Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 12, 2021

YAY! It’s a new story arc!

Oh, this arc should be interesting.

Seems Luann is getting it in stereo.

Training couldn’t possibly take …

… could it? ✨

The results are in….. It’s a TIE!!! 25 Likes and 25 dislikes with 15 not caring.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Creo que Bernice también necesita ser entrenada sobre como ser consistente y concienzuda en el cuidado de Monstro

“And that brings up the question of who failed to teach her this already.”

“Not liking THIS as much.”

Hoo boy. Here comes “I know everything because I’ma psych major” Bernice again.

This side of her, I really dislike.

Yes – Bern can fix everybody but herself.

Did Luann remember to feed Puddles? Will we see a slight advancement in maturity of Luann this arc? To both questions, I hope so.

I see Bernice woke up on the snarky side of the bed this morning. Wouldn’t be surprised if she winds up wearing Luann’s breakfast on her head at some point. Or if Puddles pees on her shoes. I think that would be quite funny. Don’t you?

Hey Bernice, remember when you almost killed your fish?

Yeah. You have no grounds to be throwing stones.

First of all: when Puddles came to live with the DeGroot family (I guess the elderly lady who owned him was going into a nursing home that didn’t allow pets), both Luann and Brad were kids. If anyone was going to be ‘trained’ to be sure that the dog behaved right, it should have been done then and probably should have been one of the parents, rather than the kids. The dog was supposed to be a ‘family’ dog, remember, Nancy?

Secondly, it’s interesting that B, who (to the best of my knowledge) has not owned a pet until she was given a fish, is suddenly an expert on how to manage pets. She seems to be parroting Jack, so I guess her affection for Nil wasn’t the real thing.

Third, I’m disappointed to see Luann sitting with B and talking to her as if B had not just about threatened to punch out Luann’s lights when Luann tried to talk to her about Nil. I had hoped that Luann would spend very little time with B in future. But I guess, just as Gunther is willing to forgive and forget Bets’ ghosting of him, Luann will accept whatever B dishes out. After all, Luann forgave the nastiness that Tara dished out at her about being a ‘teaching AXX’…

I’m liking it, too. So far, so good.

Well Nancy likes Bernice’s snarkiness.

And just like that Bets; Gunther; and Tiffany are forgotten.

Yes Bernice and Nancy and Luann.

Nancy is loving Bernice snarky side.

Nancy raised Luann, so she’s as much at fault as an unruly dog owner. Nancy and Frank are to blame for Luann’s messy room. I know this, because my parents spoiled me silly, and my bedroom is a mess!

Awwwww…I wanted more Gunth and Bets!

Bring back Gunth and Bets! Bring back Gunth and Bets! Bring back Gunth and Bets!

Puddles is how old now? It is too late. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Now am I talking about Puddles or Luann? You decide.

Really? Bernice is a guest in their house and as such should’t be so rude and bossy (but we all know that’s exactly how she is).

What does Bernice know about animal behavior or anything else? She’s the least aware character in this strip This looks to be an excuse to dump on Luann for a couple of weeks.

So, ultimately it is Nancy’s fault.

Oh, great. Now we get Bernice, the snarky, rude know-it-all pseudopsychologist, telling everyone else what’s wrong with them and what they need to do. Argh. I’d tell her that SHE needs to STFU.

She has a point.

Remember the PEANUTS episode where Linus told Charlie Brown “You should take Snoopy to an obedience school” and Snoopy thought “I don’t see why we have to do that…. He already does everything I want him to do!”

I have no idea where this arc is headed so I will wait until the story develops, and I suggest refraining from jumping to conclusions based solely upon how one feels about a specific character. Given that it’s fair to say Bernice can be a bit priggish in the way she approaches her best friend, but she also loses all sense of smugness when romance comes in, as with the Nil arc, only the latest in a series. The twist is mama’s reaction. “Consistent and conscientious?” Hmmm.

Bernice needs to MHOB! And find a new place to live.

For a second there, when I first opened the strip today, I thought we were getting a second Sunday strip. But it did not end with Puddles biting Luann on the leg, so it guess it continues tomorrow.

Thank God. No more whiney Gunther for awhile. Bring back Brad and Toni (without Shannon, please.)

Plot: Bernice is a permanent resident of Degroots Home. It has been 2 years since High School. They have eliminated summer break from the Strip. The previous episode was one day stretch out many weeks.

Dunno… maybe I’m too used to my dog begging for food every time that I can’t believe there’s a way to make it stop. But maybe, for once, Bernice has a point. Even because I would like to see Luann going to an obedience training with Puddles♡. Maybe Jack will be the teacher and his, already deep, relationship with Luann will become even deeper. Or maybe the instructor will be someone else. A new character… I like this!

Well, here it is Monday and I’m already sick and tired of this week’s arc.

