Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for April 08, 2013

I knew TJ would be the first to know, seeing as how he lives with Brad. Didn’t see it coming that TJ would have something of his own to spring on Brad!

Wouldn’t you think he would have gone home with Toni instead?

Okay… how can opening your own business be gianter than a friend’s wedding engagement?

TJ, you can’t just set up a restaurant in a residential zone, you know. Apparently, the rest of the Degroots will be learning about the engagement some time in March

If TJ is starting an eating place, Brad will never see him. TJ will probably buy/lease a building and live there. And by the way, it looks like it’s sunrise.

okay…this one had me rolling on the floor…

Well-played, Greg. Two great stories to follow at the same time.

First time I’ve stayed up this late (1:38 here in the eastern time zone).. zzzzz

Hope TJ’s going to live at the restaurant..cause I think Toni would rather he live elsewhere after she and Brad are married.

Hey has anyone picked up on how the characters are growing into grown people? Brad is getting married, and I am sureTJ will be very excited and happy. But did you check out the way TJ was dressed? Along with the new business? All these characters are going to the next stage of their lives. A number of story arcs are gong to go on to the next stage, or end. Not to worry though, it took what 7 or 8 years for the marriage proposal to finally happen? Maybe I am a little off on time, but inthe comic world things work at at slow, sublight speed. Anyway, waiting to see what happens next Greg.

at the end of the comic If you know what i mean!

An eatery ? A restaurant ? What are you people talking about ? it clearly says Cafe.

Nice logo!

Nope. They could possibly wind up in the sack together – but AE will never work for TJ.

I’m excited for both of them. That is a great looking logo for the restaurant. BTW, my niece has a restaurant and she named it after herself, Cafe Gia. I don’t think TJ will be pulling the stunts that he did at WW, at his own restaurant.

well, #1: We now know those lights were just lights, when they were driving.

FIRST THOUGHT that came to MY fragile mind!.{No, not Ann Awful!)

To be fair to TJ…he doesn’t actually KNOW his best friend just got engaged.

He’s too good a ‘salesman’ to steal thunder like that if he knew.

TJ and Brad share their giant plans. What good buddies do. Twists? Luann et al can get jobs! New characters show up? A place to meet and be while everyone transitions into college. Music and singing. Luann sings there in her free time while working on play productions at the local community college. It will be the hub of activity. My predictions.

Giantly convenient! TJ will be moving out to a second-floor apartment over his new restaurant, and Brad and Toni will be given the old property as a wedding present and as their new home!

It looks like TJ is going to be too busy to be best man.

Gee, I wonder what TJ’s gianter news could possibly be.

Sorry TJ. Nice try though.

Cafe TJ. – has a nice ring to it.

But she did do a few things to some of TJ’s friends. I have no problem with TJ being that “instrument of justice” for all of them.

Nice logo.

Wait, Wait, Wait, You’re OUT of breath so let Me HELP You here Brad:

“TJ? Toni and I are FINALLY getting MARRIED and WE are gonna be Kicking YOUR SORRY As* OUT!!! NOW. What’s YOUR Giant News???”

There. See how EASY that Was?

I guess this is the announcement that Sheriff Mordecai was talking about. ha ha, I thought Toni was with child.

Sorry TJ, but Brads news is gianter!

It’s clear that, for whatever reasons, you simply don’t like the TJ character. That’s fine. I won’t waste any time arguing with you over him. I admit I haven’t been a part of the Luanniverse as long as perhaps, you, but whenever I’ve seen TJ scheme/scam, etc., it’s never been with the intent to screw over his peers/friends, etc. It just happens to end up that way, often…

Unlike AE, who I think would sell out her own mother if it were to her advantage. The only thing she has going for her is her looks. Thankfully, I learned that lesson many years ago (i.e. not to be a victim of the “physical attraction” trap). And, besides, she won’t have them for much longer. I guess she has to use them while she can.

>it might be catering only at first, which some >states allow to be done from a residence.

True… I guess we’ll see. But I’m hoping for the “WW Takeover” scenario. There needs to be a “gathering place” for the gang after HS. And I just don’t see TJ as the “loner” chef, slaving over his own oven in a lonely kitchen. He needs the interaction benefits of having people around him.

You have to admit that TJ has a nice logo though.

Aw, the boys are growing up!

