Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for December 05, 2020

I was right: Toni’s dream car. (Why’d you paint the couch, Shannon?)

Now a lecture on raising kids vs restoring cars? 8^ /

Uh …

Depends on the kid….

I stand by my previous comment: tain’t cute at all.

This isn’t funny! Shannon needs to be punished in such a manner that she realizes that actions have consequences!!

Ah!

So it WAS a car Toni was referring to after all! And a clunker at that! Good luck finding the (expensive) parts for that old ‘hoss.’

Well, I for one, am relieved!

Sorry, “Shann Fans.” Better luck next time!

At least the kid made a (predictable) appearance.

Hey, Shann? I hope you have some paint left for Unca Bwad and Aunt Toni’s “new” ride! ;)

Looks like she painted to Pontiac too.

Perfect timing

Shannon needs to back to her dead beat dad. She is definitely the Scrappy Doo of the cast

If I recall, the Pontiac Safari was a parallel to the 55, 56, 57 Nomad, also a two door wagon, based on the Corvette station wagon (that mercifully never appeared).

That Toni called it a “she” and they are already talking about vehicle restoration, makes it sound like this is the “mouth” they are going to feed.

Also, notice how a week of Brad and Toni doesn’t end without Shannon?

Again, no Jonah in sight. Not waving goodbye. Not driving off. Not Shannon coming through a door.

Just Shannon always there.

I sure wish G&K would just set B&T up as “non-temporary” guardians and be done with it.

You two are not ready to raise a kid, you’ve not even tried to supervise your rental kid.

Shannon, be glad they just looked at the car. Be very glad, and be very careful what you say next.

Why did Shannon have access to a paint can and able to get it open? She needs to have boundaries, like right now.

So I guess we’re gonna get a week of two lovebirds fixing a car with racy double entendres.

Looks like Shannon painted the Pontiac Safari as well. I know it is a classic, but I just never could get into those vertically stacked headlights. Or those cantered ones on some of the old Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth sleds.

Hilarity Ensues, and decision made it’s suggested in the ensuing.

It is dumb to take the misbehavior joke to such an extreme.

Depends on the kid.

Shannon is a warning from the gods. Heed them, and guard the dipstick.

It appears to be a 1963 Pontiac, will have to see when Toni and Brad go check it out. 389 V8, add tri-power, makes for a quick grocery getter.

This is a first….paint a couch?? And Toni is too calm about it. I’d freak out. A couch is expensive. Unless it was somebody’s old couch that they accepted before the Goodwill stop – which might explain Toni’s demeanor. She might be thinking “Yes! Thank you, niece. Now we get to buy a new couch.”

OK. I guessed car correctly yesterday, but that’s pretty far from a Ferrari. I guess she is planning ahead for a “Soccer mom” vehicle, but doesn’t like SUVs or minvans.

Anyway, if you want a real project try a 1964 Oldsmobile “Vista Cruiser”. The glass roof panels make it really stand out: https://www.hubcaps.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/1964oldsmobilevistacruiser.jpg

“The Shann”

Shannon should go over to Calvin’s house and borrow some Ritalin from him!!

It is just to show the difference between painting a car and a couch and how children do what they think is appropiate !

She also painted the car, from the looks of it.

Somebody needs a good spanking for painting the couch.

And why does Brad want a new baby? Didn’t they legally adopt Shannon who’s more than enough to handle?

GnK have really jumped the shark on Shannon’s antics. Throwing trash in B&T’s face was bad enough.

That station wagon will a) disappear down the memory hole, or b) turn into a “hilarious” disaster.

Any car you can buy for $300 is in fact going yo cost you more than you can afford.

Thanks, Shannon… as a bystander I burst out laughing. Had I been your custodians, you’d be in deep trouble.

She’s a “bwat”!

Toni know’s brad LOVES to do car maintenance plus they BOTH love classic cars. I’m sorry but given Toni’s high level of subtle sensuality, i can’t help but think of the fun they would have—-in the backseat. It’s a station wagon, they have HUGE backseats.

Man, I’m telling you…I sure wish I could have found and married a woman who shared my love of old cars. Instead, it was a source of friction.

