Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for April 03, 2019

Uh-oh… how do Bets and Leslie know one another?

I am not happy with Luann at the moment.

This has now officially become a mess!

Aw, crud.

Gunther should be the one in red.

I wonder if Luann meant to do that?

At this point, I wouldn’t blame Gunther if he got pissed at Luann for butting in and putting her foot in her mouth in front of a young woman Gunther could really get to know.

Three’s Company: 4 is awkward.

Is there any crazy outside chance that Gunther will take Bets’ hand and they will beam themselves out of the Fuze to ENJOY themselves (and one another) at the Trek thing….leaving Luann to smack Les into 2020 for whatever rude remark he naturally makes about Gunth.(I know….I know. But wouldn’t it be refreshing?)

The plot thickens!

Luann is so used to being in control of Gunther that she doesn’t like the fact that Gunther has a chance at a real relationship here, and that Bets is very good at seeing through all the dynamics that are going on. I think Bets will be a real friend and help to Gunther.

Yeah, I stand by my assertion yesterday that Luann is either a complete idiot or deliberately trying to sabotage Gunther. Those are really the only two logical reasons for what she’s doing here.

Okay. Before ANYBODY starts, the “problem” is not the unfortunate words that Luann just said.

The MAJOR “Problem” here is that Bets KNOWS Les! Bets is probably one of those gals that Les dated once and she found him to be a Creep and dumped him. But THAT DOESN’T matter. Les will use that fact that he knows/dated Bets to get under Gunther’s skin, just like he did last year when Les vowed to have Tiffany for “dessert.”

Yeah I know. Gunther will “have to develop a thick skin.” But THAT is easier said than done when he’s living with a scumbag that needles him 24/7. Gunther had better learn the art of Underhaned Treachery when it comes to Dealing with Mr. Knox. And he’d better learn it quick!

(Sigh) I KNEW this was all too Good to be True. Too bad, really. Bets showed such promise. Oh well. There’s some Good News Though:

1) Tiffany and Luann are STILL available for Gunny after he calms down.

2) Les is not a Racist.

And I guess it’s official: As I predicted yesterday, Gunther is already superficial to the situation at hand, and the date with Bets is already over.

And I think I’ve already seen the first post (above) that apparently blames Gunther for the whole mess. (Hint: It’s the post where someone wishes him the “red shirt”)

(My apologies if I read his comment wrong, but there appeared to be no other way to interpret his comment)

To Much info Luann. And it looks like Les and Bets know on other!!!

Well now the shoes all drop, Luann manages to bollix things up innocently, in an innocent thing, that was wool pulled over Les’s eyes, while Les apparently knows Bets, probably I think from being on the dating site, and Gunther is unfortunately the goat as usual. You can never predict this strip, particularly when you project, and even though I decry projection, I am guilty of it myself. So I think things will work out in spite of all. Hilarity ensues! Or not. Way the Cubs are starting this year my not betting on the future in any uncertain thing should definitely apply to Luannverse.

Now that’s funny.

Luann’s ineptness and oblivious to environment is “saved by the Les”.

I think the Les and Bets parts is a little overkill. The best part is that not only is Luann telling a story about Gunther, but that she does so while putting a hand on his shoulder emphasizing their closeness. That is a body language move that it would be difficult for Bets to mistake, assuming that she was not so distracted by Les to see it.

Gunther should repeate a famous quote from Milhouse Van Houten: “You dont want me to be with you, you dont want me to be with anybody else. How much miserable i have to be before you are happy?” Im just paraphrasing, of course.

“Luann!” “Bets!” “Les!” “Janet!” “Dr. Scott!” “Janet!” “Brad!” “Rocky!” Grunt! : https://youtu.be/hcmq-8rcEKg

WAY out of line LUANN. just wrong. Gunther should ask Bets to leave with him so they can talk privately

I really wish Luann didn’t have to come in ruin Gunthers chance. Why??!

So far the characters she’s interacted with are maturing, but her mindset is still in high school.

