt so one-note. Same summer gags, same messy room gags, same star wars references. Mark could have built on the setting by following up with characters pre-established or having Heart visit more locations in the city, but he didn’t. The change to middle school was a way to force things to shake up, even though it came after an awful dream sequence. I don’t mind it was contrived, though. :)
But then we didn’t spend much time in the school. There were more story sequences after dream sequences, or vice versa. It felt like Mark lost interest in the story; there was plenty to tell. I criticize the Kat v Heart storyline from 2018 because Kat’s character was too undeveloped for it to have the emotional weight it should. Nevertheless, if the pieces had been there, I know that story would have killed.
One thing Mark set up was Heart giving up on dance and acting to explore creative writing. I was a bit disappointed because the tutu and her random dancing were pretty iconic to Heart. That doesn’t make this change bad. The problem is that although Heart’s interest in Dance was a major part of the strip in the beginning, it was followed by years where we just didn’t see her in any dance related stories. If that’s how her previous interest ended, why would we expect anything of this new interest? Though admittedly, he did add more strips of Heart writing stories.
Conclusion: it’s a good strip. I wouldn’t have gone through the whole thing if I didn’t like it. The problems I have with it are legitimate, but there is a lot to like here even if it didn’t work for me. As of now, a collection of all the strips isn’t available. I hope it will be, because this run has earned it. Thanks for the laughs, Mark.
Barring a few exceptions like Loose Parts and Nancy, no they don’t still got it. The Sunday funnies are a forsaken wasteland of zombie strips (or strips that aren’t zombies but just aren’t very good) that rely either on telling the same unfunny, on-the-nose, and stale kinds of jokes over and over again or on hamfisted complaints about how young people aren’t as good as older generations and about how society sucks. And the aging reader base of newspapers demand that such dreck as Garfield be kept in the papers, while newspapers fill empty spots with 50-year-old Peanuts reruns or other zombie strips instead of making way for new creators. The syndicates just let these zombie comics keep going and going for who-knows-why when they should just put them out of their misery. And even when new creators do get syndicated, they still have to deal with the constraints of the newspaper format, restricting dailies to only a few panels and Sundays to however many will fit in a rectangle (usually). They also have to worry about papers dropping their strip for, you guessed it, legacy comics like Garfield and reruns of Peanuts. The biggest upside I can think of to being syndicated is getting paid for cartooning – that’s pretty cool. But beyond that, webcomics are where the good stuff is. Webcomics are the future.
codycab over 4 years ago
Especially during this time.
boydpercy Premium Member over 4 years ago
There’s many more on-line.
pschearer Premium Member over 4 years ago
That final Tatulli Sunday “Heart”? Or maybe not quite yet. Tune in tomorrow.
P51Strega over 4 years ago
Thank you Mark for this wonderful journey with Heart, Dean, and the rest.
Mark Tatulli for Reals creator over 4 years ago
My last daily strip was yesterday, but my HEART Sundays will run through May 17
Russell Bedford over 4 years ago
Wow, Mark, without Heart the only Philly tie in is Jump Start…sigh
asrialfeeple over 4 years ago
Not much as a way to say “Farewell”, but at least we got to see her cute feet again.
trainnut1956 over 4 years ago
Well, yes and no. When I was a kid, the Greats were still around and in the funny papers… Harold Gray, Walt Kelly, Chester Gould… The comics pages weren’t micro-sized. And you didn’t have to go online to find them.
Yakety Sax over 4 years ago
All I can say is if the new cartoon artist changes Heart of the City like the person who took over Nancy, I will lose another old friend…
some idiot from R'lyeh Premium Member over 4 years ago
I’m not sure if it’s been posted, but Steenz has posted some thoughts on her character designs a few days ago:
https://twitter.com/oheysteenz/status/1252647951442345986
I’m ready for it.
Jan C over 4 years ago
From the various links posted here I can see that the art style will change drastically. Whether or not the stories and jokes do the same is yet to be seen.
Teto85 Premium Member over 4 years ago
I just hope the comments do not become an old fogies complaint page like Alley Oop. They closed the comments to that strip because too many were there to just say “It was better in the olden days,” and “Read my Alley Oop fan fiction.” I would hope the readers of Heart are more intelligent and more generous than that. Looking forward to Monday. Steenz has her own style. Give her a chance. You’ll be surprised.
jr1234 over 4 years ago
Started reading Hart when she started first grade…So funny, she imagined her teacher was a monster. Kept that toon on refrigerator for years. Wish I hadn’t thrown it out all those memories ago.
DukeDiamond over 4 years ago
I WISH the comics section was multiple pages still. Those were the days!
Bill Löhr Premium Member over 4 years ago
I hope the archive is going to remain here.
enchantedtk over 4 years ago
Well thank you Mark. I’ll probably stick around for Steenz, but will look at it as a new adventure, not my Heart. Thanks for the years of joy.
funnies09 Premium Member over 4 years ago
I started this strip just before I started 2nd grade. I am about to graduate high school. This strip was with me through those important years and I will carry it with me into the future!