“Like a fool who grabs a passing dog by the ears is the person who enters into a quarrel not her own” Butt out amateur therapist and would be pet expert

Well, at least Luann’s put in an appearance, even if it’s so Bernice can tear her down.

Well now. Two things that make a person say “Hmmm…” this morning. 1) A stand-alone Sunday Luann comic strip on a Monday, and 2) Luann is actually seen in a Luann comic strip. I don’t think this is going to be a very long lasting arc.

Right? If there is one person who knows about consistent and conscientious it’s Bern….

When Bernice first moved in to the DeGroot household I made a comment about how Nancy and Frank were getting a role model for Luann.

I’d like to see Jack re-enter the picture. He and Luann have a good dynamic. There’s also the discrepancy regarding what Jack said to Luann about the art show that might get resolved. In any case, I am looking forward to another story arc with lots of twists and turns in it.

Houseguests, like fish, stink after three days.

“Yeah, well I’ll ASK for a lecture about my responsibilities when I want one, Bernice. Is it really necessary to start the day by being a shrew?”

Are you saying that Luann is a problem child and misbehaved?

obedience training for luanne? I didn’t think the strip would go there.

I am really starting to despise Bernice.

People are missing the joke which has nothing to do with Puddle’s. The joke is that Nancy is interested in getting Luann trained. Or herself trained on how to get Luann to clean her room. But this strip does show Bernice as she is. Once again she is going out of her way to insult Luann and show her that she is much smarter and she needs do as Bernice says.

me, too

Bernice’s mouth needs obedience training, for it to stop giving out unwanted and unnecessary advice!

Nobody seems to care what Puddles thinks! :D

Thank god we’ve moved away from Gunther’s pointless relationship. What a relief. I mean, I don’t like reading Bernice being a stuck-up know-it-all again. I actually really hate it. But hey, it’s Luann; she exists.

Don’t get too excited Nancy. If this is true about Luann’s responsibility to Puddle it is true about your responsibility to Luann too. What 18, 19 years of it?

And now, here’s something we hope you’ll really like! — JPuzzleWhiz channeling Rocket J. Squirrel

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. I think that adage applies to Puddles, since he is about 147 in dog years.

Since the whole family “owns” Puddles, who failed?

On a chilly, overcast Monday morning, Luann is still oblivious to the world, Bernice is still irritating, and Les is wondering about the “Do Not Disturb” sign on Gunther’s bedroom door.

Question: Do any young people actually eat cereal for breakfast any more? None of the ones I know of this age group do. (tho they may munch on it dry later in the day as snack food).

How old would Puddles be now? They’ve had him for as long as I can remember…..

Those that can, do!

Those that can’t, offer endless advice!

This is like comic relief between the romantic dramas. I love Nancy. ;-)

Here we are with Luann slobbering her food like a pig and Bernice being her usual self-righteous, holier than thou little misfit self. All this while Luann’s MOTHER joins in on putting her own daughter down. Psst – Bernice – your fish would be dead if Luann hadn’t noticed he was sick, and Nancy – you really need to rethink your parenting role for your daughter. A mother would not join in and agree while someone who is not even a family member sits and criticizes their child. I know I wouldn’t, and I don’t know why they thought it would be entertaining. I am personally sick of the know-it-all attitude that Bernice is back to displaying all the time, and if they want to teach Luann something productive, show her how a napkin works.

And where do they get off picking on the family dog? That’s rude and unnecessary. Seems to me that all Puddles does is show devotion and love. And begging? ALL dogs will beg. Even if they have to sit across the room they still look at you with those eyes.

Am I the only one thinking that this is not the start of an arc (god I hope not) and it’s just a Gag-a-day Sunday type strip?

here is the beginning of the end of the Luann Bernice relationship; as Bernice compares Luann to a dog needing obedience training.

Oh good. Bern, the absolute expert on everything is back. Why her and LuAnn are BBF are beyond me. I fail to see what either of them get out of this friendship. LuAnn is nice, naive, clumsy, lazy and ananimal lover. Bern is condescending, snarky, rigid and a perfectionist. I would say out of all the characters in the LuAnn universe, Bern is my least favorite. She is just so tiring to me.

Back to being college age girls, I see. Love how Nancy gets her little dig in as well, heh!

learned years ago NEVER feed your dog people food!!! they will NEVER leave you alone again. my dog now has not had people food and I eat in peace.

That usually what it’s all about. The Dog Whisperer does more work rehabilitating the dogs and training the humans. Same with cats.

Shut up Bernice, you are still a guest in this house if you are living there for free.

Maybe the three of them will do something fun together this week. How about miniature golf?

who’s the woman on the left?

We’ll probably see Jack this week since he knows a lot about animals. Perhaps Bernice will go along with Luann to see Jack. I wonder if Bernice is happy dating Nil or if she still has the hots for Jack?