States, sure…but this is a rental house. I assume he’d need permission from Brad’s parents to do anything like that?

I do like TJ’s logo. It’s got pizzazz!

Wow, I must be tired. Reading through the comments, I got confused when people mentioned TJ’s “gianter” remark. I had to go back and read it again, because the first time, I read “Mine’s a giant giveaway.” I mixed up “way” and “giant” (and dropped the “er”)- but where did “givea” even come from?

Some of you have to realize that just because you get engaged, it does not mean that you start having sex. That is one of the sacred elements that makes a marriage special, otherwise you just cheapen it. I don’t care what perverted fantasies you have regarding comic characters, don’t assume everyone wants to see immorality.

LOL :)

I have a feeling that there is going to be a conflict of interests here involving Brad’s engagement to Toni! TJ will want Brad as his partner, while Toni will want Brad to cut ites with TJ to devote time to them raising a family!

Yes, Brad was on the clock — as an employee of the store, not intendedto be her personal servant. Thus she was stealing from her employer.-She mischarged customers, thus stealing from them.- She was mean to sweet little Shannon, thus mistreating innocent darling chilluns.-She attempted to get Oxford to perjure himself, thus attempting to defraud the justice system, steal from the helpless and take advantage of what she considered the retarded.-She lied to our dear friend, TJ.- Your attitude that it’s okay to be a bully if the helpless allow it doesn’t shine the best light on your otherwise illustrious self.

This is great news. They both are moving on with their lives. Brad is getting married. TJ is starting a business that he’s great at.

Win-win.

It rhymes, nice!

@buccaneerI certainly respect your right to promote abstinence before marriage, but it is condemning to call it immoral. Many people feel that sex before marriage is wise and healthy. Over 90% of intendeds have premarital sex and most, i am sure, go on to live productive, fairly moral lives.

Nah, TJ. I can think of only one thing that could top “Bwad’s” announcement, and it ain’t opening a restaurant.

I think TJ has already arranged for his own place that is not weenie world and not their home.

Chill, people. It’s just a banner. I like the logo. TJ better be ready for some early mornings and a LOT of standing, though. Running a restaurant is a lot harder than it looks. The early mornings come from getting to the wholesale markets to select the best ingredients (fish, meat, vegs, etc.), and the thankless hours on one’s feet, oy! This might, however, be an opportunity to introduce a new character, an imperious chef of some sort. TJ won’t be able to do all the cooking itself.

@mikeyj: You are so right about opening a restaurant in a residential neighborhood. One “establishment” in my old neighborhood in downtown Baltimore did just that, in clear violation of zoning laws. The increase in trash, rats, roaches, and shady characters, and the decrease in already scant parking, were unmistakeable. That’s the main reason I left after 18 years.

Oh Goodness!!! What was I thinking???

LOL!!!!!

Like I say, “eye of the interpreter…”

Remember, this is still the night of April 1st.

That’s possible.

I would take.a bad guy character over worthless characters like Tiffany or Gunther.

I agree it could easily be past midnight, but TJ is still awake and not at all groggy. I seriously doubt he stayed up all night to tell his news. I’m suggesting that Cafe TJ could be a joke, but I doubt that as well.

Wow! Thanks, Team Evans, for throwing us another surprise!*I was going to comment today on the possible wedding party, seeing Toni might want to ask Luann to be maid of honor but Luann is too young to be a legal witness. Reciprocating, Brad would offer to let Toni’s brother be his best man, and when flaky Jonah failed to appear, TJ would fill in.*But no need to go there now! No maudling Monday here, folks.*Note that Brad is apparently at home, and the Cafe sign is hung in his house. Has TJ bought the house, turning it into a cafe, and evicting Brad?

I am reminded of an old joke I once heard:

Patient: Okay.Psychiatrist: Draws a vertical line.

Patient: It’s a naked lady standing up!

Psychiatrist: Draws a horizontal line.

Patient: It’s a naked lady laying down!

Psychiatrist: Draws a diagonal line.

Patient: It’s a naked lady leaning against the wall!

Psychiatrist: You seem to be obsessed with naked women.

Patient: Me? You’re the one drawing the dirty pictures!

In this case:

Commenter: They are having sex!

Greg Evans: Brad and Toni are dating.

Commenter: They are having sex!

Greg Evans: Brad and Toni spend an hour together in his house unsupervised.

Commenter: They are having sex!

