Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 01, 2013

Again, No drama!

“The More Things Change…”“To Boldly Go…” -or…..“… O What A Relief It Is!….”

“Brought to you” by….Rainbows and Puppy Dogs and Neat Little Bows And Happy Storybook Endings And Sunny Days, and……

I’m sure that the commenters who were predicting a big fight are sorely disappointed.

Shannon is six? Where did the ex of “Dud” go? She isn’t interested in Shannon?

If Shannon is six years old. That means she is in the first grade at school. Maybe being at school among children her own age has helped her settle down.

“….And, before he could even argue, he was looking out the window, searching for his party friends….doo de doo doo, doo de doo doo….”

Is this that thing they call a…. Day New Monty?…….

Also, in that last panel, Toni is acknowledging that Brad would have been a better father than her deadbeat brother Jonah!

Or none of the above.

Now this will be nit-picky of me but this but this is the dialogue I would have liked to see in the last panel

Toni: Where where you 6 years ago

Brad: Still maturing so I could be worthy of you and Shannon.

Still this was good.

Heh. I can picture the person at the door. “That poor couple out there…”

If Brad was around 6 years ago and took this much interest in Shannon, she would be a happier little cutie.

I’m glad Toni agrees her brother is a dud! There is nothing wrong with partying instead of taking care of a child until you are the parent of said child. You need to at least hire a good babysitter.

I wish they would help Shannon pick a hairstyle that would better suit a little girl of six. This one is really a severe cut and makes her look much older and nastier than she actually is. Her current style doesn’t help her look approachable or lovable at all.

Brad could also lighten up a bit when he talks. He’s beginning to look like he has a perpetual scowl on his face. Kids imitate what they see and if both Joanah and Brad both go smileless and humourless, how’s Shannon to know which male in her life is the happier, friendlier one to emulate?

Even if the natural father is factually a jerk, it’s still not ok to talk smack about him in front of the child.

Ok, i’m really amazed that Toni is ok with this, they’ve had big fights over a lot less than this!

“Brought to you”, by….Swollaids…. “The before dinner mint!”… – Star Check: The Search For Stock….“The Crew of the Exit Prize go through a time thingy, in search of back pay and futures investments lost at Khan Artists Investment Studios…in theatres, hmmm… maybe Fridayish…” – And by…Stallmark… “When You care just enough….”

You have literally and figuratively added nothing to the conversation – a rare event.######Possibly so, in which case this list of possible meanings is equally insignificant..howtheduck said,Where was Brad six years ago? What does she mean? Does she mean:-a. When Shannon was born, if Brad was around, he would have been able to take care of Shannon when she was a baby instead of Jonah or Toni.-b. Toni has inadvertantly revealed what many of us have often suspected, that she is the actual mother of Shannon and if Brad had been around 6 years ago, she wouldn’t have had the relationship with Shannon’s father which led to the birth of Shannon and pretending Jonah was the dad.-c. Toni would have dumped Dirk 6 years ago if she had known Brad was good with Shannon.

The idea that Toni is the mother of Shannon is ridiculous. What mother is going to pretend she is not the mother of the child she is taking care of? That would just be so sad and pathetic and I don’t think I could like or respect someone like that.

I mean, I like Toni, and if this were true about her, it would surely make her a despicable creature.

Toni admits that she is not all-powerful, yet implies that Brad is! Must be love….

I think Brad and Toni should be awarded custody of Shannon. They are the closest thing to parents that she has :o)

And the Greg Evans studio holds up a sign saying “Adopt!”, and the melodrama audience responds by stamping their feet and shouting “Yes!!! Adopt! Adopt! Do, it! Go, Brad!!!”. Now are we supposed to toss peanut shells at Jonah as soon as he next makes one of his rare walk-ons, or do we wait for the studio to hold up the sign saying “Villain! Hiss!!!!”?

I’ll Tell Ya WHERE Brad Was Six Years Ago, “MS” Toni.

He Was RIGHT Durned In FRONT of YOU.

But YOU Probably Didn’t SEE Him Because of Your ENORMOUS, Liberated EGO.

Now SHUT-UP and Affectionately SQUEEZE His Mighty Hand…..,

First of all: you two are the adults…you should not allow the child to order you to stay put. That is not showing you proper respect. She will grow up feeling that she can order anyone around and that they will comply. If she keeps this up, other kids and some adults will want to put her in her place which should be in a chair in a corner until she can learn to behave like a good child.

So what happened to Shannon’s speech impediment in the panel? Too hard to figure out how to re-spell “rough” ?

Where was Brad six years ago? What does she mean?

