Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for March 06, 2021

Things you cannot unsee Luann

¡NO! NÃO! NOT TARA!

Let’s see.

1) Robbery.

2) Aggravated assault.

3) Felony Hit and Run.

And quite possibly,

4) Manslaughter.

And THAT is just for openers.

Bad guys have been dodging serious jail time for years in this Strip.

But I don’t see any way this Stella creature is going to escape some serious prison time over all this.

Ugh. ✨

So it was Option 1 from my three guesses yesterday. We’ve gone the hit and run cliffhanger route.

P.S. These are a great two panels from Greg!

That escalated fast. From petty larceny to 2nd degree murder (or attempt) in less than five seconds!

she did not jump out of the way in time. They should be calling 911 instead of just be frozen by shock and fear

Cold blooded to run someone down like that.

I still don’t think the funeral route suites either the story or the characters. Tara will survive, possibly with some dramatic scenes of 9-1-1 calls, EMT’s and police. Then on to the obligatory hospital bed scenes.

Question is; What does GnK have in store for the future of Tara’s character? Could go many ways. May wind up working at the Fuse.

Stella did not lose any love for her cuz when she did that. She is cold blooded too do that too family.

Oh no. Tara shouldn’t have chased her. Let her go. Let The Fuse take a loss. It’s insured. She knows her cousin. Should’ve walked away when she recognized her. Ah the indestructible mentality of the young.

Luann was Helping a friend and the results lead to a tragedy.

Tara Starr (2002-2021) R.I.P.

If was a cop in front of the car they would have shot stella before they got hit.

Tara Starr might be unconscious.

Maybe brad will show up when fire dept arrives

Your friend is in mortal danger and you AVERT YOUR EYES???

Luann gets going w/First-Aid to stabilize Tara as EMS and Fire Dept. First Responders (Toni and Brad) arrive.

Next week: Gunther and Bets’ new cosplay. You don’t want to miss it!

So, the strip is now going “Funky Winkerbean” on us?

Why didn’t Luann and Bernice go into the fuse which is right behind them and get help.

comics used too be funny instead of soap operas and drama.

A light-hearted Shannon strip tomorrow would be in bad taste.

So, of course, tomorrow we will have a Shannon strip.

the fuse is closed but it would a have land line phone too call 911 faster than a cell phone

Nothing is indicating that she got runned over, so chances are she survived, she did try to get away so likely she got hit and she’s hurt or maybe she got away entirely and she didn’t get hit and is on the ground because she tripped after she got away,,again all maybes.

Wow! Absolutely did not expect such drama from this strip. Tara was a total idiot to stand in front of the car to begin with, everyone will beat this to death, take it as read—all that aside, very anxious to see what Monday brings. 911 should be on the scene any minute from Bernice’s call. Maybe she’ll call again for an ambulance before they get there. Will Tara live??? Has anyone died in this strip yet? Would that be beyond the pale? I’m betting she’ll survive, but we’ll see!

AAAnnnndddddd, folks here were saying that Greg would not go there.

.

BTW, if you google the rear end of a Subaru BRZ and a Toyota Scion FR – S, it is what Stella is driving. They are both the same car, but with only minor differences, such as tighter suspension on one of them, slightly different air intake on the front, and a few others. The rear – ends of the cars look identical to what Greg has drawn.

Will Luann need a therapist?

Dang! Her own cousin ran over her? And for a few lousy bucks That is just messed up on so many levels

Well, I feel like today is a big middle finger to me from G&K about all those times I complained that the story had no stakes. I couldn’t be happier at the moment. Not that I wish ill on any character; I’m just glad to have an arc where things matter rather than the usual Junior-high level drama.

That took a serious turn pretty quickly…any chance the responding fire truck will be Brad and Tony?

is like funky winker when one of the chars was drunk and crashed.

Oh No! She ran over Tara! She told Luann she was getting out if Dodge before her cousin did something crazy. Now it’s too late. : (

Bern already called 911

Welp, guess she isn’t going to Utah any time soon.

Cuando fué el incidente donde al ser perseguidos en auto Brad y Toni por Dirk y este se estrelló, Brad, quien entonces se entrenaba para bombero, inmediatamente realizó una maniobra de RCP. Espero que Luann lo tome de ejemplo, y si al menos no sabe aplicar la maniobra, sea capaz de llamar al 911.

Por otra parte, la posición de la pierna de Tara en el primer panel puede indicar que saltó sobre el auto antes del impacto, que me parece es una maniobra propia de los dobles de riesgo.