Greg Evans: Brad and Toni leave TJ to get cleaned up.

Commenter: They are having sex!

Greg Evans: Brad and Toni are engaged to be married.

Commenter: They are having sex!

Another Commenter: You seem obsessed with sex.

Commenter: Me? Greg Evans is the one telling the dirty stories!

Love the restaurant logo.

Oops— I was illogical (sorry Dr. Spock). The house is owned by Brad’s parents, and they surely would not have sold it to TJ without first consulting their son. Perhaps TJ is just as proud of his banner as everyone else seems to be! (Why the pink in the logo? Think it will attract the guys?)

There is a reason why God has wants to maintain the sacredness of marriage beyond legalism. Man has corrupted the sanctity of sex and marriage, resulting in a whole host of personal, physical and societal problems. The world will tell that it’s ok and even healthy but there is a better way that glorifies God. That is not to say that even at that, other problems will not pervade in a marriage but those are sin too and the consequences thereof. To me, it’s not about promoting a rule but to have presented in media better ways of living that would likely go against the worldly norm.

Uh oh…

Contrarians gotta be contrary. Ouch, my head..TJ gets a job. Good for him.

P.S. Thanks to whoever it is who updates the Luann page on Wikipedia. Good reference site now!

Very nice logo!

Best posts: luann fan and PMark

You lose, TJ!

Leviticus, TJ is a comic strip character. He’s not a real person. Do you understand that? You can not possibly know TJ because he’s not real. He can be whatever Greg Evans wants him to be. -Sometimes I think we ALL read too much into this strip.

betcha it’s not

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if I had stepped into a place of obsessive role-players or at least those that fantasizes the characters as real and doing real things. I like Luann but it’s not my favorite, it’s just about the only comic worth commenting on.

Donny, I seriously doubt anyone here could prevent you from starting. Could we maybe talk you into coming up for air once in a while?-Specifically, you need to break paragraphs when you shift thoughts. Type a return, then a dash (or asterisk if you are so inclined) then another return.

Actually, when I first saw Panel #1, I took the diffused light over Brad’s shoulder as simply the light from a streetlight illuminating the evening haze. It didn’t even occur to me that it could be dawn’s twilight. The lighting gradient is just too extreme for that.

Besides, if it was truly early morning dawn hours, wouldn’t TJ and Brad be a little more tired and worn out? They seem awfully awake and energetic for being awake ’til the dawn.

Donny, “rubber worms”? “All of our greater interests”? “We need to become the characters, and treat them as real. . .”?-I struggled to read your comment. The only thing you typed that made sense to me was “. . . but then it is his strip.” -Sorry, man. You can become a cartoon character if you wish. I’m not interested.

In the USA (Yoo Ess Ey) a café (Kă Fey) is a restaurant, a bit more into lunch perhaps, and of course coffee and the like, but a restaurant..So “TJ Café” is (Tee Jey – Kă Fey) .Accent on the final syllables.

OOps! I got it backward...It’s “Café TJ ” = ( kă FEY – tee JEY ) ..Continental word order.

Let me count the ways Toni and Brads’ relationship will never work : NUMBER ONE (drum roll please), on the night they get engaged, BRAD GOES HOME TO TJ .

Lev, we all get it. You hate TJ’s guts. Please give it a rest. You don’t have to harp on and on and on and on and on about it. Some of us are trying to enjoy having a new story with TJ. How would you like it if every time Bernice was mentioned (or even often when she wasn’t), some commenter dissed the living crap out of her, many, many, many times per strip? EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!! Please. Just stop it. Let us enjoy the story.

We all know Leviticus’ firm opinion about this !

OK.

Never heard of either of these phrases, and googling them, I get someone ancestry and LINUX information respectively. Would you please elucidate?

Maybe because it’s the 21st century?

I like that.

Tj…what a Nancy Boy..

I like TJ’s logo

OK, what is meant by “Auntie Agnes?” Or “Red Hat Alert?” in the restaurant business?

Or that TJ lost track of the time while he was up all night working on the banner.

I think most people enjoy this strip because they can relate to the characters. I talk with my wife of 39 years about situations similar to Brad and Toni, that were similar to us.

We’ve all known Luann’s, Brad’s, Toni’s, Shannon’s, TJ’s, and dealt as parents like Nancy and Frank..

