Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 23, 2021

okay…

The old saying is wrong. Character is what you are when the lights come back on.

Arghhhhh! Another disappointing arc.

And that shuts the door on this arc. Tiffany is once again her self-centered self and Ox is out in the cold. Let;s shun Tiffany the ingrate

Aw, Tiffany. That is NOT nice. Ox, having second thoughts now?

My heart hurts.

Two small changes in Ox’s expression from panel three to four. Eyebrow closer to the eye and tilts upward. And a mouth slit appears with the lower lip poking out. Such minor differences, but they mean everything. Very well done, Mr. Evans.

Sort of reminds me of a teen movie back in the ’70s I think. A girl gets pregnant by her boyfriend who immediately “disappears.” A very nice guy, nice like Ox, arranges and even pays for her abortion with his Christmas break ski trip money and takes care of her for a couple of days after the procedure. About a week later he walks into a party and there she is, back with the old boyfriend. Maybe a little more intense than what Ox is feeling now but still a sense of being used.

La energía regresó en el momento más inoportuno. Siento pena por Ox, se ve que tenía buenas intenciones.

Well we see why – despite her good looks – Tiff has never had a boyfriend.

We really do not know what she is going to do. In all fairness, she may now be focused on getting dressed and then getting to work. She DID tell him he was big, strong and thoughtful, and hugged him twice. I prefer to think that she is not being thoughtless on purpose, she just realized with the lights back on she could finish getting dressed. She may also realize she could ask him to wait, but he came in his own car, he was ON shift, she was COMING on shift, so perhaps she assumed he would go back and clock out.

Someone translate Spanish comment please?

Wow greg, what a buzzkill. She was gonna kiss ox—-then a typical great big nothing.

Poor Ox ….

Remember, sports fans – Lucy always always always pulls away the football. In Luanniverse, the bigger the setup, the bigger the letdown.

Melania Trump

Who didn’t see that coming?

Ox is the Gunther to Tiff’s Rachel.

Shortest romance in comic strip history.

K C: Cites great artwork in today’s installment.

kenhense: Muses that this week’s behavior, especially today’s, without additional context, may well explain why Tiffany is boy-less.

I concur with both.

LOL, I did mention yesterday that right after Ox got there, the lights would come back on. Poor Ox. Not nice, Tiff.

Ox blocked. Sad.

Yay, Tiffany! Oxford gets the memories of being hugged by a girl. Will Ox never get the opportunity to meet a worthy woman?

If Greg lived about a century ago, he would have been the guy that steered the Titanic into the iceberg. Disappointment is on me, once again.

Uh huh.

And yet another “ordinary guy” quickly outlives his usefulness to Tiffany.

See Ox? I told ya you should have cherished those hugs because they were probably the ONLY “reward” you’d ever get from her. And don’t take it personal-like, but you’re not the first nor the last guy who’s had the door slammed in his face by Tiff. Just ask the “Chess Club Guy” from two years ago.

But it’s interesting. Six years ago, Tiff was learning some humility and a bit of remorse. And demonstrated that “growth” to a certain “guy” who shall not be named. And six years later, that particular “guy,” remains the SOLE beneficiary of Tiffany’s brief repentance. Tiff also experienced the effects of “Karma” in the form of the hated Ann Eiffel. Unfortunately none of that “took.” And now, Ms Farrell reverts back to the “old Tiff” for a brutal laugh at Oxford’s expense.

So be of good cheer Ox. There are plenty of other more appreciative young women out there VAST Luanniverse. Too bad you’re not likely to EVER meet them.

And always remember two things:

1) “Nice guys finish last. ALWAYS.”

2) And “No good deed goes UNPUNISHED.”

And if the lights go out again, before you turn out of the driveway and into the street? Just keep going and DON’T look back.

PS: Kuari? Well. You were RIGHT. :(

i don’t get this strip, ordinary life is more interesting, well drawn, though.

This can be a beginning.

So much for all those people who thought this was the beginning of a romance.

Unless it’s another throwaway Tiffany joke. A little cruel for that, though.

I don’t know why anyone thinks Tiffany has any romantic interest at this point in the Luannverse. She has been to self-involved as a character to have anything but a flirty persona, which is a one way inward projection by the way. But it is something she reached out to her Fuse family, the closest to a caring family she has. Poor Ox, he is a gentleman, but painfully shy. He is hoping for something, something pure, something where the can be the knight in shining armor. Tiffany is a flirty persona, sees Ox as aa comforting, secure figure, not anything where awareness of his deeper feelings (if they are that, or just superficial) exists. She means no harm.