PeterJ.Stein over 4 years ago
I’m saddened by the transition. The quick move to middle school & the interpretation of Heart as a pre-teen was a shock. C’mon, this isn’t a soap opera…kids grow slower than this representation.
TPFSA over 4 years ago
Dear Teto 25 like your opinion. Steenz style of doing Heart of the City is just garbage! Sincerely an old fogey.
Txgirl Premium Member over 4 years ago
I cannot find a reason why the change over, does anyone know?
Decepticomic over 3 years ago
3 months ago, I started reading this strip from the earliest one available, Jul 1, 1999. With this, I have read all of Mark Tatulli’s run on HotC that’s available on GoComics. It’s time for the VERDICT.
The Good: there were always comparisons between this strip and Calvin & Hobbes, and I think part of that is the art. That’s not a bad thing of course; we only had 9-10 years of that art before it ended. I certainly became interested in HotC because it reminded me so much of C&H, and I enjoyed it throughout.
The setting was also good. I can’t think of many strips about a single mom and her daughter, and I enjoyed in earlier years Heart and Addy talking about the past. I also thought Angelini was a good character to give Heart insight about Philly’s past.
What I enjoy most about Heart the character is her desire to shine. I always assumed that the name of the strip was a reference to a future where she, in some way, becomes an important figure to Philadelphia. I know that’s just my head cannon.
The Bad: DEAN. Seriously, I don’t even hate the idea of the character. But he just took up so much screen time. That’s time we could have spent with Heart and Addy, Angelini, or Kat. Especially Kat, Heart’s so-called best friend who was constantly omitted from stories. We spent so much time with Dean that I became convinced that Mark wanted to call this strip Dean & Heart or something.
Then there’s the dream and story sequences that come from nowhere or go nowhere. These dragged on, especially in the last 2 years, and never had some kind of relevant payoff. I also didn’t enjoy storylines that seemed important and just ended: Addy’s potential boyfriends; Heart learning about her father; various kooky characters in and around Heart’s apartment that she’s met. Bear in mind, I’m fine with Heart’s father never appearing in the strip, but there was a hint of them possibly meeting after Heart tried to give him a gift. It’s ok to close that off for good.
(to be continued)
Decepticomic over 3 years ago
The Mixed: I think the decision to have Heart enter middle school was a good one. For many years, the strip felt so one-note. Same summer gags, same messy room gags, same star wars references. Mark could have built on the setting by following up with characters pre-established or having Heart visit more locations in the city, but he didn’t. The change to middle school was a way to force things to shake up, even though it came after an awful dream sequence. I don’t mind it was contrived, though. :)
But then we didn’t spend much time in the school. There were more story sequences after dream sequences, or vice versa. It felt like Mark lost interest in the story; there was plenty to tell. I criticize the Kat v Heart storyline from 2018 because Kat’s character was too undeveloped for it to have the emotional weight it should. Nevertheless, if the pieces had been there, I know that story would have killed.
One thing Mark set up was Heart giving up on dance and acting to explore creative writing. I was a bit disappointed because the tutu and her random dancing were pretty iconic to Heart. That doesn’t make this change bad. The problem is that although Heart’s interest in Dance was a major part of the strip in the beginning, it was followed by years where we just didn’t see her in any dance related stories. If that’s how her previous interest ended, why would we expect anything of this new interest? Though admittedly, he did add more strips of Heart writing stories.
Conclusion: it’s a good strip. I wouldn’t have gone through the whole thing if I didn’t like it. The problems I have with it are legitimate, but there is a lot to like here even if it didn’t work for me. As of now, a collection of all the strips isn’t available. I hope it will be, because this run has earned it. Thanks for the laughs, Mark.
Steenz, let’s see what you’ve got.
benjnavarro28 9 months ago
You know what? I’d be pretty exhausted from doing 2 daily comic strips for 14 years too.
ElJorro 6 months ago
Indeed they do. That’s why we are here!
benjnavarro28 3 months ago
Barring a few exceptions like Loose Parts and Nancy, no they don’t still got it. The Sunday funnies are a forsaken wasteland of zombie strips (or strips that aren’t zombies but just aren’t very good) that rely either on telling the same unfunny, on-the-nose, and stale kinds of jokes over and over again or on hamfisted complaints about how young people aren’t as good as older generations and about how society sucks. And the aging reader base of newspapers demand that such dreck as Garfield be kept in the papers, while newspapers fill empty spots with 50-year-old Peanuts reruns or other zombie strips instead of making way for new creators. The syndicates just let these zombie comics keep going and going for who-knows-why when they should just put them out of their misery. And even when new creators do get syndicated, they still have to deal with the constraints of the newspaper format, restricting dailies to only a few panels and Sundays to however many will fit in a rectangle (usually). They also have to worry about papers dropping their strip for, you guessed it, legacy comics like Garfield and reruns of Peanuts. The biggest upside I can think of to being syndicated is getting paid for cartooning – that’s pretty cool. But beyond that, webcomics are where the good stuff is. Webcomics are the future.