Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 12, 2023

What you get for being glued to your phone + social idiocy

She’s wearing a red shirt. You may not be seeing her videos much longer.

Do remember Gunther, you really want to keep those fingers.

Colossalcon East is a three-day anime convention held during September at the Kalahari Resorts in Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania.

Drop the knife and step away from the onion, Gunther! It didn’t do anything wrong. lol

Looks like Bets is having a fun time at ColossalCon without Gunther. That B*tch!!! ;)

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So should he try to get her back or move on and find happiness elsewhere?

More moping. The last time this strip was fun to read was during the Spring Fair, which, since this now Fall, half a year ago. Sad.

It could be an invitation?

Colossal Con is in Cleveland.

He needs to move on or Gunther will have a very blue Christmas.

Don’t let chop become stab Gunnnie.

act in haste, regret in leisure Gun!

I kinda feel Bets dodged a bullet here more than Gunther. She really didn’t deserve to spend her days holed up in the gulag avoiding gunny’s mother, sharing a bathroom with Les, and putting up with Guth’s now very apparent insecurities. Good for her.

You know, chopping onions is therapeutic: it takes Gunther’s mind to a happy place.

Bets is mocking at Gunther. “See how much fun I am having! Without you. I don’t need you. I have my fans.” Then she will text less and less over time.

…and the extra kick in the pants that SHE SENT THE PICTURES TO HIM! Is she THAT clueless??

Something’s happened on that trip that Gunther’s upset about, and he’s not going to tell anyone what it was.

At least he can explain away his tears…

The Wrath of Gun.

Uh, maybe go back to aggro shoe-polishing instead.

Oh good..“ya gonna wash that woman right outta your hair”…

Why hasn’t he blocked her?

I’m not sure why virtually no one ever mentions a very simple interpretation – Bets expresses her freedom as a human being to continue on a road trip by herself – a brave thing given traditional gender roles – while Gunt expresses his agency by, umm, returning for college, right? Hello? Why does it all have to be about her ‘separating’ herself from him, his letting her ‘walk all over her,’ etc? Yes, her social networking nonsense can be really annoying, but it seems like there is a lot of sexism here.

Now will Gunters tears be from th onion or cause he misses Bets?

Dump or be dumped.

That seems a very clear she-isn’t-that-into-you photo. Accept and move on.

Will Gunther ever blow his top? OR just simmer and stew away forever? 8^ (

I wonder if any of Bet’s fans aks where Gunter is

See, lvlax and Argythree?

Gunther has grabbed a knife just as I suggested yesterday.

Sharpen, that knife, Gunny.

And turn that phone OFF!

The LAST you need to do is get weak, quit school and follow that crazy woman.

Don’t be Bets’ “puppet” anymore.

USE that knife and CUT those strings.

So I don’t know where this is going…

Looks like Bets is going to lose a lot more than Gunther. “ColossalCon?” The signs are there!

Whatever happened to Aaron Hill?

Has Gunther any clue that it was his mother and stepfather who is responsible for his present unhappiness?

BTW, did he react the same way after his breakup with Rosa?

I wonder if Bets is really happy as she looks in the photo or it’s all a scene and she too is sad and angry about Gunther’s leaving her, the peoples in the cons probably are asking her about him and she could smile in her selfies even if she’s angry. Gunther is more and more nervous, he doesn’t seem willing to admit that not being with Bets makes him feel bad. He should face reality, call her or at least talk to someone about it. It would be interesting to see him talk to Quill about this, but I doubt he’ll be back (sigh). The best hope remains Tiffany, then Luann. If goes badly, Bernice. He could go to talk to Mrs. Fogarty too.

I Bets, she’s not that happy without him there.

He’s well rid of her. She’s a shallow person who only cares about how many people are looking at her. Gunther deserves so much more.

Help me out here – I’ve missed something. When Gunth and Bets returned from their trip via a flatbed truck, it didn’t seem like a problem in their relationship. Can someone please point me to the dates that showed a problem between them? Thanks!

Irma did both of them a favor. Get some counseling Gun. The right one will come along.

Shouldn’t Bets be back at college by now? Or did she drop out?

run away dont look back , GO cozy up to Tiff get ,give some comfort .

He made his choice. She wanted to continue the trip and keep having fun, he wanted to look responsible. She chose fun over returning with him. He chose returning over her. They had different goals, and none of them was ready to sacrifice his/her goal to stay with his/her loved one. So unless she did kick him away, he can’t complain or feel jealous because she is having fun. I believe that’s exactly what she was telling him would happen if he stayed with her. Now of course he might be having regrets and feel jealous, but he can only blame himself and he can still go back and join her. At the moment, I see him back to his previous whiny attitude: “I did the right thing, I was the responsible one, so I should be rewarded, she has not been responsible, so she should be punished, why is she having fun and I am miserable, that’s not fair…”

“chop, chop, chop…” all over Bets.

I can see this will be another wasted week on Luann

Slow down before you cut one of your fingers off! I sliced my thumb to the bone Wednesday, not fun to heal…

With all those onion slices is he planning to have Al and his mother over for dinner?