The plot thickens! Back off guys before you ruin Gunther’s date!!!!

Luann, GTFO ALREADY

My Gawd, Luann. I am not much of a fan of yours but in this arc, you are awful. You are not being cute or being the girl next door. You trampled all over their date and your “we were fooling around in his bedroom”??!!! Now Bets thinks you are a jealous girlfriend or a one-stand lover. And Bets? She dated LES? Double My Gawd. If you have one tiny morsel of common sense, you will grab Les and leave.

And Gunther still only has one Spock ear on….

I think this is the point where the conveyor belt speeds up and Lucy and Ethel can’t keep up with the rate the chocolates are coming.

I wonder if Luann continued to think their Date-Pic night at Gunther’s as silly fun and saw Bets and thought, “Wow! Gunther did it. I must tell her how it all started.” She never sees Gunther as a potential date or an attractive male or having any appeal so she thinks it is such a hoot Bets agreed to meet Gunther. Some in here say Luann is a meanie and in this arc, she is proving them right. I bet Gunther comes to realize why Luann is behaving that way and dumps her as a friend.

It’s already too late. If Bets leaves with anyone, it will be Les. The situation Luann created is just too toxic – and she already inferred that this mess was Gunther ’s idea, so no amount of explaining from him will save the date.

Congratulations, Les. Looks like you will be picking up Gunther ’s date.

The bad guy wins once again.

I think that Gunth and Bets need to beam out of there right now.

.

Gunther is about to take his backpack, I mean, phaser off ‘stun’ to teach Luann and Les a lesson. "They’re dead, Jim… "

Luann, stop being a creep and go away, let Gunther have his date.

Luann got jealous when Bernice showed a romantic interest in Gunther and when Tiffany pretended to. To her own surprise she wasn’t jealous about Rosa but she was heavily involved with Quill at the time. Remember that Luann has her flaws, perfect characters are boring. The ‘messing about in the bedroom’ remark could be Luann in airhead mode, but it does look more like low cunning.Bets and Les use the same dating app. Why shouldn’t they know each other?

“LUKHANNNN!!!!!!!!!!” Of course, Spockirk got spocked, i mean spooked. And oohoora knows chekov, i mean Jerkov.

“Game Over,” (Pac-man loosing sound)

This is too much!! THE PERFECT STORM!! ROFL!! Gunther, try your Vulcan nerve pinch!!

It’s a small world after all…..

Open mouth, insert foot.

Luann needs to shut her mouth and leave. If she ruins Gunther’s date, he’d have every right to be angry with her, but I am also curious as to how Bets knows Les.

Pour Gunth, so far it is not looking good for him! Sheesh Luann, thanks a lot!

As the old saying goes, ‘to hell in a handbag’.

As she kept saying in LuAnn Againn last week: “Another fine mess you’ve gotten us into!”, only it’s she herself creating the mess this time around. Grow up and get out of there, Luann!

And this is why Gunther can’t have nice things.

I wasn’t expecting Les this quickly.

There’s no way in the real world for Gunther to recover from Luann’s interference. And if Bets actually did go out with Less, learning that Less and Gunther are gulag-mates would make it much much worse…the obvious interpretation for Bets would be that Less asked his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend to catfish Bets.

Real world Bets would be standing up to leave now. The explanations wouldn’t sound realistic even if she stayed to hear them.

Yesterday I thought Luanniverse Bets would stay long enough to get through this hurdle. Today, not so much…the hurdle has been raised.

Tiff isn’t the only one that everything has to be about her.

He should have known better than to come to the Fuse

Luann: Open mouth, insert foot up to knee.

I am geting dizzy…..

This may not go well.

Luann… Just shut the You-Know-What up!!! Please and thank you.

Some woman like a guy that is in demand. This might actually help him. Might hurt her knowing Les tho.

I sense a very emotional reaction coming. (Can’t the guy just have a nice sit-down with a girl?)

So there were NO other options for the location of this…date…thing? The whatever-it’s-called is the only restaurant in the entire city?