Light’s on!! … Looks a bit harsh, though…

Ox is in dire need of confidence in the worse way.

Johnny Lawrence from Cobra Kai should pay him a visit.

Ox and Tiffany are standing in the porch area when the porch light comes back on. Tiffany never invites Ox to enter the Mansion. Ox’s dream to save a damsel-in-stress was foiled by the Power Company. Ox should shallow his adventurous notions and go back to work. I bet that TJ knows that Tiffany is not the right woman for Ox.

Tiffany gave him a big hug and compliments, yet some people think she owes him something. That’s not how it works, y’all. That’s not how relationships should work. He did her a favor, which is great, but she doesn’t owe him anything. She wants to go to work—the same place he’s going to! What else is she meant to do for him? Is she supposed to dance the hoochie coo for him, just because he came to check on her? She doesn’t owe him anything! I mean, she expressed her gratitude, through the hug and compliments, and now she’s going to the same place he’s going, okay? Sheesh! (Okay, now I’m repeating myself. But Ox is not an incel, I believe, so he’ll surely realize this stuff.)

And the filament burns out in the bulb in his flashlight when the door clanged shut. A sad scene, indeed.

The pacing of the panels today suggests that Tiffany went from being all huggy and smoochy (continuing her behavior from yesterday) to slamming the door in his face in about 5 seconds. And from the change in Ox’s expression from the second to the fourth panel it looks like Ox has been badly hurt. Maybe next week we’ll follow Tiffany shift and see Ox getting all passive-aggressive with her until she finally realizes that she had hurt him. Nah, we’ll get more Shannon but that ought to be the follow up.

“Friend zoned”…

I knew it was going to happen

There’s our Tiff we’ve come to lo … li … know.

And that’s when Ox was kicked in the butt by love.

Last two frames will completely change how Ox sees Tiffany. Might not be easy for Ox to be on the same shift with Tiff anymore.

Powerblocked.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Alas, poor Ox…

So much for an oddball romantic scene.

Let’s hope tomorrow she quickly opens the door again with a “How rude of me!” attitude.

And, back to normal with a resounding thud!

Wouldn’t you know the self centered spoiled rotten brat is at it again!!!

Is anyone really surprised here? Tiffany is about as deep as a puddle.

Disappointed, but Tiffany hasn’t changed. It’s al l about her, reminds me of an older guy

Aww..

Uh oh, stay tuned for next weeks strip, ox destroys the power grid.

Poor Ox.

Steadfast, Ox. You can do much better.

Have a great weekend my friends.

Is it time to bring back Ann Eiffel?

Not even a thank you, what a b

What does he expect? Why is he just standing there? They are both supposed to be at work. Personally I’m glad her first thought when the power came on was to hustle on down there. He should’ve just said okay and went back to work. Why do people always have expectations after they offer help that was never asked for?

Mr Blue has just entered the comic.

Ain’t it the truth?

Yeah, Ox – Gunther went through the same thing…

That is cold.

It was nice while it lasted.

Talk about bad timing.

COVID-19 just claimed another legend.

Larry King, famed talk show host, just passed away.

R.I.P.

Oh, Oxford. You sweet, sweet angel♡. Tiffany, seems to have forgotten his kindness (or worse, feel uncomfortable with her previous happy reaction to Ox’s arrival) faster than light. Poor Ox… he’s too good for this world.

Ox appears to have lost weight. Also height.

Nothing like a damsel who discovers she is no longer in distress.

That is sort of a disappointing ending to what could have been a sweet story.

Sigh. Well, GnK chose to go that route again! Tiffany is all gushy toward Ox then treats him dismissively. BAH!

Did you really expect anything different?…..

I’ll drink to the girls that do.I’ll drink to the girls that don’tBut, I will never drink to the girls that say they will and then say they won’t.But, the girls I will drink to, to the wee small hours of the night, are the ones that say, " I never have, but just for you, I might."

If you asked Ox, he would say that Tiff does NOT “owe” him anything. But, by her behavior, he can reasonably think she is willing. Soon as the lights come on, that behavior stops and she closes the door in his face. For Ox, it is a “What the****!!!” moment.

Once again, GnK portray Tiffany as regressing to her pre-Ann Eiffel, pre-personal growth, pre-entrepreneur behavior. She was a sympathetic character then. Now, not so much.

