Love is

照例，千日谈里，应该只是一天一位人物
但今天，用了一个漫画的名字
因为，这牵扯的是一段爱情，一个家庭

相信这个漫画，不会有人陌生
两个可爱小人，述说什么是爱，浪漫得无可救药
漫画故事的后面，也浪漫得无可救药

love is 在1960年代末问世
起初，这只是 Kim Grove画给她未来先生Roberto Casali 的爱情小画片
love note, 你可以把它翻译为爱情便条或爱情备忘录

Kim Grove出生于新西兰，19岁离家旅游世界
25岁在美国加州生活，在洛杉矶的滑雪俱乐部遇见Roberto

Roberto把Kim的画全留下来，并给朋友看，后来给报业界的人看
在他的鼓励下，Kim开始专心卡通画

1970年1月5号，love is 开始通过报业辛迪加在报刊上发表
1972年2月9号，Love Is...being able to say you are sorry被发表是里程碑
从此，love is 开始非常流行

1971年他们结婚了，搬到英国
Roberto成了Kim 经济人
有了2个可爱的儿子 Stefano和Dario
Kim一直喜欢旅行，家后来还住过法国和摩洛哥

但，1975年，Roberto 罹患癌症去世
用冷冻精子，Kim在他去世后怀上了第3个孩子Milo

love is 就这样继续着，到了1997年6月，Kim在55岁也离世

他们的儿子Stefano Casali 辞去广告业的工作
专心继承了love is （Stefano Casali 本身也有自己的专栏漫画）
Dario 和 Milo是视屏游戏设计人，比如The Plutonia Experiment

所以说那两个可爱小人，背后是一段爱情和一个家庭

这大约是世界上最可爱的天体主义者了
两个小朋友都是不穿衣服的
在英国，nude不是被接受的，于是1980年开始，love is 在 Mail on Sunday开始连载时，两位小朋友统统穿上了衣服
英国人的对nudism的抵抗，不失为一种幽默！



The "Love is..." cartoon is making a come-back to the comics pages, to the delight of dedicated fans and new readers.

The Creation of the "Love is..." Cartoons

New Zealand-born Kim Grove left at age 19 to travel the world. In 1967, she was 25 and living in California. She met her future husband, Roberto Casali, at a Los Angeles ski club. At that time, Kim drew sketches of her funny episodes on the slopes. Roberto encouraged her to continue and she did, expressing her love for him in little cartoons. Kim and Roberto were married in 1971.

Roberto saved Kim's love notes, and showed them to his friends, as well as the Los Angeles Times, who picked up the panel for publication. "Love is..." became a syndicated cartoon on January 5, 1970. It was picked up by papers in 50 countries in 25 languages. It was printed on mugs, t-shirts, calendars and much more.

Kim did not feel she was an artist or a cartoonist. In the September 1981 Cartoonist Profiles magazine, Kim said, "If I'd had a choice, I would have become a writer of romantic songs. Songs about love affected me deeply . . . I didn't become a songwriter so I had to express myself in another once the real thing happened to me."

"Love is..." in the 1970s

Six months after their wedding, the Casalis moved to England. Kim gave birth to sons Stefano and Dario. Her cartoon continued to grow and Roberto became her business manager. Kim was sometimes put on the spot to defend her cartoon, as some people felt the comic depicted "women as childish, simple-minded dependents whose function is to serve man."

In 1975, Roberto was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. He opted for surgery and treatment in hopes of extending his life. That same year, Kim and Roberto hired prolific British cartoonist Bill Asprey to manage "Love is...," leaving Kim free to do the writing.

During Roberto's poor health, Roberto and Kim decided to try for another child, but without success. Instead, they stored samples of Roberto's semen for later use. Only months later, Roberto passed away. Kim was devastated . After months of unsuccessful attempts, Kim finally became pregnant with Roberto's child. Milo was born on July 10, 1977, when Kim was 31.

The Cartoon Continues After Kim's Death

The popularity of "Love is ..." dropped off in the late '80s and 90s. Sadly in 1997 at age 55, after a short illness, Kim Casali passed away at her home in Surrey, England. Her oldest son, Stefano, stepped in to guide the "Love is..." business.
Stefano had made a career in advertising, working for Saatchi and Saatchi, and Leo Burnett, creating ads for Samsung, Gillette and McDonald's. While still employed as an ad executive, he dove into "Minikim," his mother's company, after her death. He left his job in 1999 to take full control of "Minikim."
As a ghost-cartoonist, Bill Asprey has drawn "Love is..." for almost 30 years. He also has his own syndicated comic strip, "Aphrodite," and a second strip taken from Roald Dahl's "Big Friendly Giant" book, called "BFG". It ran for 12 years in The Mail on Sunday in England.

"Love is..." is now undergoing modernization. The Tribune Media Service continues to publish it in over 100 newspapers, only 1/3 of which are in the United States. It is read in 34 countries and in 15 different languages. Traditional and modern "Love is..." panels can be found on merchandise such as toiletries, clothing, gift items, wedding invitations, mobile telephone covers and in books world-wide.