I call narrative shenanigans. “Let’s have our date where my nemesis works! That’s owned by my drippy friend’s parents!”

Luann is that one friend who ruins your date but plays dumb when you confront them about how they ruin your date.

Gunther really should take first dates to places where he doesn’t know everyone.

If Gunther was smart, he would have made the meeting place far, far away from anywhere Luann, Les, or any of the other meddlers might be. Such as in another comic strip.

Luann maybe has do the worst choice of phrase ever. But the fact that Les and Bets know each other (and she looks angry at seeing him again) is really interesting and unexpected. What’s the back story? Can’t wait to know!

Does this make Luann a “Trek blocker?”

Ah Greg…your hands forever on the rug on which we faithful readers stand…hands in full on readiness to constantly pull that rug away………….

Wow, this cascaded into a failure quicker than I imagined…and in more ways than one.

Never take a first date to anywhere that you might bump into so-called friends. Many will go to great lengths to sabotage you.

Luann, TMI (or, maybe not enough.) Bets, not enough, how well do you know Mr. Know?

Are we celebrating April Fools Week?

this is going down hill fast.

This is fun! I foresee an imminent Charlie Foxtrot.

Luann, your mouth runnith over…!

Well. this train is screaming downhill with no brakes.

face Palm This is why Luann has social issues.

All Bets are off!

What looked promising is going downhill quickly.

Bets knows Les and Luann tells her that she and Gunther were fooling around in his bedroom. What could possibly go wrong here?

This is why you never take your first date to the place where all your friends gather.

Okay I’m gonna say this and just let the chips fall where they may.

It would have MUCH better off if Gunther and Luann had KISSED that night in February back in the Gulag. Just show Lu the towels, then retire to the bedroom, FORGET that date pix foolish (Which kickstarted THIS MESS) and kiss. Now, if Gunther and Bets somehow move forward from this train wreck, Gunther is gonna have to live with the fact that Bets and Les have a “history.” Much the same way Brad had to deal with Dirk. It’s not fair, and Gunther deserves better treatment.

One more thing. Luann’s “dates” with Jack haven’t gone well either. Maybe, just Maybe, Gunther and Luann BELONG TOGETHER, and THIS is what this Story Arc is all about.

Okay. FIRE AWAY……

Aside from all this twaddle about Luann’s inappropriate interference, why is Gunther’s left ear not “Vulcanized?”

Who initiated this cluster @&*!# ? I wondered how long it would be before Les stuck his pointy chin in.

Who’s next?

Ox: Bets? Bets: Oh! Hi, Hunk!

Pru: Bets? Bets: Sweetheart!

Frank & Nancy: Bets? Bets: Mom! Dad!

What-a-mess!!

Most of yesterday’s predictions are coming true. Lu blabs about her involvement in the bedroom scene. Les has “dated” Babs. And Gunter gets screwed again. (No! Not that way!)

It’s a small world after all!It’s a small world after all!Especially if you are on DatePic.

And it’s only Wednesday!!! Who will leave first?

The thot plickens…

She cannot think this was the right time to approach him…

Dig a deeper hole Luann…

The definition of comic strip is: a sequence of drawings in boxes that tell an amusing story. GnK “nailed it” on this one!! This is very amusing and fun….can’t wait to see this all play out. How about you?

Maybe tomorrow we will see Prudence say “Hi Bets”.

maybe gathering sticks in Peru is starting to look good to Gunther in comparison to this mess.

This has to be Luann at her most clueless.

Why has Gunther left his ear on the table? Bets indicated she liked the Captain Kirk look better. There should be two ears on the table. Then again, we are talking about Gunther here.

I’m sure 1212 will be effused with hilarity soon! ;o)

So why did Gunther arrange to meet Bets at the Fuze? He must have known Les was working there. Self-sabotage?

Uh-oh, Les knows Bets. Complications!