(Sam Wilson “He’s out of line, but he’s right” gif)

Got a new home lined up, Bernice?

No, I like where this is going too. Hopefully by the end of the week, Luanne is swatting Borenice on the nose with a rolled up newspaper and yelling NO!!! every time she goes off one one of her self-righteous benders…

Thank goodness that last story arc is over, it was disappointing.

6

It is enjoyable for me to have a new arc appear today. While I think it is “ok” that Bets and Gun have made up (I do generally like their potential as a couple)….. I was not pleased in the way it ended, and was disappointed that there was not a) a more demonstrative display by Bets about her extreme ghosting behavior being wrong, mean, and very unkind to Gunther… and that it is very harmful to relationships, and also b) some aspect of recognition by Gunther that he really needs to be on a more equal footing in this relationship for it to be one that could be good for him long term.

In today’s effort, I am glad we will see (it appears anyway) some more interplay between Luann and Bernice. While Bernice’s phrasing today is not the most tactful…. she is accurate that dogs do need consistency and conscientious care. Bernice’s phrasing is not the best in that she is or should be aware that Puddles is the whole family’s pet… and that Puddles behavior is a result of a lack of consistency and conscientiousness in everyone in the home… not just Luann. But, I suspect she is just directing the comment towards Luann because Puddle’s begging behavior is currently happening with Luann.

So:

1. Will this really be a week about Puddles and obedience training issues? (Kind of hoping not.)or2. Will this quickly segue into Luann and Bernice talking more about Nil, or about their romantic interests? (This would be enjoyable.)or3. Because of Nancy’s comment in the end, will this morph into a discussion of what Nancy believes Luann should be doing? (I sincerely hope not.)

or

2. Will this be a week where Luann and Bernice actually do begin to discuss Nil and/or both of their romantic interests? (This would be enjoyable.)

or

3. Due to Nancy’s final comment… will this be a week that morphs into Nancy (and perhaps others) offering advice to Luann on what they believe she should be doing next with her life? (I really hope this is not the case.)

Oh look another comic where someone is talking bad about luann.

Hmmmm? B needs to be this confidently arrogant with her on family. Move already.

Actually I don’t see where Luan didn’t give Puddles a command and puddles didn’t followed it. Looks like Liam did fine.

So…Bernice feels that Luann needs to learn obedience training where, in Panel 1, Luann is admonishing Puddles not to beg at the table, which is what most dog owners would naturally do.

Very interesting, Bernice, that you’d think that.

Bernice needs to lighten up.

Hmm is the next step to go after Nancy because Luann’s behavior problems are Nancy’s fault?

Luann is better when Luann isn’t in it.

At Puddles’ age, I don’t think it would work.

Fewer comments today. Has the Bets and Gunth arc played itself out finally?

Call Victoria Stillwell she’s good at training both dog and human.

Shut the hell up Bernice, you busybody nitwit.

Bernice needs to find a new place to crash.

Puddles is a bit long in the tooth for training…

Nancy, do you understand the ramifications of the statement that Luann needs obedience training?

Why does Luann even hang around Bernice anymore. Bernice is a hypercritical know-it-all that never has a positive thing to say. She’s toxic.

Ugh. Bern is back and Luann is the butt of the joke/sarcasm again. I’d like to see an arc with Luann where she is not berated by her so called best friend. If obedience school led to Luann meeting a love interest – or it’s Jack – then maybe I’m interested. Puddles and Luann going to obedience school is a dud: once that arc ends, Puddles will return to the aged but loveable dog that he is. And Nancy is just as responsible for Puddles’ behavior as Luann: her and Frank would have been the ones training him when Brad and Luann were kids.

I think the problem with the strip sometimes is that G&K write them weeks or months in advance so once they are written, that’s it, no changes no matter how much we don’t like them.

I’m probably in the minority but I want to see some impactful strips now, especially concerning Luann. The Fuze, Ann, and Brad and Toni’s wedding were great examples that I’d like to see more of.

When the hell is Greg Evans finally going to end this friendship? Bernice is an arrogant snob who thinks she is better then everyone else, especially Luann.

While I sympathize with Nancy’s position as the Mom here, I really can do without Bernie’s supercilious pontification! You’re nothing special yourself, Freeloader!

Back to Bernice being a smart mouth know it all!

My two untouchables: Tiffany and Puddles, don’t mess with them. I worry about Greg’s heavy hand regarding likable characters.

Has anybody heard from Mordock? I don’t remember seeing any comments from him for at least the last 3 days or so….

I would like to see Luann and Bernice being involved in work and school and occasionally a social event like typical 20 year old today. This arc could have taken place at 13 or 16 since Bernice was often at Luann’s house anyhow.