Yay, something happened before any cops showed up! Impressive. (Not you, Tara, you had plenty of time to get out of the way. I thought you already knew she was crazy?)

Tara thought she could play the “family” card to make her cousin back down, realize what she did was wrong and do the right thing. Tara, i applaud your effort to turn your cousins life around but you can’t force her hand. She has to want to change. But right now Luann and Bernice need to turn around and call 911, get paramedics and police there before they need to arrange a funeral.

Oh, God, please no, G&K let Tara survive!

Oh no!… A dark turn of events on the pages of Luann? (Suspense growing!) I wonder what Greg Evans has in store for us… and I hope she wasn’t too badly hurt!

Bern has the phone – looks like she may have called the police – hopefully in time for them to catch Stella. Also hopefully Bern calls an ambulance in time.

Crossing fingers hoping she’s ok. Hopefully evil does not prevail.

The only questions now is Tara dead or seriously injured and will her crazy cousin be caught?

And Luann’s parents won’t be too thrilled all this took place at their business establishment.

I’m pretty sure G & K would not kill off Tara. I can’t remember comics that are mostly humorous having a principal character die except from old age. Tara is not likely able to travel to Utah anytime soon. Lu & Bern are going to look after her. Bern’s involvement with Jack and now Tara will likely help her to get out of her shell.

OMG………….. here we are on saturday and we have to wait, as usual, until monday to see the extent of Tara’s injuries. We can only hope it is just that.

I thought Tara would jump on the hood of the car and get rolled off when the car raced off or possibly block Stella’s view where she would hit the Fuse dumpster or perhaps a telephone pole, leaving Tara as a bruised and battered heroine who stopped her felon cousin. Now it looks like something much more serious, definitely a stay in the hospital. I hope Bernice got that 911 call off before this occurred which have put both Luann and her into a state of shock and I know its easy to berate them for not doing anything but this happened in a matter of seconds, they were in the parking lot for about a minute at most, most people would be shocked. At least Bernice supposedly was dialing 911, too bad no one got a photo of the getaway car and license plate. Maybe Stella runs into the cops a block away…

Looking at Tara being thrown up against the windshield of Stella’s fast car, and her body lying on the ground in the second panel, framed behind the horror of Luann and Bernice, I mean can one imagine the horror and shock that they are feeling? having pie one minute and basically the next seeing Tara stand down her worst real fear, her dangerous sociopath cousin. No wonder she wanted to hightail it to Utah. OMG I hope she is okay somehow, I am at a loss for words beyond that.

Do you know what would change things in the Luann-verse? If Tara died. But I think it would have to be how well-liked she is within the series?

Once the dust settles from the Tara hit-and-run, Luann is going to have some ‘splaining to do herself. Why were she and her friends inside the Fuse after hours, when none of them are employees? Why did she leave the back door open so the thief could simple walk right in? Why did Luann have a key in the first place? Why did she turn over the key to Tara and tell her she could stay at the Fuse overnight unsupervised with free access to anything not locked down? I hope Luann does not use Tara’s accident to cover up her own indiscretions.

Go for the gold.

Tara underestimated how far her cousin could go, big mistake!

The way this strip links past & present I have a hunch the cousin could be Dirk, Brad’s old nemesis.

Well this isn’t much of a funny comic to start reading. Call Columbo. Do I have to find somebody with yesterday’s newspaper to find out who got creamed?

Well it looks like a long night for the ladies. Tara is definitely going to the hospital and Bernice and Luann are going to have to answer a lot of questions for the police and then should be off to the hospital to see how Tara is. It is very likely Nancy and Frank will find out about the theft and assault on their property from the cops if Bernice or Luann does not tell them first. I wonder what time it is, after midnight I would guess so when TJ arrives in the morning he will probably notice the crime scene tape in the parking lot as well and there could be cops in the Fuse looking for evidence. Hopefully Tara is not hurt too badly but if she cracked her skull on the asphalt, she could have a significant injury. Any chance that Brad and Tony show up with the ambulance next Monday? I hope G&K continues this arc and not suddenly jumps to something else….

Vile creature! Wicked Stella!

Tara might not be going to Utah any time soon.

It would be out of GnK’s formula, but this episode has the potential to carry on for two more weeks. The police and EMT have not yet arrived, to be followed by Frank, Nancy and TJ.

Hopefully they got the license plate in the phone before the accident.

This wouldn’t have happened if Tara had continued to crash in Luann’s bedroom.

OMG!

Please don’t let this be the end for Tara!