Call me crazy but I have a feeling this will all work out. Not today of course! But after Bets gets the totally WRONG ideas about Gunther (that Luann is an old girlfriend or worse a freewheeling one nnigjt stand and that he and Les are roommates therefore they must be EXACTLY alike) she will storm out. Later, Luann will show up at Bets door and after begging entrance, explain the entire situation, including what a great and serious guy Gunther is and how she pushed him into trying DatePic and that Bets has been his first and only date chosen on the site. He is not a player. He is a sweet shy awesome guy and the two of them have been friends for years nothing more. Hopefully Bets will give Gunther another chance. If I were GandK this is how I would write it. Cue the birds and flowers and sweet theme music y’all!!!!

2

Ugh. For all the potential “Hilarity Ensues” as is often suggested by Luann1212… this does not feel fun or enjoyable at all at the moment. If Greg is planning/wanting this arc to feature Gunther’s date getting messed up by Luann and now also Les…. couldn’t he have at least waited for a few days to give some time for us to experience Gunther and Bets having at least a few moments of something NICE happening to them?

If this turns into another of the often told arcs where it simply ends up with Gunther frustrated, annoyed, and angry….. I will be sorely disappointed. That has been the focus too damn often for Gunther, IMO. It is tiring. His character deserves some way to free himself of his prior “friends” to give him some damn breathing room to let him become something he wants to be.

it seems that Luann is just a third wheel in her own comic. Her role is just to facilitate the story arcs for the other characters

next Mrs. Berger-Gray shows up and wants to see who her “Gunthie” is going out on a date with!

Cue ominous music

What is that crashing and burning sound?

And of course, Les is Ferengi (its all about profit!!)

Well, there goes Gunther’s chances with Bets.

Is Kafe Kablooie the only social gathering place in Pittsville? With a major university and a community college the town must be big enough to have a coffee house that isn’t frequented by everyone Gunther knows from high school. I’m expecting Tiffany to show up any minute.

This is a bit like watching a train wreck, in slow motion.

Ok, Luann is having a “blonde” moment, sure, but damn even Les’s timing could have been better. I still have hope Gunther can still salvage this, but I don’t think it will be in this week’s strip…

Now we get to see what Bets is made of—and what Gunther is made of. Both should be mad as hops. I hope they both make mincemeat of Luann, totally ignore Les, and leave the Fuse to go for an exciting date somewhere else. I have a feeling that Bets is on to the dynamics of the situation and is quite street smart.

Gunther’s first (and probably last) chance to get l…ucky crashes epically.

Hey Greg isn’t this out of character for Luann? She has proven social graces since maturing from high school

Sorry, this strip just crossed a line with me. Disappointed doesn’t begin to say it.

clearly she has some jealousy issues right now.

This train just ran off the track.

Way to go, Luann. Blow it for Gunther before he even has time to get comfortable in the chair. Let Bets know it was all a joke and get her to leave before he gets a chance to tell her himself how it started and how he found her too beautiful and interesting to pass up, that he is eager to get to know her and is looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow night.

Luann, that was really petty. Shame on you!!!

And for those who think Bets was angry with Les? Looking again, I don’t think so. Her anger is clearly directed at Gunther; Les just happened to “pop in” at that moment.

Which makes me think G&K are painting him as Bets ’ “savior” in this situation. After all, we do not know that they dated, let alone how that date, if it occurred, turned out.

We do know how this date turned out. This train has left the station and fallen off a cliff. Stick a fork in them. Gunther and Bets are done!

Butting in where she is not wanted

She must really want to keep the Gunth to herself. Admit it!

Gunther, you need to take firm action when facing harassment from Les . Did it once, can do it again.

https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2014/02/14

Not good Luann. Need to keep quiet.

Bets has some explaining to do concerning how she knows Les. Gunther may not be that interested in her after he learns that Les has already dated her.

Luann’s behavior doesn’t make any sense. She is the one who urged Gunther to get on the dating app. Why would she do that if she doesn’t want him to date anyone?

She’s dumber than a bag of hair!

