Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 28, 2023

To jump or not to jump… That is the question!

In the words of the awesome 80’s band Van Halen… Might as well… JUMP! ;)

It will interesting to see where this goes.

Frank does bail out!

Yes Frank. “No Comment” is the best move here. 8^ )

The lesson here is simply this: peer pressure isn’t limited to just grade school.

I’m starting to get the feeling Frank’s going to be jumping out of that perfectly good airplane with Luann.

Frank is going to be sleeping on the couch tonight, better yet, he may end up asking Brad and Toni if he can use their couch for the evening.

Frank has to make a run to the bathroom.

If her parents don’t give her the money, Luann can say she can’t go because she can’t afford it…which would be true. She looks embarrassed in the second panel but brightens up when she thinks her father might support her sky-diving adventure. I don’t think she’s sure whether she wants to do it…but she’ll have to at least show up for this arc to come to a conclusion either way.

I have wondered if skydiving would be for me. Never made plans, just in the back of my mind, I wondered.

BUT I recently found out I have a joint disease and there’s a problem with my vertebrae in my spine. I don’t know exactly what this means except that right now, sometimes my back hurts.

So – skydiving is off the table!

Go, Frank! (Yeah, I know you already did, and left the seat up, but now we’re talking about jumping out of planes….)

Luann’s expression says she’s doing it under pressure and her words validate that. She’s just doing it cuz she wants to save face and pretend to be as brave as Tara and Piro. Who knows? If she sticks with her pretense, she might discover she enjoyed the experience and would open herself to being a little more adventurous and experience life a bit more. So far we’ve seen her spend her time at home or at school. She leads a pretty boring life. Maybe this skydiving experience will awaken her adventurous side. Her attraction to Piro just might do her a favor.

Just do it, its fun!

Frank’s thought balloon is a little inaccurate. No one jumps alone the first time or for several after. And you have to be trained. Look like Luann is a little reluctant herself. They should all do a little homework 1st.

By all means go to the bathroom, Frank.

Because whatever you say next will undoubtably be WRONG.

Maybe Luann should try para sailing 1st.

Frank will now leave us, for some bathroom humor

I did it once. I had the opportunity so I took it. I was 19, of course I did. It’s actually very safe. They don’t let you pull the cord yourself, the chute opens automatically.

Frank, Left the toilet seat up argument?

Panel #1, the silhouette belongs to Frank Degroot

This could go two ways, with two lessons:

-dont jump. Always listen to your mother and stay safe in her little best.

- jump. There is little real risk, and even little birds need to spread their wings if they will ever soar. OTOH, do it because YOU think it’s a good idea

At this rate, I reckon that getting her mother’s approval for the jump will be a more harrowing experience for Luann than the jump itself.

Frank decided to be safe by exiting the discussion between daughter and mother!

Why is Luann asking for approval unless she needs the money to pay for the skydiving expenses?

Can’t Frank live vicariously through Brad and Toni, the fearless fire fighters? Must his fantasies also extend to his daughter, too??

If the talk about jumpin goes on Frank can say he’s gonna go back to th bathroom to see if he put on the toilet paper rolled over th front or over the back

Frank would prefer to deal with other $h!t…

Luann’s attitude is contradictory. With Nancy she regrets the decision made with Tara and Piro, but hearing Frank being so supportive she seems to found courage and see the funny side. The idea of skydiving both attracts and scares her. Frank could calm her down and help her control her fear. I would love for Luann to try new things, I think it would be good for her. But if she really wants to go skydiving just so she doesn’t feel left out by her friends and she’s actually very scared of it, there’s a problem here.

This is where Frank should volunteer to go skydiving with her. But, of course, making sure the toilet seat is down is a lot more action than he’ll ever do.

Quick! Show Luann that one King of the Hill episode where Peggy tried skydiving! That’ll change her mind real quick!

It’s nuts to jump out of a perfectly good airplane if you don’t have to!

first jump is usually strapped to an instuctor. can’t reduce the risk more than that!

Sharing a high risk adventure can really bond their friendship. The survivors can comfort each other at the funeral.

Frank is actually willing to let Luann do a massive thrill?