Yesterday I was seriously frightened Tara would be run over by her evil-hearted cousin. Usually, I’m wrong when I make predictions. I wish I was again…

Is this the end of Tara?

Tara, gone with the wind?

My guess is when fire is dispatched Brad & Toni will respond and I am sure that Brad’s parents will get a call since it happened at their business.

Tara was hit. Stella is a crazy murderer, she hit her cousin with the car without any hesitation! I wonder if this isn’t the first time she has killed someone. I hope Tara is still alive. Poor thing♡. Luann and Bernice will never forget this night. And us too.

Bern called 911 a few strips back when Luann thought she was filming

This is why I stopped following this strip before. It gets into dark, depressing story line. Not why I read the comics.

My problem is this arc has been going on for a month. It went from Bernice degrading Luann for which Luann should have told her off for to her openly insulting Tara which a two second non apology was given to this which we are going have to go through over a week of police showing up, Luann having to tell her parents why she was at the Fuse allowing it to be robbed and Tara in the hospital. Way to long for a pretty boring arc

Well, that’s dark.

OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!

At least they aren’t just standing there taking pictures with their phones.

Jack to the rescue. Then all three of them will be fighting over him.

On Monday – we see Luann waking up in her bed and saying – “Well that was a really really weird dream, because I don’t like banana pie”. Anybody like my ending to this story?

Way to go, Luann. Great job! I hope you’re looking forward to the conversation with the cops that you’re going to be having soon…

Tara! NOOOO!!!!

Thanks a lot for the bummer. Great start to the day.

This ended unexpectedly.

We needed a third panel to show if Tara went over the hood or under the car. The difference could be a few bruises or a mangled body.

Why couldn’t that have been Shannon?!? j/k

Tara’s cousin thanked her for the juicy tip to get cash and had cash on her. That could have been the cousin at the bar while Tara distracted Lu and Bern when they were eating pie. Tara’s cousin told her to get in the car which she didn’t do so cousin took off. I bet cousin is heading for Utah. Lu and Bern will vouch for Tara trying to stop cousin before getting hit. Wonder how much ch of the truth Tara will tell?

This is a somewhat new direction for this strip. Interesting…..

so we can now add vehicular assualt, hit and run, leaving the scene of the crime, to her charge sheet. they aren’t just going to put her back inside, they’re going to brick up the cell.

Now it’s getting good. Have to wait till Monday now darn.

Poor Tara, homeless, now with multiple injuries requiring hospitalization and or surgeries, broke, unable to pay for the doctor bills; or worse, deceased and who shall pay for the funeral and burial…

I like chalkrunner s comments under bandit64 above (way, way above).

Summarizes my feelings very well.

As in, Luann bears the lion’s share of guilt for what has happened these last few weeks (our time, maybe a day or so theirs). Not that Luann is responsible for the manslaughter or attempted murder, of course, that was part of the Tara and Stella dynamic. But Luann’s actions are why the scene played out here, as opposed to elsewhere.

As I had said before, not one event that has taken place on de Groot property would have done so without Luann. As such, I agree with chalkrunner that Luann has done some serious damage to her relationship with her parents. Which might be a plus, come to think of it, because Luann’s relationship with Bernice will improve AND (what some of you have been crying for) it may be time for Luann to move out! (Possible bad news, the end of Frank and Nancy in the strip, as Luann will have moved on)

While Bernice was a butt-in-sky, whose participation was not welcomed by Luann or the readership, nevertheless may well be an asset at this time. Regardless, this will likely change the relationship between Bernice and Luann – for the better.

As for Tara, she is now somewhere between hero and martyr. Nothing wrong with that, as Trilogy and 1212 kept trying to point out. I would hope that those who remained convinced that Tara was still the bad guy, that was the result of some choppy at best story telling (in which perhaps G&K didn’t want to reveal Tara’s intentions until they threw her under the wheels).

All that remains now is the big reveal:

Does Tara survive?

If so, does Stella come back for another try? Does Tara actually exit, stage Utah, as originally planned?

Most of all, has Ann Eiffel met her replacement?

Uh, Bernice? As long as you’re recording a video, the phone needs pointed the other way… you know, evidence? (And Luann, where’s your phone to call for help?)

Too bad Tara did not MOVE out of the way. She had plenty of time while she was having a conversation with Stella.

Wow! What is happening?

Bernice called 911 for a robbery. She needs to call back for an ambulance stat! They will not send an ambulance for a robbery.

She drove off leaving two eye witnesses, both whom heard everything.

Jesus has lots of patience

If this happened to anyone I knew I would not be able to look away, even if I wanted to. I’m surprised both girls looked away.

