Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 29, 2013

“First Flake Of The Season”“Walking Dandruff”“You Can Depend On Him To Let You Down”or “Hey! You’re That Guy!…”

I remember Jonah, now! He went on tour with the Who? that one year… or was it the What?….

Two more days until the witching hour… ;)

Jonah and Dirk should team up!

Voice of reason. Brad is right…

I was wrong yesterday. They will adopt her. Brad’s dialog is the dead giveaway. Would have preferred to see T and B by themselves at least for a while after they get married—never did like the “instant family” trope.

Brad will “win” hands down…he probably senses already that there will be a showdown between him and Jonah… ;)

Jonah wins the most irresponsible dad of the year award

Which would be terrible if Shannon had to wait that long…another disappointment from her so-called father… ;)

“Brought to you”, by….Chuck Cunningham Spot Remover….. “Want it gone? Guaranteed to disappear… no questions asked!” – Plotz Convenience Stores…. “When it’s late, and you need it, count on us to give it to you!”… – Plotz Devices…. “Whatever the job, Plotz devices will always do that thing that you need it to!”and by…the new Broinggg!™ wristwatch and the new Random Excuse Generator App from Twisted…..

And as long as Gunther isn’t allowed to walk with a backpack nearby…..

Happy Almost Halloween, everybody… ;)

The adoption of Shannon by Brad and Toni will eliminate any need for Brad and Toni to be intimate and have children after marriage, because they will already have a child with Shannon. This could be exactly where Evans is going with this.

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T and B are engaged, so even if they weren’t before, they most likely are already intimate. But I agree that adopting Shannon would eliminate the need for any children of their own, thereby avoiding a long pregnancy arc and Toni having to take maternity leave, etc. Maybe that’s part of where this is going.

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How long does it take to adopt in California? Shannon could be a tween before it’s done. Or is she going to be forever six or seven, while Luann graduates HS, goes to college/moves to Oz, has kids of her own, etc., and Dirk reappears, with his own child now a teenager? Odder things have happened in Luannverse.

I said we were due for at least one more story arc involving Fishbait. This may be the one where Brad and Toni come to terms with their position, as a couple, with regards to Shannon.

For Brad, I think the smart move would be to deal Fishbait right out of the picture, adopt Shannon and tell this clown to take a long hike across a short bridge. I doubt Toni would go for that, though, even if I do think Toni would like to have more time with Shannon and more opportunity to get her away from her dad’s bad influence.

We’ll see.

I was going to comment about adopting Shannon but I saw your post first. Personally, I hope Greg doesn’t do that to them but that’s just my opinion.

they don’t have to adopt, Jonah could allow them to have custody of his daughter

Aww. I like that. Rather than resenting all the time Shannon spends with them, Brad is jealous of the time she spends with her dad.Well, that, and he wants to go trick or treating.

NO! I don’t want dirk the jerk to be even mentioned much less reappear in this ’toon.

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Dirk can be Luannverse’s own Voldemort (he who shall not be named).

He probably won’t show up and Brad will save the day by doing something special just with her

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I bet you’ve called it, fathergod. :-) Brad and Toni will probably be taking her trick or treating come Thursday night.

There may be something more serious to Jonah’s lateness….

Maybe there won’t be a wedding after all. Just go to the court house, get married and adopt Shannon at the same time! Skip Luanneverse time altogether.

“Jonah Daytona”? Seriously??

An adoption will allow Shannon “officially” to become Toni’s daughter (as she always really has been) without having to portray Toni as a tramp (by “Luann” criteria) by saying that she had a daughter out of wedlock. Eventually the whole “Aunt Toni” think will be dropped, Toni will never be mentioned as having been anything other than Shannon’s Mom, and the retcon will be complete with Toni’s “reputation” intact.

Wow!Brad-I’m so impressed with him. He has become so responsible.

“Gimme Stuff or I’ll get ROUGH???”

Shannon, Child! Have You forgotten the Pseudo Post-Revolutionary BS Slogans I Taught You Yesterday?

Oh, That’s Okay. Let’s TRY a SIMPLE one.

When You go to the Door You Yell: “THIS IS A STICK-UP!!!!”

Some Folks think THAT’S “Cute” as Long as You say while You’re a “Kid”, that IS.

Oh Oh, there’s the Phone.

You better Get it, Kid.