Pontiac Bonneville Safari – Shannon’s Delight

Painting the couch?? Not acceptable…Just like setting the sofa on fire sure isn’t.. :^\

Someone did exactly this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_-eAP_CTHM&feature=youtu.be

But, Shannon, does blue match the curtains and the other furniture?

Was wrong about it being a dog. Probably better that it’s not if she was allowed to be an undisciplined menace like this annoying little brat. This is so not funny.

Fixing a car and raising a kid will both have you asking, at times, why you ever bothered getting started.

Shannon can help with that.

Wonder how many comic strips, television programs, or other forms of popular media have been ruined by addition of cute/annoying kid? Didn’t do the Thin Man series any good, or Cosby. A couple cases where kids took over. Fritzi Ritz comic strip was taken over by her niece Nancy, and the comic strip renamed. The original Daredevil comic book hero (Lev Gleason, not the later Marvel character) got kicked out of his own book by the Little Wise Guys.

If this were real life I would be sitting down this kid and have a serious talk then I would sit the Dad’s ass down and tell him what a un-disciplined child he has and start raising his kid better and not use his sister as a drop off pawn.

Painted the couch…. Never even crossed my mind as a kid.

Believe me, kids can do the darnedest things in the blink of an eye!!! I was one of them! My mother had just painted the kitchen when I was about four. I found a can of red paint and put polka dots all over one wall. Our family had gone to the beach. Mom thought I was with Dad and vice versa. Bottom line…this 3 1/2 year old little girl wandered down the beach and found some kids to play with. Panic ensued when neither parent had me and a little girl fitting my description drowned! My mother had to go and see if it was me!! I was put on a very short leash after that!! My sister s now raising her TWIN granddaughters!!! They will be four in February! My heart goes out to her; they are truly a handful!!!

Seems many folks were correct about the car, even Brad guessed a pet!As far as Shannon goes, I could do without the last panel. They have yet to discipline her. Maybe things would be different with their own child, but they don’t seem ready to go down that road. Car restore, it is! ;-)

Maybe the $300 now goes for a new couch? ;-)

I would love to see Brad and Toni work together for fixing up a splendid car♡! Shannon always remains me on my childhood.

Sorry, but that Kid has got to GO!

Get a better car than that

To be truthful I have not missed the spoilt brat over the last few weeks. At this point she’s the type at 13 or 14 years-of-age who would steal money from the wallet or purse of the guardians who watch over her. Indeed, if she did something very outrageous, Shannon is the type of new American “female” who would falsely accuse Brad of doing an assault against her. This is the type of female the writers have made in this comic.

Hmmm…. a STATION WAGON just what you need for lots of kids!!

I really can’t stand Shannon and always wonder why they insist on having her in the stories. She serves no purpose at all, other than being totally offensive and obnoxious.

HeeHeeHee All of a sudden, Dennis the Menace looks like an honor student!

Yes – I looked it up. It’s a real car. 1970s era. It looks like a GTO station wagon.

Wish it was an earlier model Bonneville Safari. This one doesn’t even have the fins.

The ‘62 model looks a lot like my dad’s old ’62 Chevy BelAir wagon.

Not a GM or Mopar gal, but if you’re going to go classic car, go as classic as you can. The ’60 and older Safari at least has some class.

Depends on the car, and the kid…

Anyone else notice the color of the haphazard primer on the station wagon is the same color as the paint probably used to paint the couch ?

When is Jonah coming back for this kid? Or did he dump Shannon with his sister on purpose just to get away from it all?

And Shannon got a can of paint open how?

OK so JONAH needs to spring for a new couch, and Shannon needs to be barred from the tools and other things she apparently gets into. And she does need appropriate punishing, that does not include beatings.

The 1955-57 Safaris were the best, They were Pontiac’s version of the Chevy Nomad.

Shannon could be the poster child for “Planned Parenhood”.

You can pack a lot of kids into a Pontiac Safari :) Seven at least.

Sunday: Frank ponders his existence.

Unfortunately, biology doesn’t care about our modern priorities. The reason you are hot and nubile now is literally so that you can conceive. If you wait, it’s going to be a struggle, and may not happen at all.

