Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 22, 2023

Well, a lot of people were right… They’re Cousins!!

Luann would probably be smart to steer clear of Walt.

.

Isn’t it a little odd that Tara has never seen a pic of Cousin Walt before??

Okay, I was right about being cousins… just not second cousins.

Wow, she’s got the sensitivity of a Sherman tank.

Well, at least whoever guessed yesterday that the “green thing” was a sandwich wrapper can be happy that they were right!

OK. I can see we’re going to do some backstory effort for a good portion of the week; what’s left of it. Next we may hear Walt’s (seems strange to call him that after so long knowing him as Piro) side of the crazy family saga.Then maybe we can get back to the supposed arc this is a set up for… for which this is a set up?

Hmm..I feel like the writer hasn’t established these characters enough yet to make us actually care about whatever comes next for them

How shall we rate all these fine families? Bets’ says her family is a mess. Tara’s are crooks and deadbeats. Now “Walt” is hinting at trumping Tara’s ace.

So Tara found a cousin she did not know about.

This is all to incestuous for me, The mysterious Piro being Tara’s cousin and all. At least we don’t have to worry about Tara trying to date the lug. But will she warn off Luann? Piro seems radioactive as dating/husband material. And again what is it with all these dysfunctional families. I never liked the Piro character, he seemed a professional mooch and all but these revelations today make him seem even more deplorable then he had been before.

At least they can suffer together…sorry Walt and Tara, you didn’t deserve it…

Finally we find out more about Tara’s background. Next we need to find out more about Bets’s background. All good potential arcs.

Well, at least Piro comes out ahead in something.

Any relation to Brenda Starr? They have the same hair color. Google the name.

And, lest we forget Tara’s finer qualities,,,,,,,,she doesn’t wear underware.

Cousin rivalry, my family is more messed up than yours/

With all of Tara’s and Walt/Piro’s imperfections, they may be the members of their respective branches of their family who are doing the most to get their acts together. Perhaps they can help each other, or at least offer moral support. On 2023/01/23, Piro (as we then knew him) told Luann he was “starting a new life.” I’m looking forward to learning what that’s about.

Looks like the Starrs have an interesting lifestyle. Walt and Tara seem to be the best off in the family, poor kids. That explains a lot about Tara and makes me appreciate her more♡. So that’s why Walt ran away from home and only tells his real name to a few special people. I wonder how this will affect a possible relationship with Luann, she has already meet Tara’s cousin and was terrible. What will Walt’s close relatives be like?

“But they’re cousins, hysterical cousins, and you’ll find,”

“They talk alike, they dress alike, sometimes they even stress alike!”

“You will lose your mind!”

“When Stella, comes ah-creeping up behind!!” – The Patty Duke Show theme song.”

I have half-uncles I didn’t know existed until I was in my twenties. The children of my grandfather’s first wife. They were two decades older than my dad.

If Walt is her aunt’s son, but has the same last name, that implies the aunt was not married.

Monday and Tuesday’s were really interesting.Today’s feels slightly off-putting

Depending on the family; not everyone has the perfict family and there are relitives I have never met, but with (21 father’s) and (19 birth mother’s) aunts and uncles it is understandable. Hell we even have a politician in there.

Odd that she says “Aunt Robin’s eldest”, because Tara is related to Piro through their respective fathers, who are brothers. (The Starr brothers. Same family as Ringo, we’ll soon find out!) I would have expected her to say “Uncle Ringo’s eldest”, you know what I mean?

Stella Starr is not a sibling of Walt Starr, but a member of a different branch of Starr family.

Come to think of it, this is not all that like “Bittersweet Love”. After all, there are some jurisdictions where it’s okay for first cousins to marry.

So far, Walt Starr has no permanent domicile, just meet his first cousin for the first time. Wants to be a writer. Now attending Pitts Community College. what is the direction of the story arc unless the strip is welcoming Starr family?