It’s probably the Authorities, Calling to tell You that Your SORRY No-Good Parental Unit has BIT the DUST.

But the GOOD News is Brad can NOW Take YOU Trick or Treating!

Jonah’s name is seldom used. This might be only the second time in ten years.

I wonder if that portends something.

“No, Shannon, it’s ‘Gimme candy or I’ll chew your finger instead!’”

Brad should not say anything negative about Jonah in front of Shannon. Kids are not stupid they can figure things out on their own. Saying bad things about the dad will only make himself look bad in Shannon’s eyes.

There’s the set up…here comes the big twist regarding Toni’s brother. (maybe?)

I bet better than even that Brad and Toni take her trick or treating.

No, Shannon; the correct thing to say is, “Nice house, I’d hate to see anything HAPPEN to it.”

Jonah will precipitate some sort of crisis. Maybe he’ll show up not only late but also “under the influence,” so that Toni and Brad will get to go with Shannon after all….

Is this when Jonah disappears? Will he abandon Shannon to Toni?

Jonah and Tiffany are made for each other?

Jonah’s late, so Toni and Brad, take the child yourselves before all the neighbors run out of candy.

Hey, no reason they can’t leave a note, take her around the block there, then Dad takes her when/if he bothers to show up. She’ll appreciate the extra candy!

Poor kid.

It is starting……..Jonah is getting comfortable with the idea that Shannon has a permanent home option with Toni and Brad…..being late is a symptom……

Sign over bucket by door: “Put your candy in the bucket and leave quietly. Or we’ll have to get rough.”

or maybe something has happened to Jonah and little tyke will be searching for parents.

What if Jonah doesn’t show up?

MORBO APPROVES OF THE HUMAN JONAH’S TACTIC TO EXTRACT MAXIMUM CANDY FROM PATHETIC EARTHLINGS!

I know I shouldn’t do this, but I just can’t resist. I apologize in advance………………. Leviticus and Donny, sittin’ in a tree,Dressed as clowns and buzzin’ like a bee,L says ‘cherry pigsnout’, D says ‘gay’,We all scroll and scroll away………….Sorry, bad, bad poetry…..

I don’t remember ever actually seeing Jonah. In fact, I don’t ever remember hearing his name. It’s always been “my brother” or “Toni’s brother”. Anyone know the last time his name was actually mentioned and when his face was actually seen?

“not what Greg was referring to in re: “Drama and Trauma” at the wedding”

….. citation please?

From an article in article in USTA San Diego> 09/21/2013

Where he used to map stories out just a few weeks in advance, Evans said he and Karen are now doing story projections as far as a year ahead. They won’t divulge any future plot twists, though he said readers should prepare for “some drama and trauma” with Brad and Toni’s wedding. He also said they have to figure out how to transition the strip after Luann graduates from high school and heads for college.

We really don’t need to know that you were spanking the monkey over MJ.

Your honesty is a shining light for us all.

thanks for the reference …I hadn’t remembered those exact words from the article. Tho I think what may be more important is the reference to possibly retiring some characters when Luann goes off to college.

Just out of curiosity, who might you suspect will be on the “hit list?”

It is often the case that we learn to most appreciate the value of a person in our lives when there is a possible threat that we might lose them…

I see I’m not the only one who reads your posts as your opinion and not humor. Have you ever tried stand-up? That can help you find the funny faster….

Denigrate the kid’s dad in front of her. IRL that’s called bad parenting.

I’ll help out here. He keeps Luann, Bernice, Mom, Dad, Brad, Toni, Crystal, Tiff, and Puddles. All the others are only memories of Christmas past.

Anybody but TJ, right Levi??? ;-PPPP You really don’t like him, do ya?

And what of Shannon?

My guess is that Jonah will arrive quite late—and falling down drunk.

Although Brad may be right that doesn’t justify badmouthing her dad in her presence

Oh, Lordy, what have I started….

Greg Evans is too fond of his avatar Gunther to drop him from the strip, so if he does go away from Pitt to college, he will come back often to visit Mom. That’s too bad, since a “clean break” would be a better idea, with Quill going back to Australia permanently and Gunther going off to Brigadoon University. (He can room with Aaron Hill.) Then Luann can move on with her life and meet college guys at Pitt CC.