My young son once unscrewed the plastic pipe under the sink and let the water run and then later put a roll of toilet paper in the toilet … to see what would happen. You can imagine what. Now he’s a plumbing apprentice … go figure!

Shannon is the flashlight of chaos that life always has in its back pocket.

When taking care of someone else’s kid. There’s always the baggage that they bring along with them from the homes they come from. All you can do is roll with it and be aware to refocus all that misdirected kids energy. Think that’s something. Teens are even more challenging than that. All I can say is good luck pal. One day they leave the nest grow up and leave. You just hope they learn well their lessons from you as a parent even as pain at times giving lessons may be. Well worth it always in the end on this piece of you left in this universe for future generations.

Interesting, both the strip and the comments. The best part of the strip is GnK point out Brad and Toni aren’t fully ready for kids because they’re still to focused on their thing (with an active kid you need an active parent). Now I know the parenting manual they give you when your first child is born is usually lost (mine was, freely admitted!) but Shannon’s done a great reality check and Brad/Toni need to re-evaluate things a little. As for the car, name it Expensive Hobby. Pushing off buying a house easily 5-10 years due to parts cost, focus, and living life.

I like little children, but only if sautéed in butter.

300? Yea buy the car. A rusted, in need of complete restoration, 1961 (the add looks like a 60 something wagon) sells for around 7- 10 K. Buy the car. If you choose to restore it you better invest in some tools and have a garage. You will have to replace rusted floor panels, rusted windshield channels, etc. You will also need to replace every of the running gear and rebuild the engine, transmission, etc. It’s a bit more than maintenance and requires a substantial investment.Flip the car. Sell it for 8K or so and take that money as a down payment on your own home. In case you don’t think an old rusted wagon sells. https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1344070/1961-pontiac-safari-for-sale-in-arlington-texas-76001

That brat needs a good spanking period

it’s a comic, relax

Hopefully, “as is” means “it can run just long enough for you to get it to where you live”

Anyone who thinks restoring a car is tougher than raising a child is in no way ready for the latter.

stu·pid

(sto͞o′pĭd, styo͞o′-)adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est

1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.

2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.

3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.

4. Dazed, stunned, or stupefied: felt stupid after taking the pain medication.

5. Used to express disparagement or exasperation: Take your stupid notebook and go home.

6. Shannon, who doesn’t seem capable of learning anything.

Of all the cars to fantasize about, Toni wants a station wagon? I was hoping for a least a mid sixties Mustang.

The station wagon (for all you young ‘uns) was Detroit’s attempt to capture the emerging suburban market in the late ’50s-early ’60s. It was a time of the emergence of shopping malls also.

I’m impressed. A cool old Pontiac. And a bargain price. That should take Brad’s mind off kids for a while.

Uncle Brad needs to give Shannon a good ol fashion butt whipping!

I can’t imagine why Toni doesn’t want children right now…

Oh for heaven’s sake, can we EVER have a Brad & Toni arc without the brat showing up?!? When was she even dropped off anyway? They just barely got home from work, which means it’s still Thanksgiving Day in the strip. Unless there was a time jump, but the dialogue implies that that’s not the case.

Cheapskate is right: G&K don’t even bother with her being dropped off or picked up anymore, she’s just… always there.

Brad and Toni need to take some tips from Wanda over at Baby Blues! ;-))

Not funny about the couch. They’re past the time when they should have started beating that kid (figuratively).

I knew it was NOT adopting Shannon. Toni would not be excited to have Shannon full time and the child already had a parent. I thought it would be a vehicle.

I don’t understand why Greg consistently makes Shannon behave about three years younger than she is, and consistently do things that defy common sense. She honestly is old enough to know what she’s doing is wrong.

Looking at panel three again, I just realized that paint would also be all over the carpet. Carpets?

I often wonder about Shannon. If she acts the way that she acts because it is the only way she feels she gets attention. At her current age, there shouldn’t even be a thought of I painted the couch.

They should be horrified, Shannon got into paint and ruined their couch (and probably the surrounding carpeting and walls). This is going to be expensive to fix. Forget about buying that car, you aren’t going to have the money.

totally agree with DaJellyBelly—- that kid needs direction and correction instead of being allowed to do whatever she wants

Indeed, DaJellyBelly is right!

Still say they should have gone with the cat.

