Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 05, 2011

TJ, the houseguest from hell…

Whose view will prevail in the great Struggle Over TJ? Frank’s, or Nancy’s? Or will TJ experience sudden maturation and pay his way in Horner House?

Relax, Brad, you have severance and unemployment. Or are you in Minnesota?

Just like life it sucks

Who the hell is Frank & Nancy?

TJ – “Hmmmm, Brad. Should I MAN-UP and help You PAY Your share of the rent so you can stay at the Horner House and at least mantain some degree of self respect while You look for a job, OR should I move in and FRELOAD off YOUR folks while I make passes at Your mom and sister? Heck I GOTTA GO with moving IN with Your folks!”

TJ! America’s PARASITE!!! Okay, COFFEE Time!!!

I don’t understand why the subject of Unemployment Insurance has never come up inside the strip. Greg – if you are going to have the recession take place in Pittsville, you need to also include the safety nets. And I don’t see how he could not afford his share of the rent with the Unemployment Insurance he is entitled to.What happens when you lose a job in Pittsville if you don’t have family? You sit on the street till you starve to death?

Minnesota does have and even under the current circumstances, IS issuing unemployment benefits.

I don’t think Luann and Co. live in California. Theres been snow and ice in the strip in wintertime.

Doctor Toon… Thank you for your comment…. the “political commentary” and general all-around INTOLERANT attitudes that people have been expressing of late (see “For Better or Worse” today for instance) is unfortunately growing more and more tiring. What has happened to people being able to see shades of grey in an issue instead of being ALL-RIGHT or ALL-WRONG. In this strip, besides the political commentary… we get people calling various characters (TJ or Brad for instance) all sorts of rather absolutist derogatory terms)… where has the subtlety of opinion gone? For instance, last week… many made TJ out to be the “evil-incarnate” instead of seeing him as a wisenheimer joking around with his friend.

Just wondering… I’ve never seen TJ with a girl. Is it possible he’s “in the closet?”

Please don’t get all bent, folks. This is just a question.

Personally, I think it would be a great addition to the strip. One of the reasons I like it is that it manages to have some depth while still remaining fairly light in tone. I think having a gay character would enhance (and complicate!) the strip. Brad would find himself re-examining his positions as would the other characters. (Toni would, as always, be cool.) BTW, if I’m wrong about TJ, sorry. Ignore previous transmission.

You say Quill is gay like it is fact, when it is not, unless I missed something.

There are many places in Calif where it snows! Deep snow, and not just the ski resorts.,But I agree, Pittsville in in some less urban state. Or someplace semi-rural in a state like Ohio or Illinois..Greg has mentioned living in Colorado till he got tired of all the snow.

@ reedcomicksYou’re responding to a froggy troll who has several IDs and a one-note agenda. Please don’t waste your time feeding him.

Yes, they do. At least they did in’97 when I was “redeployed” and forced into early retirement.

yes it does, but right now we are in the midst of a government shut-down. Current claims are being paid, but no new applications for it are being accepted.

What ever happened to Brad and Toni wanting to get “as mushy as possible” after Toni got back that evening from the zoo? Brad didn’t even talk to Toni again until the next morning when he went to talk to her at her firestation in civilian clothes (and congratulations to Brad for finally wearing a different shirt besides the black one with stripes). Are we going to see Brad apply for different jobs, or is he going to just miraculously get one? Or will he spend only a week looking before giving up and moving in with his mommy (which by the way would be a terrible example to teens, making it seem like you should run back home at the smallest obstacle)?

“Greg has mentioned living in Colorado till he got tired of all the snow.”It doesn’t really snow that much here on the Front Range. The moutain resorts are a different story.

The more I think about it, I think draksig nailed it 3 days ago. Brad goes to the police academy…(going to school to learn new skills after being laid off is a very respectable option to getting another job. He can probably even get funding for classes through the unemployment office). He’s also correct about who one of his class mates will be…Dirk. It would be classic Evans….I notice the sheriff is being very quiet about this….

When I was on unemployment in AZ, I was getting $240 a week. You can’t live on that. IF he has enough for rent, Brad won’t have anything left for food, utilities, etc. Hopefully, he received severance pay.

T.J’s modus operandi..ready..set…mooch!

The gay movement does not need to take over every comic strip in America. We don’t need to have a token gay character, any more than we need to have a token minority character of any other type, but Gregg does seem to like doing that (see Delta, token black character). If we’re going to go down that road, there are a lot of other larger (though less vocal) minority groups we could choose, such as a token fat person or a token muslim.

The gay issue here is, IMO, created as trollish humor with more than a touch of joy in creating divisiveness..Greg once did a bit of anti-drug missionary work, (Bernice’s unreal boyfriend). My impression is that Greg was not too happy in the role of social advocate. I suppose, though, if he felt the need, he would introduce a gay. I don’t see the need at this point.

Delta was in the strip way back, even before Aaron had met Luann. She was a bit wilder then, into loud music, etc. Greg many have feared some stereotyping in this, so she went to civicmindedness.

But the older workers are more dependable, and often exercise better judgment and integrity.

Since the high schoolers in Luann don’t do a lot with straight sexuality, it’s doubtful that Greg will introduce a gay character into Pitts HS. On the other hand, the world didn’t end when one debuted – oh, I mean, was “shoved down our throats” – in Archie.

And speaking as someone who has an “unnatural” “abnormal” “aberration” in her family, I’d like to ask you to keep labels like that to yourself here. Racial or religous slurs and epithets aren’t tolerated on this board, so just what makes you think slinging those sorts of hateful terms around is OK?

The current commentary is not about what Greg did or didn’t say or do, it’s about people thinking that it’s OK to use intolerant and hurtful labels about others in the smug – and mistaken – assumption that it’s OK because everyone thinks just like they do.

I don’t think calling someone on that sort of crap is exactly “going up in heated flames” but I’d rather be accused of that than stand idly by and say nothing.

Doesn’t make you right, either – if I’ve ever seen a testimony by someone who knows not a damn thing about the subject, it’s gotta be yours. Perhaps you can enlighten us about the day YOU deliberately chose to be straight? Chances are you can’t – because you never made a choice. And that’s because you were born that way.

If you still insist it’s a choice, well, since religion isn’t a choice, how about if I throw a few nasty religious slurs about regarding religions I don’t approve of? Since I’m “correct” in my beliefs, it’s OK, and it sure doesn’t matter who I hurt, right?

In any event, you might wanna educate yourself before you continue laying down a thick cloud of smug in future. “Normal” is an extremely subjective term, especially when it comes to human behavior. And since homosexual behavior IS found in nature in many species, your “unnatural” appellation carries no weight, it merely underscores your own massive ignorance on the subject.

Again, please keep your hate, ignorance and intolerance to yourself.

Thank you as well.

I’m not for flagging and deleting anyone’s comments, no matter what. I replied to ChappellGirl5 in the hope that she might realize that what she saw as “correct” isn’t an absolute just cuz she thinks it is – and maybe see that just because she deemed her opinion as “right” doesn’t mean that she isn’t hurting anyone by airing it.

People technically aren’t born deliberately cruel, obtuse and ignorant, either – but they sure as hell seem to enjoy those attributes once they grow – or fail to grow – into them. Sad, as you say.