When you’re born into a family that’s trash, and you’ve been raised that way, it’s really hard to escape it. It can be done, but it takes a lot of hard work and determination… because your family members will drag you down however they can, just out of pure jealousy. They are miserable people and they want you to be miserable too.

When you first meet a relative I’m not sure the best opening line is “Wow, I heard your family sucks!”

Ok, she mentions that his mother is “Aunt Robin” but doesn’t mention his father. But if they’re both named “Starr” his father must be the blood relative. She also instinctively calls her “Aunt Robin” which would seem to indicate that they’ve actually met, though it might have been when she was a little kid.

Let Walt finish his lunch! Tara’s revelations can wait!

Based on that weird bottle, it looks like he’s nipping straight from a fifth of rum. At lunchtime, no less.

I was hoping for long-lost brother.

Some family structures are very transitory and lack stability.

Looks like some family drama.

“if what i heard is true….” . I wonder what that is

No wonder Piro is such a downer stick-in-the-mud. He dosen’t what the info to get out and is probably afraid he’ll end up a wrecking.

I learned more about Tara in this strip since her quasi-introduction as a thief. Her being part of a dysfunctional family gives rise to why she can be so reckless; but, apparently, not as reckless as some of her other relatives.

Which one of them ran Tara over with their car when she tried to stop them from leaving the scene of a crime?

Greg certainly lets Karen obsess about broken, dysfunctional families. She also seems to have a vendetta on mothers. It certainly makes a statement about their family and her mental health. I get tired of her constant dwelling on this subject. Maybe she should get some counseling.

So, there is Ann Eiffel, Walt, Tara, Mr. Grey, Jonah, Leslie, and Dirk. We now know where this fictional comic is based: New Jersey

It’s a family affair. Sly and the Family Stone.

And then Luann shows up, surprise!, to cheer them up but fumbles at it. Hilarity ensues!

But they’re cousins, (not) identical cousins all the same, they compare family train wrecks

Honestly. What is he drinking??

They’re definitely cut from the same cloth.

Good thing the two of them never put the moves on each other. I wonder if that’s where Tara was heading before finding out her mark was her cousin. Considering the families, even that would be low key.

It doesn’t sound like Tara ever met her cousin before this story arc. She has heard of him but obviously did not recognize him at all.

Can’t choose who your relatives are, you can only choose how to deal with them.

As I have observed before, all the main and supporting characters, or I should say young adult characters have really screwed-up. to be professionally descriptive about it, family lives. with the obvious exception of Luann and Brad. We don’t know about Stefi, how much do we have to see of her, or Kip, more a plot device than a supporting character, but the crossed Starr’s here, really take the cake. How it tastes and fits into the Luannverse story generally is the first thing here. Again, wait and see first, which one has to do, to see what is going on. Anticipationnnn!

I fed today’s comment section into ChatGPT (minus usernames) and told it to digest everything and then write a poem. It came up with:

A family tree, twisted and entwined,

A cousin they found, long lost in time,

Luann warns Tara, to stay away,

From Cousin Walt, with whom she shouldn’t play.

Some wonder why Tara hasn’t seen,

A picture of Walt, on any screen,

Perhaps their families were not so near,

And swapping photos, just didn’t appear.

But dysfunctional families, some can relate,

Where cousins and kin, they hardly ever date,

And drama and discord, push them apart,

So seeing each other, is not a common art.

Yet, Piro faces criticism and blame,

For his toxic traits, that some proclaim,

But perhaps his past, is full of woe,

A family broken, with much to show.

In the end, it’s all a matter of fate,

Some families are close, while others debate,

And while we may never know the reason why,

We can hope for peace, as time goes by.

Preinternet if you haven’t gathered w/cousins since they were young you wouldn’t recognize.

At least we know where Stella is. That’s a relief!

I feel like we missed half of the conversation!! How did we go from knowing each other’s last names to now they’re cousins??

Kissing cousins??!