I’ve always thought that Toni had her head screwed on straight, versus her brother, both were raised by their aunt and uncle after their parents died. I think Toni’s a virgin and will wait until marriage with Brad to give him herself as a gift.

The strip reminds me of my parents, both psychologically abusive all my life. Always compared me to my “golden-haired” brothers who would have everything. Until my parents died, they still wouldn’t give me any complements on what I did with my life. Years later, I had put myself through college, raised my four kids the right way, all are productive citizens, and we’re all family together. Have 10 times more than my two brothers put together, both wish they could trade places with me. I could have been abusive to my children, but learned from my parents how not to act. All my children been married many years to their original spouses, and we have super grandchildren. Life is good!

Keep up the good work, Greg, I enjoy your strip!

Exactly. I am frustrated by those with so little sense of whimsy that they would deny the rest of us our fun, for much the same reasons.

Anything that direct would break the hearts of the Buccaneer types. It needs to be kept up in the air until after the wedding.

I would say that having Luann babysit so Toni could relieve stress with Brad is at least as strong an evidence as the shower reference.

OMG. Could Ann Eiffel have hooked up with TJ to open a cafe’?

TJ is a rogue and a scoundrel. He may even be a bad person. He is not actually a villain. He does love Brad and his family, he just has no model for doing right by the people he cares about. The scam with the firefighters got out of control because of Tiffany. Yes, he started the con and deserved a punishment that did not come. But Tiffany was not an innocent fluffy bunny. She deserved what happened. I don’t see many people here who adore TJ like you claim. Mostly I see people who find him entertaining, but wouldn’t want him in their own lives.

You ask about something good he’s done. What about Brad’s hero party? His only reason for that was to make Brad and his parents feel good, and it barely involved any conning. His reason for taking Luann to the prom was because he didn’t like to see her sad that she didn’t get to go. He does little things with a loving, but still slightly criminal, heart.

His heart is improving. It’s his brain that goes into con mode first.

@saraTJ fills that role in many plays, tv shows, and yes comic strips where he gets things rolling. A comic, a muse, a dandy, a clown. We envy him and fear him. He’s the Gilligan, or even better, the Hogan of Hogan Hero fame. Sure he doesn’t follow all the rules, but we give him a pass every time. We love him and we need him or we’d be crying instead of laughing.

A savant is someone who has what I have asperger’s huh..like Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man huh?

is TJ a man or a woman??!!!..I can’t tell can someone tell me???

Leviticus said, “Ann never did anything to deserve TJ and his lies.”.Me: Then it was the employers place to take action, not TJs.Me: TJ lied to customers and rang up items they did not order, thus stealing from them..(You try to deflect the truth that Ann, did steal by pointing out some imaginary faults on the parts of others or that it was up to others to deal with her, not TJ. I remember TJ upsold to customers but with their consent. Ann simply charged them too much and not with their consent.).Me: Shannon is not sweet. She bit Ann. Okay, call the cops. When Jim shows up, tell him Ann tried to take a paper crown away from a 6 year old. Then tell him Shannon bit Ann. Ann’s act, while petty, was not harmful. Shannon’s act was violent. Shannon’s care taker, Toni would have been the one in trouble..(The sweet helpless little child bit the finger poking her in the face, you attack the child pointing out minor flaws in her growth and development. Shannon probably still has nightmares about the mean old woman violently poking at her face, potentially blinding her. We all shudder to think of it.).Me: If you had a dollar for each time TJ lied, you could buy a car..(I already bought a car. But it doesn’t matter what TJ did when we are talking about Ann. You don’t justify her by saying at least she’s better than he is. She’s the one under discussion other than to those obsessed with TJ. I can’t right off hand think of any lies TJ told Ann, but your claim she never deserved anything is obviously wrong.).Me: Brad allowed Ann to bully him. Brad allows TJ to cheat, lie and steal from him. Perhaps if Brad was to stand up for himself for a change, he would not be the damsel in distress that TJ has to rescue..(You’re blaming the victim for not striking back after you blame the victim for biting back. Oh well, consistency is overrated anyway. Please note that TJ did not rescue Brad. He may have avenged him simply by exposing Ann’s lies, but that didn’t help Brad in any way.).Leviticus, you know I love you but you need to keep things in perspective. The actions of others do not justify the actions of the lovely Ann. She stands or falls on her own actions..

I think TJ’s real big news is that he is a fag.