Oxford on the other hand remains a consistently sympathetic character. Maybe that should change!

The old adage “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Darn lights, Ox was about to get lucky!

Aaawwwwww! Poor Ox.

“La donna è mobile / Qual piuma al vento, / Muta d’accento — e di pensier.” The Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto (1851).

Well I am done for the day I think. BYE!

Rats. Ox thought he was gonna get…

Well, that moment of appreciation didn’t last long. And again, Ox’s feelings are trampled. She certainly is anxious to get to work, even though they’re not busy. Will we go back to Shannon or see what the fallout will be at the Kafé or Fuze?

I hate to say “I told you so” since I rather like Ox, but I did say that Evans wasn’t gonna let Tiffany hook up with a guy who looks like a giant baby.

La donna è mobile

“Oxford”I had missed that detail previously.

“Nice guys finish last.”

Sucks to be you right now, Ox. Sorry dude.

When someone shows you who she is, believe her.

Nice going, bitch.

Sunday: Frank and Nancy get frisky!

Tiff you are drama queen.

Still a better love story than Twilight.

Beauty & the Beast: Ox is the true beauty here.

So much for a beautiful maiden.

Ouch! That was bloody cold, Tiffany. You disappoint not only Oxford with your Mixed Messages but also me with your fickle treatment of possibly the only true friend you have/had.

So sorry, Oxford. Live and learn.

Oxford does what he considers right. Tiffany appreciates him but not yet fully, maybe never. Sad on her part. Others will.

Them’s the breaks, Ox!!

Called it!

A couple of parting observations here:

1) Work was slow at the Fuse due to the power being out. In fact, I’d be surprised if they had ANY customers at all since the Fuse employees couldn’t see, cook, or process credit cards with no electricity. So, TJ didn’t need Ox’s “help” and he certainly didn’t care if Tiffany was there or not. So why the sudden urgency for Tiffany to be back at her job? It’s not like customers were lining up at the front door in the dark waiting for the lights to come back on.

2) Outonalimb referenced this in a post above. But Old Smiley has known all about Tiffany for many years. He KNEW she was a drama queen and he KNEW Tiffany was all about Tiffany. Yet he let poor innocent Ox walk right into Tiffany’s minefield, without any sort of warning. As far as I’m concerned, Old Smiley set Ox up.

3) If it was the intent of this week’s arc was to make Us start hating Tiffany again, then Greg and Karen have succeeded beyond ALL expectations.

4) “Thank You.” Those words take little effort to say, and they are FREE. There is NO excuse for Tiffany not to have said them to Ox, before she closed the door in him.

Tiffany needs to have her here broken-HARD! That ought to take a couple of weeks of strips.

Offduh…

aw Tiff!!

And that’s the end of the saving the woman in distress fantasy. I’ve been there. It’s best to give her some light and expect nothing in return.

If this was a sitcom, the studio audience would be going “Awww” right about now, Can’t help but feel sorry for the big guy..

Tj and Nancy should make Oxford aka “Ox” , the Employee of the Month"

No payment is required for a friend coming to the aid of a friend………… I’d settle for a cheap thrill. Let that robe flop open, darlin’, and then the lights can come back on.

Whelp… It was nice while it lasted.

I still blame Tiffany’s father for not re-hiring at least some of the staff.

Dropped him like a hot Rock as soon as she didn’t need him any more.

“Short Attention Span Tiffany” strikes again.

Tiffany was brusque, but I don’t think it was purposely mean. She wanted to get to work, which is a sign of maturity. However, a heartfelt “thank you”, in those words, should have been said. Ox set himself up with the damsel in distress scenario TJ planted in his brain. I hope Monday continues the story, otherwise it’s another case of good story gone nowhere.

“Darned power company!” -Ox

I don’t think Tiffany meant to be rude or uncaring. The lights coming on jerked her back into her regular world and activities. Being in the dark and w/o power brought out a fearful sensitive side. But that receded when the lights came on. Closing the door in Ox’s face wasn’t particularly considerate but then, regular Tiff was back.

OH BURN that love lasted 3 seconds

As I mentioned above, I’ve been in power outages where the power came back on, but only briefly, and went out again. I wish that would happen here, after Ox has driven away. It would take 15 seconds to say, “Thanks for checking on me, Ox! You’re a pal, and I appreciate it!” I take a dim view of her not doing so.

What a wench.

Well to me this day’s single strip sums up “LIFE FOR ALL MEN.” ;) WOW great one thank you.