For those of you who are rooting/hoping for Bets to be written off the strip….the Evans’ put out the novella centered around her and Gunther. You don’t put that much thought into a character in a comic strip that you are not planning on using moving forward.

Live Long & Prosper!

Maybe turn those page notifications off? Next post: Ren Faire featuring Gunther originals.

Bets is a free spirit and rolls in and out with the tide. Finish school Gunth, find your career, marry someone like your mama, have your obligatory 2-1/2 kids, and live in your McMansion is suburbia.

so she packed her cosplay stuff in the van?

I’m hoping she’ll realize how much she misses gunther and this is a last fling.

Gunther probably hoped that Bets was experiencing heartache over him not being with her on the road trip. Honestly, good for her that she’s doing what she loves and didn’t get hung up on Gunther running home.

Honestly, though I don’t think these two had a healthy dynamic. He was too wimpy to even tell his mom that it was wrong to be passive aggressive to Bets and Bets actually let him be spineless and went to extremes to debase herself just to stick it to his mom. Their differences making their relationship break in the road trip is pretty realistic.

From panel one to panel three, the slices look to be more than the size of the what Gunther was slicing/chopping. From that, he could cure world hunger.

She is channeling her inner Uhura. Is it time for his inner Spock and read her mind, inner Kirk for a famous kiss, inner Scotty to beam her up, or just go on red shirt security detail ?

Maybe he should’ve stayed with Bets after all.

Makes me wonder why Gunther decided he’d had enough of that trip.

Just accept that she’s a red shirt n …

she’s not doing anything wrong, so he must be mad at himself.

may be she is actually lonely there without the sidekick

Can you people who bought the book tell us what happened on the trip?

Gunther needs to realize that he was only a pawn in Bets’ Social Media addiction. He has been replaced by a cheap van and an “Endless Summer” of Costume/Fantasy/SciFi conventions. Wonder how she pays for gas????

Gunther should go sit in his room and invite Les and Ox to commiserate with him. Then he could be just like Luann and they could easily spend two weeks in his room doing nothing. Maybe they could share his copy of the famous “novella”.

I personally lost all interest in the road trip story when it turned into a money grubbing exercise, so these “filler” strips like today are just boring for me. If G&K think that creating an atmosphere of “haves” and have nots" among their fan base was a wise economic move, they are sadly mistaken and it shows how crass they are. As far as I’m concerned that novella business was a cheap slap in the face to a lot of people who have read their comic regularly but can’t throw money away on stupid things.

Anybody else find it hilarious that he is chopping onions to forget his sorrows?

This makes it clear that she’s not actually been written out of the strip.

Whose RV is it? if its mutually owned; she better fork over Gunther’s half.

She is wearing the red suit and therefore expendable.

Move on Gun.

Pardon me for bringing reality into a comic strip, but where exactly is Bets getting the MONEY to stay on the road, go to expensive cons, etc.? If she’s using her college funds, either her parents or her bank/loan officer ain’t gonna be happy.

Drop the chop, G. Hit the road, and follow your dream. And… leave your math and engineering books back home.

Is he mad at her or at himself?

My guess is that she wanted to get it on and Gunther responded by saying that he wasn’t raised that way and that they would have to wait until they were married. At that point, she laughed in his face and left him standing on the side of the road.

He needs Bets, to be happy. Bets needs Bets, to be happy.

It’d help Gunther to take his mind off of her if he unsubscribes from her online stuff.

Face, ah say, face it, boy – she’s more into herself.

Wonder if she messaged him directly with the pic v/s just getting notified that she posted it on social media. there’s very different context there, as the later would remove any “she’s sending this to taunt him”

Given her “influencer” style, I’d say it’s likely to be the later. and while the G-Man may wish he’s there, there is a reason he’s not. Because he wanted to finish his degree. Maybe it’s because he’s afraid of the consequences of just walking out mid program, maybe it’s because unlike Bets, he can’t just go off doing whatever whenever.

Either way, he needs to let go. I hope Greg isn’t going to make a protracted arch about Gunther immaturely being mad at Bets and bemoaning doing the responsible thing.Also… let’s get back to Tiffany, I’m actually rooting for her to beat out “Ms Cheer” Yeah, she’s had her share of shallow, but she’s finally growing out more into a person.Course there’d be some real irony if she started dating gunther, getting Luann jealous (even though she’s never really gotten that close to him) But I don’t think the Gman nor Tiff have grown up that much yet.

A beautiful young woman who can drive a stick and loves classic Star Trek, in theory she can meet thousands of qualified bachelors who are cut from the same cloth as “Big Bang Theory” . I want to know one thing! Where were these beautiful women of color who loved science fiction and “geek dome” when I was going though college?

We don’t know if Bets sent that to him or he’s following her posts with notifications.He seems angry. So is he angry with himself that he didn’t go with her, or angry with her for not regretting going on her own, and having fun? Hope we get some answers here, or in the novella, whenever they arrive. Did they part in peace or po’d?

He has reason to cry, too!