Stella Starr?

some of us wish we’d never have met our cousins

Okay so COUSINS not long lost brother so not AS awesome.. but still intresting. Also I can’t think “Cousin Walter” without thinking of Mallrats, i’m sorry I can’t. But this is still intresting and at least explains what Piro’s deal is: like Tara he comes from a pretty messed up home life situation, and likely took on the name and air of mystery because he’s ashamed of it or simply wanted not to deal with it. I also forgot Tara’s homelife was such a mess which makes Bernice’s constant hatred of the girl even… worse? It hasn’t seemed to let up any despite likely being aware of all this because for some reason Luann tells her everything.

Not necessarily. I’m almost 77 years old and I have an ENTIRE branch on my Mother’s side who I have never met and never seen in my entire life. It’s not so odd; simply not too frequent.

Competitions that are no contest!!

That was not expected.

All of my family’s crazy making abuse is hush hush. My NM threatened to >sue< me for asking for help to get therapy. She literally took my school to court because they were trying to help me. I spent my life wondering why no one cared. They just didn’t know! >Healing now<

That’s a game you don’t even want a participation trophy……

Now I remember – Tara’s sister or whoever tried to rob the coffee house, and Luann got dragged into it.

So it’s a competition to see which family is the most dysfunctional?

WHY are some people blaming Piro for his family? Relations are a crapshoot- you don’t have a choice in what you get. No baby tells the stork: “Please drop me off at a drug house/bank robber’s den/Moldy-Lardo; I want my parents to be criminals.” Piro is in school, or trying to be, and his family is obviously not helping him, as if HE gets out of the trap, it’ll make them look worse for not trying. Also, as I suggested before, he may be taking care of younger siblings.

President Obama was born into a poor situation, and he choose to work hard and fight for a better life. I much prefer people who have had to work for what they’ve got than those who are handed it on a silver spoon.

Well done story line, Greg. :)

Wow… An entire family of falling starrs.

Very interesting information thus far!!!! A great week of panels the last few days!!!

To me Piro/Walt’s bottle he is drinking from looks like a bottle of booze. But, I know it is not meant to be that.

Does anyone recognize the bottle as representing some brand of water/juice/soda? And it so, what is it?

Good discovery before she climbs into bed with him.

One solution to a family issue: Out live them.

I suspect that they are going to write him as a good character. Good people do sometimes come from the worst families. So much about Luan is about hope and good resolutions. I’m looking forward to seeing his transformation, just like Tiffany and Brad.

These two can break the cycle if they wanted to.

Tara has no sisters, one brother and has a missing father?

Offering my usual apology if someone else has already said this. I’ve felt like I’m coming down with something all day and won’t have time to read all the comments before I head for bed. Anyway, just because Piro comes from a dysfunctional family doesn’t mean that he’s a dysfunctional person. Some people come from horrific backgrounds and end up being very fine people. One thing is obvious – he has much better manners than Cousin Tara, whom I dislike more all the time with her big mouth and rude comments and actions. (I know, it’s my problem, and she’s Greg and Karen’s character to show as they please, lol). Also somewhat odd is the fact that many people love to find out the backgrounds of the characters. Other than on a superficial level as it might relate to happenings now, I don’t find background stories very interesting for some reason. I’m interested in what they’re doing now.

No one really wins in a who can be more dysfunctional contest.

Me thinks the starrs have aligned in this arc.

Poor Piro-Walt! That’s not good!

Piro may be the black sheep of his branch of the family where he actually is not a degenerate or a habitual offender!

Piro-Walt has ‘fessed up for his part, but he remains totally unmoved by Tara’s True Confessions. The guy’s an emotional bottomless sinkhole….

Tara, are you REALLY trying to compete to see has the worst family dynamics?!? Talk about a race to the bottom.

…cool, formalities exchanged. Now it’s time for some familia incest…

Favorite introduction was meeting a male cousin for the first time and he told me that he was the daughter his mother had always wanted.