The shocked reactions are natural and human. I doubt the artist is going to make this more than a brief moment before they rally, call for aid and tend to Tara. Many people would be frozen with shock and trauma.

Greg has been doing a lot of his drawings in dark settings for the last couple of months. Nice work. What needs to happen is for Greg to stop wasting time and “living space” on Ben. Ben, with an unseen wife in Manila, two unseen adopted kids of undetermined ages, all living with Ben’s unseen parents. Now, I think that the boyish Tara will be injured, but not fatally. So, we have a lot of living characters with dead end story lines. Time for a big, big Spring cleaning.

Nice car!

Sunday: Brad and Toni explain the Circle of Life to a grieving Shannon whose goldfish died.

Great. Mr. Evans does this to us on a Saturday, now we have to wait two days for the next panel!

It’s called cringing and many, many people just naturally do it. Stop looking for a tempest in a teapot, please.

Dear Gregg Evans. Kudos for a strip that has this many people waiting for Monday’s installment. (You will let us know on Monday? Won’t you ? Please?)

At the age of five, I witnessed a playmate hit by a car at 40 mph. I played gin rummy with him after school for six months while he was in a body cast. Never think your “right of way” will protect you from a half ton vehicle.

Oh man! Now we have to wait until Monday!

A dark turn.

Three days back, last panel. Bernice: “I’m calling 911, you dope!”

Luann better hope that Tara isn’t dead or seriously injured. Tara could sue The Fuse for damages (she is on the property at the behest of the owners’ daughter) and I wouldn’t put it past her to do so. Tara does need money, and what better way to get it than the “deep pockets” of The Fuse?

Well, Luann’s frisky run has led to some truly terrible consequences. Telling her parents she has a friend who needs a place to crash would have likely led to a better result.

HA ha?

So does anyone still think Tara is in on it with her cousin? ;-)

now we have to wait until monday

there seems to be a story line like for better or worse, love it

Hopefully Bernice’s police call brings the cops fast.

well, if she is not ok I won’t be back. “Funnies”… NOT

I hope Bernice already called 911!

Ouch. I jumped out of the way of a speeding car once. Broke my arm. On the plus side I didn’t get tread marks all over my spleen.

Can I just say. I’ve been reading this strip for 10 years and this is the dumbest story line ever. Am I alone

Good lord, I love this comic!!!

What short memories some of you have (or maybe it’s me) … a couple days ago when Bernice grabbed her phone Luann said “good idea, get it on video, and Bernice said I’M CALLING 911”.

Brad and Toni will show up. Fire department’s call volume is 80% EMS and car accidents.

Unlike weight gain and loss, unlike lingerie sales and complete ignorance of rules of jurisprudence, unlike suddenly living in the same town your “see only in the summer” daughter goes to college, this action is a Rubicon that can never be uncrossed.

No matter what happens next, it can never be ignored and later conveniently forgotten.

That witch! I hope they catch her and put her away for a long time.

It’s not often you see this kind of thing in comic strips. Bravo to GnK!

Tomorrow is Sunday. We’ll have to wait until Monday. In the old-time movies, you would have to wait until the next week’s movie showing to see what happened and they had cliffhangers every week. Stay Tuned.

OMG, did she actually rip Tara’s leg off?!?!?!?!? Holy guacamole!!!!!! I just hope Tara’s going to survive!

It’s nice to have a big bad villain again around here. We haven’t had anyone stirring up problems since Ann Eiffel, and really no tough guy villains since Dirk.

I don’t see any red ink around the body. Don’t panic.

Just, WHAT?

Bernice has already called 911 I think, but calling 911 on a cell phone is often worthless, as I have found out by experience.

All for the love of money? She isn’t dead. The car wasn’t going very fast. (joke)That’s going to leave a scar! The actress playing Tara was written out of the series to go star in movies. FYI This comic strip has more comments than any of the others I read. It’s late. Everyone got here before I did. So I’m trying to come up with something new. Unlike McD’s and it’s new Chick filet sandwich.

The cousin needs to find a very solid post or pole at high speed while fleeing.

Way to be useless with that phone, Bernice! (Insert eyeroll here)

Given the distance between Tara and the car from yesterday’s strip, Tara is most likely knocked unconscious. We will see on Monday. Or will G&K give us a Gunther and Les arc?

“Tara Starr, college student. A woman barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild her. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic woman. Tara Starr will be that woman. Better than she was before. Better, stronger, faster.”