He’s absolutely pathetic

I glad to see classic TOS Trek represented. Oh, and Gun should drop her like a hot potato.

Next year ColossalCon is in Texas Round Rock on August 24th 2024

Can we get off Gunther’s latest screwup? Maybe disappear him and make Bets a permanent character?

Is he mad because she is enjoying herself at a comiccon without him? Is it something else? Why is she so happy, and he so conflicted. Lack of love is NOT the issue, quite the contrary, it is; story still has a long way to go.

Wouldn’t it be great if this were THE LAST WE SAW OF BETS!?

She is certainly putting on a brave front even though she misses him terribly.

Is Bets sending a selfie of herself at a convention to her old boyfriend, Gunt? There must still be some feeling there, I think. So, why isn’t he with her at the convention? C’mon, there, Gunt, just say I love you.

Poor Gunther! Obviously, he is not happy. Sounds like the separation was not as mutual as he described.

Is it time to change the name of this comic strip, as Luann is rarely featured anymore, except for weekends?

This is something that I’m working on in myself. “Acceptance”.

She is another Rosa. She has her own path to follow. And if you didn’t want to do it with her, she would do it without you. Your path is education and career.

Everyone Gunther dates wants to leave the state. Almost enough to make him feel bad.

Gunther said they they had not broken up. So it is normal for Bets to send photos to her BF. Not sure why Gunther is so angry about it, but we can only go on the facts we have actually seen in the comic.

Jealous, are we? You should have gone with her, dummy.

Dude.. if you broke up unfollow your ex. I have been in hardly any relationships, and even I know that’s just… the smart thing to do, even if it’s amicable (Which this clearly wasn’t)

Watch the fingers, Gunth……

Move on buddy

Rosa is coming back?

So which one is happier, which one is having a better time without the other?

Gunther Berger knows his onions.

Worthy of a bad M. Night Shyamalan twist ending, Bets returns to Gunther, showing him the 100K bank balance she made from podcasting this road trip.

“Now we have enough to get married and skip this dump.”

oh she’s coming back

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess the text from Bets upset Gunther. But that’s just a wild guess.

Maybe Bets will end up being the new Nichelle Nichols on the latest Star Trek spin off.

Oh, so we get a week of watching Gunther stew over events we didn’t get to see (unless we paid money for a novella that still hasn’t shipped to us)? Fun fun.

Lt. Uhura’s daughter

Gunther is not happy unless he’s miserable and neither is his mother.

she already moved ’t know what she saw in him in the 1st place

Bets is the free spirit that Gunther wishes he were. He’s still a momma’s boy.

It looks like two people didn’t move on……

So. Gunther comes home because he has school and scholarship requirements (I’m sure attending school is one of those requirements). But Bets just blows off college and couldn’t understand that he isn’t in a position to do the same? Not very supportive of her. If they were truly a couple she would have come home with him.

“Just One Of Those DINGs”

“Any Way You Slice It”

“Star Trek: The Wrath Of Gun”

“Come On, Gunther, Hurry It Up, Chop-Chop!”

“Remorse Code”

“Gunther Earns His Chops”

I sense anger issues in Gunther

If You Love Someone, Set Them Free. If They Come Back, They’re Yours Forever. If They Don’t, Remember There Are Other Flocks in the Field.

The message is clear, here… Bets has found her home world, and is settling in nicely.

Gunther, I’m sorry you two had to split-up, but perhaps it’s for the best. She’s found her place in the universe, and you just need more time to find yours.

Remember Rosa? She was a sweet girl, and it was nice while it lasted. But in the end, her place in the world was not for you.

When you find your place, you will be truly happy. And who knows? Maybe by then, you’ll be with someone who fits right in there with you.

Until then…, please don’t cut your fingers off. They’re the only ones you have.

It would be one thing if it was a photo of her with another guy. They do not have to be joined at the hip. But if Gunther needs his mommie to only do stuff with him,…

Scenario: Betts disappears without a trace. Van is found abandoned and burned. Gun is distraught with guilt. Gun and Les go super sleuth online, and locate Betts being held by traffickers. Uncle Al’s “business associates” intervene and bring a fragile Betts back. Irma, recognizing the depth of Gun’s feelings for Betts, goes into full substitute-mother mode and cares for Betts in the main house. Gun and Betts go to therapy together (no, not Bernice. A qualified trauma specialist). Irma sees therapist also, and realizes that her relationship with her son is not healthy. Everyone grows up. And Al is an FBI informant.

They wanted different things. Gunther wants to grow up.

tomorrow: ratatouille ?

I want to know what exactly happened between them. He’s been kind of vague. They never did seem quite “right” as a couple, though. She reminds me of my nephew’s wife, who puts EVERYTHING on IG, including the trauma. She’s totally a narcissist. Ugh.

For some reason, I want Gunther to tell “THE STORY” to Luann. Two old friends getting together and talking again.

Does anybody else miss the two of them together?

Gunther, you don’t need Bets. just like Kip doesn’t need Stef

The appropriate descriptor would seem to be that Gunther is carrying a torch for Bets and cannot get her out of his system. Nor does he want to, for better or for worse….