Frank may enjoy a dream of doing something daring, but he knows better than to get in the middle of that discussion!

Good exit line there Frank.

Frank! DON’T GO IN THE BATHROOM! Turn around and face your family like a man and take a side between your daughter and your wife. That shouldn’t hit the fan. And would you OPEN a WINDOW and turn the fan ON? Please. Family strip.

This seems a lot like one of Joe Hill’s (Stephen King’s son) short stories I just re-read titled Aloft. A guy went skydiving because a woman he loved was going. But then he gets caught on this strange “cloud” that was solid and would form things that he needed. Even food or drink but the problem was when he ate or drank that stuff it was like eating shards of glass and made him bleed. He finally gets off the cloud. You never know if he gets back home or not.

Frank wants Luann to do it if Luann wants to do it, but not because other people are doing it. Doing stuff because other people area doing it leads to regret, as does not doing something you want to do because you were afraid.

When I wore a younger man’s clothes and was in the Army, I was paid to jump out of perfectly good airplanes.

My new exit phrase! “I left the seat up.”

Luann~Do whatever YOU think is best, not what anyone else thinks. And if Piro doesn’t admire that, then phooey on him. And Tara? Phhfffftttt!!

Donovan: She is not going to Wear Her Love Like Heaven. She is going to land on her butt.

How did this come up? Did Luann ask them for the money? If so, she needs to be more budget conscious (with other people’s money), and there’s nothing wrong with being sensible. Doing something dangerous that you really don’t want to do just to fit in with your friends is not mature thinking.

There was no solution or ending to the Bets arc? Come on Greg and Karen. For ONCE…end an arc instead of letting it hang. Why do you continually do that?

So she is going to jump out of a plane to try to impress a guy who is more interested in Bernice then he is in her. She is also jealous of the relationship he has with his cousin. I vote she doesn’t do it.

That is his way of staying clear of any discussion.

I went skydiving in the 80’s in Zephyrhills FL. The hour long drive there and back was scarier than jumping out of the plane at 3000 feet.

Luann does not really want to go skydiving. She should decide what she wants to do with her life and then do it.

Have we ever learned what Prio’s problem is? I remember hints but nothing firm. I would like to see his character developed more.

No, I think Frank is making the point that she’s only doing it because they are, which is not a good reason.

She’ll probably think better of it, especially when Piro and Tara start BASE jumping. (Buildings, Antennae, Spans and Earth, or bridges and cliffs)

OMIGAW! Did any of youse guys and gals know:

" C. Gregory Evans (born 1961), known to all as “Greg” is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lifetime advocate for the business aviation industry." Yes, AND, “Evans is also a proud supporter of his alma mater, the University of St. Thomas., where he graduated with a double major in business administration and consumer behavior marketing.”

That’s where he got the chops (and chips, being born to an aviation family) to write this blockbusting strip! More than just a success story about Right Place- Right Time. More about the Right Stuff. WTG, Dr. Double Major CGE!

And we are all here, contributing feedback to the script and his marketing genius. And I was a fool, thinking many cartoonists don’t write from experience, but from Don’t Know How, Can’t Do but Can Teach.

He writes about what he knows, here. And Skydiving is perfectly safe, even drunk with post-adolescent lust over some dude or dudette, even with all the air traffic controllers given the pink slip by the Ronnie Ray-Gun administration.

For you see, to play geriatric and plagiarize the Living-Legends-Of-Aviation site I wrote my term paper on here, Mr. Greg:

“In various leadership roles with the National Business Aviation Association, Evans was instrumental in defeating legislation calling for the so-called privatization of air traffic control system by the airlines. In recognition, he was awarded the prestigious NBAA Silk Scarf Award in 2019.”

Anyone fighting the plague of Privatization can make a buck off me. Take that, Ronnie (“Star Wars” proponent and Darth Vader mime) Sir Ronald the Ray-Gun.

Disclaimer: No, I am not a shill. I just would like a free Primo membership. Not gonna happen. This guy sounds clean as a wind sock.

Luann, invite Dad to go with you!

So the question is “Do you WANT to jump from a plane?”

