Love Is...

 is a comic strip created by New Zealand cartoonist Kim Casali (née Grove) in the 1960s.[1]

[2]
 The cartoons originated from a series of love notes that Grove drew for her future husband,
Roberto Casali. They were published in booklets[2] in the late 1960s before appearing in strip form in
a newspaper in 1970, under the pen name "Kim". They were syndicated soon after and the strip is
syndicated worldwide today by Tribune Content Agency.[1] One of her most famous drawings, "Love
Is...being able to say you are sorry", published on February 9, 1972, was marketed internationally for
many years in print, on cards and on souvenirs. The beginning of the strip coincided closely with the
1970 film Love Story. The film's signature line is "Love means never having to say you're sorry." At
the height of their popularity in the early to mid 1970s, the cartoons were earning Casali around five
to six million dollars annually.[3]
Roberto Casali was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1975 and Kim stopped working on the cartoon
to spend more time with him. Casali commissioned London-based British cartoonist Bill Asprey to
take over the writing and drawing of the daily cartoons for her, under her pen name.[4] Asprey has
produced the cartoon continuously since 1975.[5] Upon her death in 1997, Casali's son Stefano took
over Minikim, the company which handles the intellectual rights.
The strip appears daily except Sunday.
ove Is... is a single-frame strip. The caption for each strip begins with the phrase "love is..." in the
upper left corner, with the thought completed at the bottom, below an illustration, usually of the man
and the woman who are the main characters. Each strip is independent of those before and after;
there are no ongoing storylines.
The two main characters are a man and a woman, drawn simply with oversize heads and eyes.
They are typically depicted unclothed, unless clothing is needed for the scene depicted, such as a
military uniform for the man, or an apron for the woman. The figures have no primary or
secondary sexual features shown other than the woman having dots for nipples. He is identified by
his short black hair, and she by her light waist-length hair. The characters have been featured in
various stages of romance: just meeting, dating, as a young married couple, and in old age.
Although not usually named, a 1974 strip identifies the woman as "Kim",[6] and a 1971 strip has her
writing the letter "R" in the beach sand: both references to original cartoonist Kim Casali and her
husband Roberto.
The strip occasionally includes members of the couple's family. Their two children may appear as
either infants or pre-teens. The gray-haired elderly parents of either partner are also seen. Pet dogs
and cats have appeared, sometimes deceased to illustrate love for a lost pet. Friends and others
occasionally appear, generally distinguished from the main characters by their hair color and style.
Although the strip generally deals with personal relationship issues, sometimes there are messages
related to environment conservation and teaching their kids lessons about the environment. In one of
the strips the characters are shown campaigning to save children.