And, for that matter, of anyone with an opinion about dogs and other animals, computers, aging, Star Trek, airlines, Pokemon, or the Beatles. Cartoonist Mark Parisi’s pen scores a bullseye for almost every target in his Off the Mark series, syndicated online and in over 100 newspapers. Who else could get cartoonist Bil Keane (of Family Circus fame), whom Parisi gently scoffed in a comic or two, to write a forward to his first book?

Parisi’s frequent forays into the feline world have garnered enough attention to be compiled into his current book, Think Outside the Cat Box, just released by Plan Nine Publishing of High Point, N.C.  “I grew up with a grumpy cat that I loved,” says Parisi, 39, who lives in Melrose, Mass, “and since I met my wife, we've had cats with all different personalities, so I’m constantly exposed to ideas.” His readers give him plenty of feedback about his cat cartoons, as well as his other work, thanks to the interactive ability of his Web site. “It’s great to hear which cartoons are hitting – and occasionally which ones are missing – as well as hear what people want to read about.”

Although his cartoons are not overtly political, he says, “sometimes they are misinterpreted by newspapers, some of which put my cartoons on the editorial page.” 

Parisi has been drawing “since I can remember.” A lifelong native of Massachusetts, he grew up reading Mad Magazine, Peanuts, and Larson cartoons. (His childhood dog, in fact, was a beagle named Peanuts.)

His doodling led him to a career in graphic design, for which he received a degree from Salem Sate College. But when he first met his wife, Lynn, his doodling fascinated her. “I told her I'd always wanted to be a cartoonist, and she said, 'Why don't you?'”

That simple suggestion inspired the first Off the Mark cartoons in 1987. Cartooning part time while working for a small weekly newspaper, Parisi honed his skills and humor. Along the way, he supplied the cartoons for a book titled Cats Are From Jupiter, Dogs are From Pluto,  published by Pocketbooks, a division of Simon and Schuster.

In 1995, he became a cartoonist on a full-time basis, and his wife, Lynn, who was in marketing, became his marketing manager. Together, the two founded Atlantic Features Syndicate for Off the Mark, giving Parisi control over his comic panel. In 1997, he stepped into cyberspace with his own Web site, www.offthemark.com. Today, his cartoon panels have readers not only in the United States but also all over the world.