Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 29, 2015

About time Mr. Gray found a use as more then making Gunther nervous guy.

Who knows, maybe this means that Mr. Gray may actually have his first name revealed.

Kabloie! We are suddenly catapulted into a brand new arc, with a lot of interesting possibilities.

Imagine Mr. Gray working with the DeGroots to actually get the warehouse up and running. Imagine Mr. Gray telling TJ to find a better name for his cafe.

Imagine Mr. Gray having a first name (or will the DeGroots have to call him ‘Mr. Gray’, too?)

Imagine that Gunther stops staring or glaring at Mr. Gray long enough to pick up a fork and eat his own dinner…

Gee, it sure is lucky Mr. Gray has that experience, otherwise the deGroots would have had to resort to actually advertising for a manager.

And wow … a university which is taking on the expensive project of redoing its facilities GIVES a for-profit operation their old lighting and sound systems, in exchange for a very limited use of the warehouse.

This story arc becomes more and more wildly at odds with reality every minute! I know comic strips don’t have to mirror real life, but this is really out there …

Mr Gray said something?I didn’t think that was legal.,So will he abscond with the funds?

They aren’t renting the warehouse – they bought it, outright? How much was the down payment, and how can they possibly have any money left over to build out the interior?

BINGO!

This is the first thing in the whole scheme that actually makes financial sense. Frank and Nancy will try to recover their investment by hiring Mr. Gray to run a Las Vegas-style strip club, with an illegal casino in the back room.

Gunther’s expression should be reversed between panel one and panel two.

Does Mr. Gray eat dinner at the Berger home every night now? Does he stay for breakfast?

That would mean that Mr. Gray is a big part of history- the fist thing that didn’t happen to stay in Vegas….

And you would have thought Mr. Gray was a baby, with the whole world in awe at his first words…..

Did I actually see sounds coming from that suit? Tell me more, my interest just perked up. Do they call funeral homes “clubs” in Las Vegas? Did he work for the mysterious Howard Hughes? Maybe it was a brothel (oops, family strip, sorry). Whatever the story is, we’ll have to wait while Sunday’s strip deals with Frank & Nancy brushing their teeth or Luann brushing Puddles, or Tiffany brushing her hair.

Re: Club in Las Vegas. I would have thought Mr. Gray was a silent partner…

Mr. Gray always struck me as a refugee from the classic edition of the game “Clue”. He looks the part and has the right name to fit in with the other suspects. If so, there’s a one in seven chance that he’s a murderer. Hide the candlestick.

what are the odds???i think we will find out….

“Pass The Meatloaf…Break The Silence….”“Speak….Good Boy!”“Frozen Peas And Cues”“A Convenient Truth”“The Silver One Strikes Gold”“You Don’t Miss Your Nev(ah)da, Until The Well Runs Dry”“He Nev(add)a Chance, Until Now”“Mr. Gray Speaks, Out Of The Blue”“What Happens In Vegas…Will Soon Happen In The Pitts” “The New Pitt Boss”

or“The Cat Says You Can Have Your Tongue Back, Now….”

Ohhhhh. So Mr. Gray Once “Ran a Club in Vegas,” Eh?Well, Jack Ruby Once Ran a Club In Texas.Can You Say “Former Mob Ties?”I Was Wondering What the “Catch” Was to This Sappy, Hopelessly Optimistic, Warehouse/Art-House/Bistro Insanity.

And I THINK “IT” Just Spoke Up…..,

Wait…Mr. Gray told you about the Degroots buying the club? Why couldn’t Guntehr or Quill tell you about it? Does Mr. Gray even know the Degroots? I feel like some details are being left out and this was just Greg’s way of inserting Mr. Gray into this story arc. Not saying I don’t like Mr. Gray (because I do) but details man, they are important.

With one breathWith one flowYou will knowSynchronicity

Mr. Gray does seem to have the demeanor (and physique) of a “fixer”. TJ will soon be wearing cement overshoes.

. . . and Gunther suddenly either spits out or chokes on what he was drinking. . . .

From Banishment to ManagementArson, Garcon! (can’t do that funny “c”)What Does the Gray Say?Speaking to WeaklingsFrom Mute to AstuteThe Rival’s RevivalCheckov’s BoyfriendThe Australian Who Never Tells His Landlady Anything

Psst… we have a candidate.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Sounds like a Gray area to me.

So. Mr. Gray as general manager, maybe Quill puts his NYC dreams on hold to become technical director/stage manager of the theatrical side, TJ running the food venue…I think we may be seeing the early stages of a transition of “Luann” from a strip about high school to a strip about a local arts center. It’s been done before. “9 Chickweed Lane” started as a strip about two students at a parochial school in New England, but author Brooke McEldowney had them graduate and move on to careers in the NYC art community. The puppy love relationship between the two main characters became more (ahem) “adult” as well, as they moved on to be a dancer at the NY City Ballet and a student/musician at Julliard. The arc in which THAT happened was very controversial, which I can imagine being duplicated here if that should be in the future for Luann and Quill.

How did Mr. Gray know about the sale is the question.

Imagine Mr. Gray as a con man who takes everyone’s money and disappers confirming Gunthers fears about him all along

And then Luann and her boyfriend spend the next 3 years tracking him down.YEAH,I can totally see it.

Hopefully, the de Groots would check him out before entrusting the club to Mr. Gray’s management. However, if he is in the witness protection program, any due diligence searches on his name will come back empty. Which, by and of itself would be suspicious.

It’s not that kind of club.

“I love it when a plan comes together”

Well said! Some can’t believe ANYTHING happens unless it’s spelled out & drawn in (Rosa will forever be raking in Peru, Knute will do nothing with his life), however there are ways to have fun with those types by setting them off!