“Speaking of doing extremely risky things, I left the seat up…”

Nice way to segue, Frank. Very believable, too!

Luann should have responded to Frank: “No Dad! That’s called Base Jumping!” would have been apropos!

This reminds me of an old Dilbert (before the thing, y’know) which featured a young Dilbert telling his mother “well, if I knew the technique, polled everyone whose done it before, and 100% of the people who jumped off cliffs reported a good time, yeah I’d conclude it was safe and give it a shot myself”

I’m 70 and I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’ve always wanted to try it.

Is she going to wear a red beret so that she can become a British Parachute Regiment “Red Devil?”

Their Colonel-in-Chief used to be HRH the Prince of Wales — before he ascended to the Throne. Now I’m not sure who it is.

Anyway, when HRH got the appointment, he showed his support for the Regiment by taking the Parachute Regiment’s Officers’ Training Course, including the mandatory number of jumps to qualify for his wings.

One of the course’s requirements is that NOBODY can walk outside a barracks or a building. They have to run. One time HRH emerged from a building, slapped on his red beret, and began to walk, and a sergeant spotted him. Unlike sergeants in most of these situations in the Parachute Regiment’s OTC, he did not yell at the top of his lungs at the miscreant, recognizing that HRH was his future Colonel-in-Chief and Sovereign. The sergeant astonished everyone by quietly walking over to HRH and reminding him to start running and “set an example.”

The chastened prince did so.

I did a jump once as part of a fundraiser, it was amazing!

WWA❤️ED? Dearest Ann❤️Eiffel would have a toilet seat that played “It’s So Nice to Have a Man Around the House” when you lifted the seat, boy howdy. The❤️Count had forgotten about ❤️Eiffelette Hawt❤️Tara and Pedro keeping it in the family. Let’s hope when they go sky diving that Pedro’s pack is full of dirty laundry and his last words are “AARRRrrrrrggghhh…”. Pedro is a swine. Outta here. Another busy day for Your Be❤️ed Count. As in, Time for a Power Nap RIGHT NOW! Nighty night and TTFN… Count…OUT… as in unconscious asleep. Sweet Dreams, Dearest❤️Count.

Is the reward worth the risk? Probably not. Could you use the time and money for something with more lasting value? Probably. Case closed.

What is brave about jumping out of a working airplane? Taking a needless risk for a thrill

never never leave the seat up WHEN YOU ARE LIVING WITH 2 WOMEN!!!

I think Frank has doctored his coffee. Maybe it’s not even coffee.

SMART man!!

Recognize and avoid the traps ahead.

Frank wants to live vicariously through Luann.

I did it. Exactly once, after extensive training. Thankfully, there was a static line that pulled the ripcord after I was literally thrown out of the plane as I completely forgot everything I learned in the training – well, I did successfully execute a PLF (Parachute Landing Fall), but that is it. I haven’t thought about this for decades. Good luck, LuAnn.

OH,my God,those people d own th ere look like ants!

They are ants,Luann,we haven’t left the ground yet!"

Okay,was I the first one to dredge up THAT oldie?

Too bad the Coney Island PARACHUTE Drop is just a decoration now.

Go for it Luann!

Frank is living dangerously.

RUN, Dad!! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You won’t EVER win.

a big takeaway (for me) is that Piro and Tara are on their own (essentially); they make their own decisions; they don’t have parents to run to when in a quandry, like Luann, and if they are going to try skydiving then they probably have the $ from job earnings. Luann could really be figuring this out on her own like lots of 19 yr olds (who have accessible parents) but are learning to decide things on their own. I am surprised that Nancy is being so protective instead of letting Luann make up her own mind. If she doesn’t have the $ that’s one thing but that doesn’t seem to be the issue here…. yet.

If you don’t know, a first jump for inexperienced people like Lu is usually a tethered jump. She is just a passenger strapped to an experienced skydiver who has the parachutes. Here’s a picture. http://www.365hops.Com/social/event_gallery/ I hope the diver brings ear plugs.

The Mrs. has a skinny rear end an it goes in if the lid’s up. She says th water’s pretty cold. I cn think of better ways to suddenly wake up in th morning

Not such a great save, Frank.