I think Toni left the paint can open and wanted Shannon to make a mess. Perhaps Toni really doesn’t want her own child and she is using Shannon to show Brad how difficult kids can be. Shannon would not be able to get the can open by herself.

Good old Pontiac. I actually cried when I gave up my 18-year-old Bonneville, and was saddened by the fact that they were dropping the Pontiac line permanently.

Many years ago, a neighbor that had twin boys came in, just like Shannon, and announced that they had painted mom’s car. Because they were only 5ish, they only did the bottom parts. It took a lot of work but they did manage to clean it up.

Shannon seems hellbent on showing Toni and Brad how she feels about having a baby in the house. Here she is, the unwanted kid. Desperate for a permanent home, and to be wanted and put 1st, before careers, other babies and especially cars. She keeps showing them how “creative” she is, but they just don’t get it.

And I went with Shannon yesterday. A pet, a car or adopt Shannon as a shared passion.

How about that. My dad had one of those when I was a kid — never knew the model name.

Having Shannon around would be enough to put you off kids forever.

It appears that I was right about Shannon learning absolutely nothing from the scissor cut incident. Can we all agree that it’s past time for her to start being disciplined instead of babied and indulged?

It’s time to admit Sharon needs MUCH more than they can give.

Oh yes, we did make the upholstery for this car ourselves. We call it “Shannon’s Skin”.

Working together to restore an old car…. I can’t think of a better way to throw strife into a relationship..

Kid needs a straight jacket and a muzzle.

Painted the couch! That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in the comics for a long time.

I thought this was funny!!

seems like this issue (to have kids or not) can be put to bed for now…..thank goodness…. while these two indulge their passion for restoring this old car that they both love. Surely it will rise up again, hopefully MUCH later; bets on what’s coming monday. We haven’t seen Tiffany for a while; we need to check in with her.

I have no sympathy for Shannon. Maybe she can paint herself out of this strip permanently!

Not exactly a “classic car,” but an old fixer-upper could be fun for the automotively-inclined couple. As I said yesterday, I’d want a Studebaker Sky Hawk (i.e., the 1956 Hawk version without the humongous tail-fins)….

The pontiac bonneville is a diversion for Brad and the readers. This storyline is just a detour until the next storyline.

notice it is a station wagon, which is what families with kids used to have for carting people around.

Toni knows this Pontiac needs a lot of work.

The most amazing thing about Kids is that most of them manage to live to Adultry.

So no baby for these two yet? Okay then; what other ongoing thread in this strip should be picked up on? The potential Luann-Jack-Bernice love triangle?

Looks like she painted that car too.

I am so tired of this brat. Clearly, she has never been disciplined. Toni and Brad will never have one of their own if Shannon the soul-sucker is around all the time. Toni and Brad are being taken advantage of by a negligent, selfish Jonah, and they say and do nothing about it. Enough already. Give Jonah a sitcom in Hollywood or New York and have him take his daughter with him. Permanently.

most excellent…

I painted my 1973 Dodge Dart with a paint roller and aluminum paint. The paint never fully dried. Those who leaned against it regretfully remembered doing so. That was an ugly job.

(It makes me wonder about the tests which placed me — barely — in the genius range. I sure have done a lot of stupid things and haven’t even stopped. You’d think I’d at least have more regrets rather than amused memories.)

Cheese us, it’s a minute past midnight Pacific time, and there are already…239 comments by various Doctor Spocks and their detractors.If you want to keep Shannon busy and out of trouble for awhile, give her a velcro vest to wear, a trampoline underneath, and place velcro on the ceiling,Problem solved.

There is no way in hell a 1963ish Pontiac Bonneville Safari can be bought for $300 unless it is missing all components except the body and that is 98% rust!

Vasectomy now !

Meanwhile I’m sitting here thinking “Where did she find the paint and roller and how did she ever get the lid off the paint can?”

We had a ‘72 Safari, which wasn’t really cool at all. It was just big and friendly.

Honestly, they don’t need a child, they’re raising Shannon and that’s enough kid for anybody!

Did I miss something? Did Shannon’s dad just ditch her there permanently? Where did he run off to?

Ummm…they have a kid. Sort of. LOL