ROCKY! Uh!

The faster people realize that Luann has the emotional intelligence of a 10-year-old, the more these strips will make sense.

Ah, the perils and pitfalls of on-line dating.

The worst thing Gunther could do now is to lose his cool and get angry at anyone. But of course he will get angry at Les and Luann and that will be the ultimate turn off for Bets.

And totally unrelated to any of the comments … Gunther has one Spock ear on and one off.

The Greg dating pattern: Meet…..greet……sweet…..delete….repeat.

Amazing what G&K show us in two days. Bets is a Woman. Luann is a girl.

You know what? I think this is the end of friendship between Luann and Gunther; he has no obligation to forgive Luann (anytime soon) for this lack of caring and consideration on her part. My hope for tomorrow is that these two get up and leave and sort their issues out somewhere else.

Perhaps Bets will give Gunther a test – after the Trek – con, she will suggest that they go to the midnight showing of “Rocky Horror”. If Gunther complains and says he needs to be home because Irma is bringing over his milk and cookies before tucking him in, she needs to look somewhere else.

Oh boy! Les and Bets probably met on Date-pic or whatever the site is, lol.

I can see Bets leaving, stating that ’this is all too weird even for me!".

well, this is ruined…

And Luann is sporting her <>’Daisy Mae’ ensemble (except for the exposed midriff part) … Well, isn’t THAT nice?! …

This is very much like live theater!

Word choices.

My idea of a great follow up: Bets grasps the situation quickly. Luann & Les are gently prompted away. Gunther stammers to explain. Bets gently pulls Gunther toward her and delivers an adult kiss. He’s hooked. Gunther has a girlfriend.

“Hey Good Buddy, You Got Yer Spock Ears On?”

“Luann & Gunther & Bets & Les”

“The Les She Knows”

“The More The Murkier”

“Warped Speed”

“Star Dreck”

“Set Your Phasers On Stunned”

Come on, was this foreseeable or what ? Maybe Bets is bisexual and Prudence will pop in too?

I feel sorry for is Bets, every one else there is stupid, naïve, predictable and oh sooo very one dimensional.

it’d be funny if Greg showed Gunther’s view of Les and maybe Luann too, wearing “red shirts”.

Luann is doing it on purpose, apparently she’s a bit jealous of Bets and knows that it will spoil Gunther’s time with her.

Seriously Luann? NOT COOL.

What could possibly go wrong??

And for the next scene the train wreck is completed with many casualties with no survivors. Lunann strikes againAll Bets are off.

This is going to be AWKWARD.

Ummm, Gunther… don’t turn around! =8^O

Looks like comments will get to 500.

“…fooling around in his bedroom,” she says.

Whelp, this date is over.

funny …the new character has been in the strip for all of 2.3 days, and already people are writing her out of it!

If there is a possible silver lining in this scenario, it’s that Bets doesn’t look happy to see Les. Unless he decides to pull a ‘Les’, and tell her that he and Gunther are living together. And that they are step-cousins. (I think that’s right. Yeah, yeah it’s right).

Had he only selected a different restaurant than the familiar, then the outcome could’ve been…oh well it was going too good anyways….

I think that I must pay honor to Luannfan1212 and his obsession with hilarity ensues.

Hilarity ’n Sue were girls from Pawtucket, who walked down the street carrying their bucket. They picked up some poo, wondered what they should do, but a cop said to them, “Just truck it.”

Ok now this is quality fish wrapping here!! I feel like I’m watching two old ladies at church bingo discovering they dating the same old guy and one of these ladies about to get her wig snatched off!

THREE is a CROWD, and FOUR is a MOB. Time for Gunther and Bets to beam out to a better location.

Luann, you rude idiot! May you never have a date that goes well!

So sorry, Gunther….

cue the ominous music

Well, this won’t get pointlessly convoluted at all. Also, why would Gunther take Bets (or any woman) to the restaurant where Les works?

Oh…Jee…ZUZ…

Ooh, this is getting good!