Never mind that – MR. GRAY TALKS!

Of course, it does bring up some intriguing possibilities as to just how Gunther’s mom MET the guy…

Just to give us a sense of proportion here: “The syndicated strip now appears in 450 newspapers and websites(gocomics.com), and it is read by more than 600,000 online visitors each week.” From “Real ‘Luann’”

Why does everyone have something to drink except Mr. Gray?

He speaks!

The whole point of this arc is to give the comic strip a new set, a place to happen, replacing the high school. Since he’s transitioned the characters to college there hasn’t been a natural place for some to appear.

So now they are connected…

Mr. Gray is in the Mafia?

Its the classic “don’t judge a book by its cover” deal. My experience in life tells me that sometimes some of the coolest people are non-assuming and one might think they are a bit boring. They have seen a lot, and done more, but they are at a point where they don’t make a big deal about it. This could be a reason why he likes Gunther’s mom. She is a very loving and good person.

Just gets getting better and better

> Yeah, you do have to wonder how Mr. Gray knows about this.>As a Mob boss, Mr. Gray knows about everything going down in Pitt (including TJ’s amateur demolition of the food truck. Now that Mr. Gray will be involved with the warehouse, the next torch job will be handled by real pros.)

Serendipity!

WHAT a coincidence!!!

I believe there was a plan that Nancy found. Wasn’t there a plan that Frank had put together?

Six degrees of separation! I’m a believer.

Oh boy. This is a lovely turn of events.

And the plot thickens…

SERENDIPITY!Quiet, mousy “Mr. Gray” suddenly blurts out (for the first time in our hearing) a game-changer! He “ran a club” (what kind of club? “Ran” in what sense? —Managed? Owned? Overlorded for the Mob?) in Las Vegas, yes, Lost Wages, for 15 years? So, what is he doing in podunk Pitts, California? Hiding out? In Witness Protection?The warehouse arc (along with “Mr. Gray”) has suddenly taken on a whole new dimension and interest!

My my, an oh oh in the operations!

“I guess it comes down to whether a reader is willing to give the cartoonist the “benefit of the doubt” when it comes to details not explicitly stated. SOME appear biased to pronounce him incompetent at every instance … others are OK with going along for the ride.”^Heh, heh- I blame it on the total lack of sitcoms, “imagination- based” programming, and the over-saturation of so- called “reality” programs, (everything from fake housewives, to ice road shows, and everything in between) and a “superabundance” of dramas, everywhere… – That, and the cutting out of gym and creative/arts programs (I’m saying it all “tongue in cheek”, but still there is a kernel of truth, in there…)…

I had left a response late yesterday, didn’t know if you saw it…

Imagine Mr. Gray and TJ do a double-take when they see each other there.

Mr. Gray, it is much harder to find places to dispose of the bodies when you aren’t in the middle of the desert.

F###### EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Gray might have a more interesting history than the warehouse. I love all the speculations coming in………witness protection program, Mafia, etc.

I think Mr. Gray was connected to the mob and may be in hiding.

How much will this project cost, just to get it started? Several hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe. How much do we know Frank has got? $67K. Where is the rest coming from? Answer given by fans herein: “Geez, does Greg Evans have to explain every little detail for you? Use your imagination!”

Wow, what a coincidence (sarcasm).

I think it might be time for Lu to talk to the art department. Maybe she could get some free artwork for the warehouse.

After everyone pointed out that the financing was light years short of what was needed, it was stated that Frank got “a loan” (for how much? he needs many $100K), somehow, even though he had already admitted he didn’t qualify for a loan of even the $67K. So what’s the “explanation” here? Just saying something happened doesn’t explain it.

maybe Mr. Gray has money. There’s got to be some reason why Mrs. Berger likes him….. say Mr. Pipe Tobacco, put Quill next to Mr. Gray and he (Mr Gray) wins the blandness contest hands down. His eyes seem shut and there is never any expression on his face.

“Our safari party was attacked by a pride of lions. Good thing Phil was there to chase them away!” “Phil chased away the lions? How?” “Do I have to explain every little detail to you? I stated that it happened, and that should be enough. Honestly – you people just don’t understand story-telling!!!!”

It’s going to get interesting in the Luanniverse.

How come Gunther has reverted back to a shirt buttoned up to the very top? Maybe the thought of Tiffany pushed him back into a cocoon…

Mr. Gray always wears a suit because he’s carrying heat. The Vegas “Club” was The Mob, and he was their chief enforcer, so Quill, don’t do anything unexpected. Now, take this theory with a grain of salt because only Greg gets paid for his imagination.

I prefer to think that Mr. Gray ran a much more mainstream club in Las Vegas than a lot of people are suggesting here. There won’t be strippers or gangsters at The Fuse — but there also won’t be anywhere to sit unless a customer is willing to pay $300 for a bottle of vodka.

> “If you ignore all the details, what are you left with?”>“Apartment 3-G”, sadly.

Do Luann’s parents have jobs? They sure seem to have endless time to indulge the kids in all their endeavors, big and small. Are they independently wealthy? Didn’t they buy old lady Horner’s house and rent it out to TJ and Brad? Show me the money!

Talk about “drama”! Had a week of “will they? won’t they?”…until we finally were able to bring home our new “bundle of steel”: “Carmine”. It’s a car…that’s mine (both the Mrs…and ‘Me, Too’, ha ha!!!). That’s the official name of our new vehicle….

Meh…Corporations, Mafia… Same players new suits. It’s all just semantics.

I haven’t read every comment but I can’t be the only one thinking mob connected.

Mr. Gray is one of the godfathers in Vegas ;)

What do we know about Mr. Gray…?

Boom!

Things there may be a little implausible, but I love Luann’s world of friends and family and want to be part of it!