Anybody else sorry this didn’t end in a pie fight?

well, at least Tara didn’t have to worry about that old adage our parents told us about wearing clean underwear in case you are in an accident, since she didn’t wear any!

:-/

What, too soon?

I still think the shadowy cousin is a McGuffin. If she’s shown again it will only be as a shadow in police custody. Her fate will probably only be mentioned via another scene involving the primary characters.

Responses today might surpass the 630 responses when Ann Eiffel suddenly reappeared to book a show at The Fuse. Bad news sells better than good news.

T hat’s the last thing I expected from “Luann.” G&K always keeps it light.

No “thwump!”?

Oh $#!+.

Those are two very dramatic panels showing Greg’s real artistry. Luann turning away and hiding her eyes and then daring to peek, hoping not to see a disaster. Bernice scrunched up in anticipation of the impact Tara might receive, clutching to her phone in a posture of prayer. Finally Tara at the moment of impact, then lying there alone, the victim of her cold blooded cousin.

Kudos to you Greg.

Perhaps Brad and/or Toni will respond to the 911 call.

This takes the strip to a whole new level.

“Greater love has no person that this, that they lay down their life for their friends.”

Why did Bernice, who had the phone, not attempt to shoot a video of what happened and have photo proof of the license plate?

Gosh, didn’t expect this. Girls, wake up! Sheesh! So did Bern call the cops or not?

Their reaction is more than understandable, but can they really call themselves witnesses if they couldn’t bear to witness the incident?

Funny, that pointy headed Brad used to be a greater idiot of the characters. Now he is the responsible wannabe daddy and these are just eternal airheads with not pointy head to flatten down and make smarter. ;)

I wonder if her cousin in Dirk

What I want to know is where did that building next to the Fuse come from? As far as we know only the side door is open and when Luann first showed Tara that door it faced a large open lot. Now Greg has made it look like they are in an alley behind the Fuse. And where are the other cars? Should be three of them.

not liking this

Hey astronomy buffs! 1st panel shows a constellation that could be a nondescript Scorpio, but the stars are re-arranged into the Big Dipper in the second panel ( with a section of Cassiopeia ).

Oh no.

……Dark.

Now, lets hope at least one of them is smart enough to call 911.

Calling Dr. Morgan M.D….. Medical emergency, come right away.

Interesting that the car said “SKEEEE” whereas Dirk’s car when confronting Brad three years ago said “SKRREEECH” – Dirk’s car had a more mature vocabulary.

Congratulations, Bernice. Your butting in where you don’t belong finally got someone killed.Stella didn’t follow Tara to The Fuse, SHE FOLLOWED YOU!

Several posters have argued that Luann is responsible for this, because she allowed Tara to stay at the Fuse. This is like saying that someone who packs a box of food at a food bank and puts it in someone’s car is responsible if the family eating the canned food has an allergic reaction that hospitalizes them. With this philosophy, people would fear to do anything to help others. Yes, Luann shouldn’t have gone behind her parents back, but the cousin driving the car is responsible for Tara’s injuries. and if Tara had continued to stay in Luann’s bedroom, this could have happened at the DeGroot’s house…

Oh, no! They’ve killed Tara!

Mean, wicked Cousin Stella seems to have deliberately swerved the accelerating car into Tara, who is down!

Hey, you two useless ninnies—Yes, I mean you, Luann and Bernie—, get 911 EMTs rolling. Maybe Toni and Brad can save her life while you two stupid cowards cringe in your total failure of nerve….

I had some time to think about this after yesterday and I have to agree with some of the comments. There’s nothing wrong with helping a friend but Luann went about it the wrong way and honestly Tara could have been a bit honest with the situation too. If she explained things with Luann better, then Luann could have told her parents Tara’s situation and they could have helped Tara with buying a bus ticket out of town. Because things didn’t go in that direction, Tara’s life is in danger. You can help out a friend, but don’t let your friend sleep in your parents’ restaurant.

Oh, I think I see what happened. You’re just seeing one of Tara’s legs as she got hit, you’re not seeing her whole body. Just the way that first panel looked, I thought the cousin had a leg attached to the car as she drove away. Jeez, what a psycho!

These stories are taking too long. It’s a lazy way to not develop stories. The two week or so walk and talk with the brother before this story is a good example, and was a waste of time.

Wow!!!!!!

An act of horror in such a normally friendly comic strip. Poor Tara. At “best” she will be an invalid for life, and at worst she is dead.

Geez this is getting deep.

I think she was never hit. I think this was scripted. Notice how overconfident Tara was while running, after the stranger, in a held martial arts pose?

This is one of those serious scenes that stops the laughter.