Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 24, 2023

Well, Luann now knows. How will Bernice handle it?

So Tara is taking herself off the romance table. Good to see Luann back in the strip. Do we take Tara’ statement that the field of play is open for Our Gal?

First Luann was egged on by Tara to approach a stud who turned out to be her brother, then Tara took an interest in somebody mysterious who turned out to be her cousin. The irony.

In a few words, Tara clears up any misimpression Luann may have had about her and Piro, yet leaves Lu’s curiosity more piqued than ever.

Please, please, let us see Luann tell Bernice!

I guess playing hard to get really works for attracting women. I think Luann is ready to throw her hat in the ring.

Glad that was cleared up with Luann in one day (rather than taking a week or two). And with Bernice?

Yesterday at Mickey D’s I heard a most appropriate song. Search “I like it that she’s broken, broken like me lyrics”.

And yet there is still great promise of things to come. Will GnK come through for us; that is the question!

Looks like Luann is a bit jealous looking over and seeing Tara being handsy with Walt. I’m shocked Luann didn’t instantly ask Tara what his real name was.

.

So will Luann still romantically pursue Walt?

Let Luann tell Bern.

♪♫♫ He ain’t heavy… he’s my cousin… ♪♪♫

No problem in parts of the country…..

Bernice will accept this news with the kind of open, nonjudgmental warmth one would expect from a future psychologist. Or, she’ll roll her eyes, fold her arms and say, “He sounds perfect for you, Luann.”

So they don’t live in Alabama.

“Tara – what’s up with you and Piro?”

“Nothin, now that I found out he’s my cousin. Well, I could tell something was up when we hugged, but not no mo’ …”

Good comment from Tara in frame 4: “Aren’t we all…” I can’t remember if Tara has met Bets. They are both live wires – very sharp. Maybe some fun interaction down the road.

Well dating Piro is out, Tara. But by hooking him up with Luann, you can find out what it would be like vicariously.

A clear and calm explanation between friends. I like Tara’s expression in the last panel, she seems really happy to have discovered that Piro is her cousin. It’s clear to me that he’s the only decent relative she has in her broken family. I hope that now Tara tells Luann about the dramatic situation of her and Piro’s families, that would unite them even more. Maybe that time, Luann will be the one to hug Tara in the end.

Luann, Perking Up in 3…,2….,1….,

So, LuAnn suspects that Pirowalt may be an emotional train wreck. Certainly there is ample reason to expect that, especially after hearing that he is Tara’s cousin and has a more difficult family history than Tara. Someone with his history has every reason to be emotionally withdrawn, isolationistic, and hard-shelled. Drawing him into the openness required for a romantic relationship cannot be expected to require anything less than a lot of hard emotionally-demanding work from some determined young woman. Is Bernice too jaded from her previous unsatisfying brief encounter with him to try? Or is she too “starry-eyed” from her experience with romantic novels to take on real emotional work? I cite Bernice because she was the one for whom Walt indicated some interest when he last spoke with her. He did not indicate any interest in Luann except for the hope that she might be able to relay a message to Bernice. Luann has not indicated that she is determined about accomplishing anything at all, let alone an emotionally-demanding romantic project.

Nonetheless, I haven’t yet given up the hope that "Piro"’s family emotional baggage will yet be shown to have influenced him to take on undercover detective work that gives him an excuse to be reticent and secretive, and would justify associating the nickname “Piro” with Agatha Christie’s consulting detective character “Poirot”. The suspenseful tensions might then turn on many more possibilities than merely romantic ones, rendering the strip’s dramatic situations even more compelling.

More material for Tara’s written stories.

“When you view family reunions as dating opportunities… You might be a redneck.” — Jeff Foxworthy

Ok, is his nickname pronounced PEER-o or PI-ro (as in Pyromaniac)?

one always wonders how far in advance the authors plan plots. Tara and Piro were introduced around the same time at Mooney where Tara was vandalizing snack machines and Piro (seemingly homeless) was stalking around the same dorm. They were related but didn’t know each other. Tara (who got kicked out of Mooney) was a student and i’m assuming Piro was too. Now they are both at Pitt CC, the only two (i’m guessing) in their family to seek college education and at least one will be a writer.

Not an issue is it’s what she wants. My brother married our second cousin.

How is it Tara is the most emotionally healthy member of this cast?

The way is open for you Luann, take a chance!

Queen Elizabeth II married her cousin…and look at Charles. HUGE ears, long face and a total moron.Marrying a cousin tends to bring out all the negative traits.