And of course: “The worms go in, the worms go out, the worms play pinochle on your snout…

We had to economize. We combined “Great Green Gobbs” and “Worms crawl in” in the same song… ;-) In our version, they “sit on top of your snout…”

“And [we] forgot [our] spoon.” ;-)

No, you say “Trick or Treat”, sweetie.

I was reading some of yesterday’s comments and saw one that you made about how people used to fear Medicare, but it worked, and how those who now fear Obamacare are probably those benefitting from Medicare (so presumably they have no reason to fear.) You need to read the report of the Actuary of Health and Human Services to Congress on his findings regarding how the ‘Affordable Care Act’ will work. Long story short: the Act actually does divert more than $6 billion from the Medicare Trust fund to pay for the expansion of Medicaid and the subsidies for insurance for working folks who can’t afford insurance but are ineligible for Medicaid. In order to make sure we don’t try to pay for both programs from the one pot of funds (the funds paid through FICA taxes to Medicare), the Act sets stringent caps on reimbursement to doctors and hospitals for services provided to Medicare-insureds. The caps, says the Actuary, have nothing to do with the cost of services and are set to meet goals in the Act for cutting spending on Medicare. The Actuary found that at least 10% of doctors and hospitals will have to turn away new Medicare-insureds or they will be unable to sustain themselves financially. Finally, in case this does not meet the goals of cutting spending on Medicare, the committee will be appointed to decide what services will continue to be covered, based on what has been called ‘evidence based medicine’, and which is actually simple statistical averaging. Example: the ‘average’ lung cancer patient does well with removal of part of a lung and some chemo, so that’s what gets covered. Of course, the catch is that there is no such thing as an ‘average’ cancer patient, or any other such patient. This committee will have authority never before granted by any US law. Congress can only overrule it by an extraordinary majority. Since Congress can’t agree on what day of the week it is, people on or approaching Medicare eligibility do, indeed, have much to fear from the Affordable Care Act. The Actuary is not a partisan figure. He’s a professional. I have no reason to doubt his findings.

Just to be clear myself, I would never claim that instant families don’t or can’t work. I only meant to say that I don’t like the “instant family” motif in fiction.

I sence an oncoming fight between Brad and Jonah. But just who will get their @$$ handed to them?^^In the old days, it would have been a tie, but, now, Brad would kill the guy, who looks like the wind could blow him over

That is very likely. The adoption of Shannon by Brad and Toni will eliminate any need for Brad and Toni to be intimate and have children after marriage, because they will already have a child with Shannon. ^^That didn’t stop my bro and his Wife from having 2 more kids

I anticipate not fisticuffs, but Jonah angrily telling Brad “Oh Yeh, you’re so smart, let’s see YOU raise her!”^^I would hope Brad called his bluff, best thing that could happen for Shannon AND Jonah

It depends on age of the kids. My youngest son married a woman with 2 teen sons who took their “girlfriends” to the wedding party in my garden. They never had the kids living with them (were living with the dad, who I never met). She was very nice and we got along fine, but I would have liked grandkids from that son (my 3 other children each have 2)

“Jonah’s Brothers”< /font>^I can’t even think of a response for this… not that I can’t, but because even I don’t want to bother… LOL!!!! – BTW, it’s so funny how they’re announcing their breakup…. the public had already announced it three or so years ago, and they probably just found out theriselves, ha ha!

Maybe I should also explain myself, too… blended/step families are in my family, as well…. a close family member of mine was adopted…. I wouldn’t speak of adopting as ‘bad news’, nor would I ever mean to speak disparagingly of ‘blended families/step families’…. like you, I was in favor of B&T as soon to be fictional newlyweds being able to enjoy their first months of marriage, with all of the laughs from their ‘rookie season’, so to speak… – I wouldn’t have a problem with their adopting Shannon at all… more love from dependable sources is what is needed! But I would just like to be able to enjoy seeing their first steps in marriage first, and maybe during this time, they could be making their preparations to adopt, if they’d so choose….– And, too, another reason I’d be in favor of another direction: I wonder, again, if somehow Jonah goes through Greg’s "rehabilitation’ program, where he makes some changes… Shannon could still be around in the strip, but perhaps this could be a case where the actual father makes a positive, substantial change for the better, and is able to care for Shannon? That would sure be nice to see, in these days….

C’est Vrai…. C’est Vrai…. Tellement Vrai… -So very true.

BWAD!

Close enough Shannon :)