Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 18, 2016

Well, sounds like Jonah does care about his sister’s future life after all. (I cannot wait to see how handy he is with a hammer and saw.)

Wait…Jonah is doing something unselfish for the SECOND time this year? 2016 is so weird…

I appreciate TJ more all the time! As for Jonah, maybe all he needs is for somebody to expect him to give as well as receive.

Jonah paints sets? This is the first time I’ve heard him talk about having a regular day job!

leagleagle48—I think that Jonah paints sets (almost certainly for free) in the low-budget theater productions he appears in. (Source: been there.)

Wedding around the corner. Wildfire blazing. TJ and crew working on house. Toni and Brad? Where are they? What’s happening with the adventure part of this story line?

Great, Jerkface is back

Count on Jonah to help out as little as possible and then expect a big payback. Toni will of course give it to him, grumbling all the way that it’s for Shannon.

I said a while ago, that I was betting on Shannon to be the one who delivers the Teaching Moment to ol’ Fishbait. She’s about to see her Daddy doing a favor for Toni, for about the first time in quite a while.

This could be very cool. I’m eager to see how this bit plays out.

Good Lord, TJ, the wedding is three weeks away. You might as well forget most of that stuff because you can’t possibly get it done in time, even with everybody working around the clock.

So apparently the fire is the setup to get Brad out of the house so TJ can do his thing? Looks like Greg is softening up the brothers character too.

As I said before….I’m betting the wedding takes place at hospital bedside…

Well I/we were wrong on the wildfire being a ruse. I thought that was an outside chance anyway. However TJ has really organized a rehab party to get the house ready for Brad and Toni. Maybe I/we should not worry so much about them going out to the wildfire, after all risk is part of being a firefigther. All I know is, even in the light of all the front stage drama with Jonah being drafted to help, and the DeGroot’s, Pru, Ox (yes Ox okaaaaaaaaaay -:) and Les being on their way. That will be interesting, but the worry is still there. For sure there will be more plot twists. I am looking forward to some of the ways those twists can turn.

Those distrustful souls can rest assured no false calls were made and go back to worrying about burns, explosions, falling burning trees.

“Spare a little time” — He’s probably thinking he’ll paint A wall and be outta there. Don’t want to get that frou-frou GQ shirt TOO paint-speckled, now, do we. Better keep on him, TJ, like I know you can.

Well today’s strip is a surprise (Jonah being willing to help). What’s not really a surprise, to me anyway, is that TJ is so well-organized. Just look at those lists! He’s got things well-planned as far as what needs to be done in the next 3 weeks, so good on him for rallying help. Yes, I’m a little bit worried about the skill level, but with TJ’s direction, I think it will all come out ok. He’ll make the assignments based on ability, possibly putting Nancy, Ox and Les to work with some of the catering chores and Frank on the remodel with him and Pru & Luann on the wedding prep. Just a guess. Who knows? Les may have other ‘talents’ we don’t know about.

Jonah finally admits the extent of his acting career success!

Is Shannon calling her Daddy a “Tool”? after all, it’s his belt!

@ outsideplaying

I hope you are right. To me this is whole arc is feeling like the set up to a major tragedy…. Like Toni is about to be removed from the script.. I sincerely vehemently hope I am wrong here but that is the vibe I’m picking up.

whoa— Jonah’s got construction skills! Who’d have thunk it.

Shannon obviously loves her dad. So he stays in the picture.

That a girl. Show daddy how it’s done.

6

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Jonah wants to paint….. but will anyone want to live with the results?!? That remains to be seen…. but I envision Jonah not being adept at painting a clean, nice, wall in a traditional fashion. He seems more likely with his background, to paint something garish and outlandish…. that may likely need to be redone.

They want to expedite the alterations stat!

TJ has a great future in project management!

I am a little surprised Jonah is not at the wildfire with his daughter asking Toni to sit for him while he does an audition for the Forest Service.

SO. Old Smiley Cons yet another trusting SAP to do His Bidding, and EVERYBODY thinks He’s a “Super Hero.” Jeeeeeeez…..,

All this doom saying is getting a bit weird. How can anyone think that Evans would commit career suicide by killing off one of the most beloved characters?

Question: if Jonah manages to have an artistic aspect to his set painting might there be some future work for interesting wall murals in businesses and homes? I think i recall him working as a waiter at one point and sure have seen some restaurants w murals. He might have a more skilled future there.