I think that Piro is a poor fit for Luann as a source of interesting romantic arcs. I would love to see a Bernice-Piro-Nil arc worked through. But I don’t get the feeling GnK are up for that kind of drana. A mild upset over Piro might develop involving Luann and Bernice in a similar fashion the the foofraw over Tara sleeping in Lu’s room and Bern thinking it was Jack.

Also, I don’t think a romance between Tara and Piro is in the cards. Tara’s character has been more of a catalyst. She usually initiates or instigates stories or is in short episodes when she’s involved.

I once worked with a very nice woman who was happily married to her cousin. They fell in love in their teens but knew they shouldn’t marry and have children so they each married someone else. After both were grandparents and no longer married, they married each other since, obviously, they would not be having children.

WhatAboutTheFreakin’MessagePiroWasGoingToGiveLuannForBernice?

When you find out you’re related to the person you’re attracted to, the attraction instantly vanishes.

Luann has being an emotional train wreck confused with looking like a train wreck.

1st or 2nd cousin? In some states that’s ok.

Is it a nickname for Pyromaniac?

I really hope she does – Luann could use a new boyfriend. It’s been forever since the Aussie.

Tara is just enough of a train wreck that dating her own cousin wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow. (Without looking back, have we definitely established that he’s a first cousin? Because anything farther apart than that is legal in all fifty states, notwithstanding how ooky a lot of people would regard it.)

He ain’t heavy he’s my cousin……………

Finally some kind of story line

If this is going to follow human patterns, I’m thinking Bernice is going to start having an issue with Luann’s fascination Piro. Friends (especially girls) liking and/or dating someone they know their friend liked and/or dated never fairs well. Normally those people are off the market once your friend has more than “friended” the person. Girls also have an odd tendency to begin liking people we didn’t think we liked initially…once other people begin liking that person. The rough draft of Luann’s novel already started with her being far to “spicy.” Then she went and began hinting to Bernice that she found him interesting. It was odd. Piro is the “bad boy.” That tends to spark interest. I hope Luann stops because her and Bernice recently had issues (minor) after Bernice moved in.

Piro clearly has emotional issues. Why would anyone want to go out with him instead of someone without all those issues?

If you only dated the sane, there wouldn’t be anyone but me and I’m already married.

(He said with a straight face.)

I think that Walt is really a pyromaniac and he actually set fire to TJ’s food truck….

“And his family is worse than mine, but I won’t say why or how, you’ll just have to guess. For example, maybe his parents are in a racist cult. The readers just have to guess, at least for now, and so do you. Satisfying storytelling, yes?”

So many folks seem to want a Luann/Piro romance. If he’s still interested in Bernice as all his questions about her point to, won’t happen. Also her negative attitude toward him says, no. Considering we haven’t seen Nil in a while, and Bernice may still have feeling for Piro, I can see the angst and conflict Mrs. H wants in the stories, and this one.

Stop the presses……

We have been deprived of their offspring, which could have been a creative train wreck

I guess this confirms what I said on Monday though: Tara wasn’t just being friendly, but was in fact trying to hit on Piro.

Luann calls him and emotional train wreck?talk about pot calling the kettle Luann.

Definitely a snag.

Move to Appalachia and it won’t matter.

Say you’re 40 years old and you’re in love with a little girl 10 years old.Now,you couldn’t marry this little girl,could you?"

“Not unless I come from the mountains”.

I would have to say that this has been amongst the most interesting (to me) arcs in the Luann comic in at least several weeks! It seems that it has to be continued next week….. at least I hope so!

Hey, look! Luann is actually appearing in the strip that’s named after her!

A friend once told me how he started dating a girl in school and they really hit it off. One day they were making plans for what they were going to do. His girlfriend said that she couldn’t go out with him the next day because her mother wanted her to go with her to meet her aunt, who she’d never met in spite of the fact that they lived in the same city. My friend said that wasn’t a problem because his mom wanted him to go out with dinner with her so he could finally meet the aunt that he’d never met. He stopped and considered what they’d both said and asked his girlfriend what her mother’s name was and she told him, it was the name of the aunt he’d never met, then he told her the name of his mother and confirmed that it was the name of the aunt she’d never met. They were indeed first cousins.

Yesterday was in the cafeteria (ending w Tara hugging Piro) … is today in a different room? The creative writing classroom? And she’s got her hands on him again? Or is this still in the cafeteria?

Does Luann Degroot have any cousins? That would be an interesting story arc? It would interesting if Nancy had siblings.

Luann is nearly up to speed on what we have learned. Will it make any impact on her? Will she see Walt “Piro” Starr in a new light? (The non-outcome is predictable, though.)

I’m from Maryland, first cousin marriage is legal here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_law_in_the_United_States

Cousins? Who cares. It’s just sex and sex with your cousins is awesome!