I’d like to thank Brad and Toni for helping outwith our wildfires here in Western North Carolina. We need all the help we can get!

Jonah certainly is full of flaws, but I’ve also always felt there was an aspect to his character he never was given credit for. He may not be the most responsible man in the world, but he acknowledged his fatherhood of his girlfriend’s child, and chose to parent Shannon after the girlfriend took off. A lot of truly irresponsible unwed (and sometimes wed) dads wouldn’t have bothered to do that. His determination to stick with his acting career goals rather than taking a 9 to 5 job is what causes him to struggle with paying for child care and thus overly depending on Toni for babysitting. (I would add that I’ve worked with a lot of people in more conventional jobs who used their own parents as full-time free babysitters for their children.)

Shannon also seems to genuinely love him and not be afraid of him, which tells me that he doesn’t have a dangerous temper when alone with her. Jonah may not be the best father in the world, but he’s not the worst either.

OH NO! weddingweddingweddingweddingwedding BORING!And what’s “daddy’s” tool belt doing at TJ’s?

Interesting how Jonah went from “I need her help” (where he was going to dump his child) to “I can spare a little time”.

Maybe a tree will fall on B or T, then unconsciousness will ensue, then into the hospital we go, much to everyone’s horror, and that troubled kid will show up with a thoughtful gift when she / he comes around and blow everyone away (in a good way) – (way out of character, right?)….. Shake it up, Greg; up the ante! :-D

This should be frighteningly interesting. lol

Ah, the fleas must be back!

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Bellum Attribution, Troll.

I have a vague recollection of the term “widowmaker” being a part of firefighters’ slang. It may involve a sudden shift of the wind, or a falling tree, I don’t know, but I think it refers to outdoor fires. The hazard is definitely there. An outdoor wildfire is an extra level of unpredictability for urban firefighters accustomed to structures with walls and roofs.

I don’t think the Evanses are into that level of drama in this strip, but they are very into fires — there was the one at the bookstore that almost took out Zane and his dog, the one at Brad and TJ’s house (formerly Mrs. Horner’s), the food truck explosion, and those are just the ones I can come up with immediately, there may well have been others.

Blood Alcohol Toxicity?Bacon, Avocado, Tomato?Banjo, Accordion, Trombone?

My fear is that more folks are like Jonah than are like BAT

Templo, you got the BAT right as soon as TJ said it— congrats!!!

so where’s the catch?

Looks to me as though Jonah is, at best, a crew member in community theatre. So, yeah, he has some time, TJ. But I worry about his skills with that tool belt Shannon is so eager to hand to him….

Although I didn’t read her stuff, it sounds like Lynn Johnston used her comic strip as a psychiatrist’s couch, inflicting her own pain on loyal followers. That’s cruel. Walt Disney encouraged the technique (kill the dog, kill the deer, kill something) because if you can make them cry they’ll come back for more. Disney was a ruthless person. Wonder if he really is frozen somewhere? As much as I complain about Greg regarding love affairs, I do not believe that he would kill off any of his characters, not Brad, not Toni, and certainly not Puddles.

Perhaps Toni will get hurt in the wildfire and then Jonah will come to realize how much he has depended on her. I think Brad was hurt in a fire previously (was he?) so now it could be Toni’s turn.

It’s interesting how quickly Jonah agrees to volunteer some time when TJ shows him the punch list. He even states he has a “little” time, and notes that he has helped paint sets. I think TJ has him kind of figured out and perhaps he will get so caught up in helping he usual selfishness will not be as apparent as usual. Hmmmm!?

Dog, i hope that you and yours are okay despite the wildfire smoke.

It’s way too late in the day, nobody’s going to see this. I’ll just add that Lynn Johnston was aware that her human characters had all grown up, Michael and Elizabeth in particular had gone from riding tricycles to graduating college — and Farley was still around! This, too, was part of her decision — and Sparky Schulz was furious with her!

But that’s another story…

In regards to Farley, he was killed off (according to what Lynn wrote) because her friends and family were commenting that he was getting unnaturally old as the rest of the characters aged. I don’t agree with the choice but that was her reasoning.

In regard to this strip, the characters are now starting to age and develop and the strip itself has been steadily been developing more adult themes and issues.

Again, I hope I am wrong but the whole feel of the fire fighting thing is impending doom.

I’m looking forward to following the sub-plot wherein TJ proves that his character was created from all of the best things that define “friend”.