I vote “A.” Maybe not so much that Toni would be relieved from taking care of Shannon, but that Shannon wouldn’t be “influenced” so much by Jonah.

A parent let some one else take their kids trick or treating so that makes them a rotten and horrible parent? God this cartoon has warped values.

6 years ago? Getting beat up by your boyfriend…

Sorry, but Jonah is Shannon’s dad. And he is Toni’s brother.You forget the missing factor that Mr Evans has not used. That being on what happened to Shannon’s mom. The one Jonah had relations with that produced Shannon.And considering how possessive Dirk was, He would not have allowed Toni to keep ‘his’ property aka his child from being raised by Jonah.

wait, she can’t be the actual mother unless its incest. Jonah is her brother.

@LouEthelip -

Brad: Still maturing so I could be worthy of you and Shannon.

A very Excellent response indeed and it is the truth. We do not all of a sudden get to that point of maturity. It takes time and experience. And when you find a person that makes you think/say what Toni just said. you win.

Just curious (I may have misspoken earlier this week).

Do we know whether or not Shannon’s biological mother is still alive? Did she just “disappear,” or was she KIA’ed? IIRC, Jonah & Toni’s parents are no longer with us, but I wasn’t sure about Shannon’s mom.

Thanks. :)

Six years ago, in Luannverse, Brad was so into Diane that he would not have even noticed Toni. ^Oh, he would have noticed , alright….the old Brad just wouldn’t have known how to transfer from one “school of getting heartbroken” to another… – But, then again, I think that even six years ago, Toni’s eyes would signal that he had a small chance, even if her peers and her station in life then would have shut him out….

really like this strip

As I recall, the answer to her question is: “Lying on the couch. Mostly eating. Unless asleep. Oh, and zinging my sister whenever the opportunity arose.”

None of the above

Ahhh… If Brad had been around 6 years ago and had distracted Jonah and sent him off somewhere else, no Shannon.

Hmm… (scratches head)… I’m going to have to use “process of elimination” on these, here… – (a) …. Unless Shannon came with a carburetor and spark plugs…. then again, Brad was working on his car, all of the time… probably a good tactic… anyone seeing him with a car would “re-evaluate” his then “child-care potential”… – (b)… That would have to be if Shannon was born at “General Hospital” …… – ©…. I think that explains itself, as to why Toni never “knew” he was around, for those past six years .. not to mention that this would have caused a rift in the "space time continuum’, as that would make it possible for Shannon to not have even been born six years ago… Unless Brad was able to take a “Quantum Leap”….

Toni isn’t Shannon’s mother, Brad isn’t her father, but they are the closest to parents as Shannon will ever have. This is the beginning of a beautiful family.

First time my nephew went trick or treating he said ‘candy please’ kids don’t get the concept right away

Six years ago? Mr. Evans, you’re on…

STAND BY YOUR MAN – TAMMY WYNETTEIn spite of what some posters say, Brad & Toni don’t have big fights; they have discussions. That’s the proper way for adults to work together. I’ve never seen Toni berate Brad for what he’s said or done (after she admitted that she loves him – several of our years ago). Before that, she was often quite critical of him. Now, she does indeed “Stand by her man”.

No no! Day No May! ^Is that “Frenchie” for Dynamite? Or is it like Daylight come and me wanna go home? (Day Oh…) Lol! It’s Friday! (XD)

Still in high school, I think.

French for Dynamite…. is…. D-ynamite (Dzee-na-mee-te)

Wasn’t Shannon once referred to as Toni’s cousin?^^Yes, at the time, Greg hadn’t really developed the “backstory”, but, it was a way to get her back into the strip

Tsk, what a bossy unpleasant little brat.

I know you hate it when I point out that your efforts to be funny sound like opinions, but, in this case, they sound like funny math. So, Toni is ‘contracting’ herself , and she is saying things that aren’t ‘absolute’. Is ‘contraction’ a contradiction of absolute new math, or what…..

Evans mentioned her here:

Thank you. This is the closest answer to my question so far… probably the closest… period.

Speaking of Toni/Shannon’s Mom, can we, perhaps, infer from this strip that Toni knows who Shannon’s biological mother is? If so, then she would certainly know if it was or wasn’t Ann Eiffel. I certainly don’t know, but my hunches tell me it’s not Ann. At least, that’s what I’d like to believe, anyway. :) If anyone were a “practicing pro-choice” person, I’d suspect Ann “Nothing stands in the way of my career – including a little DNA…” Eiffel.

Saying Trick or Treat isn’t that nice, not any worse than what Shannon said. It means “if you don’t give me a treat, I will give you some nasty trick”. I think Shannon is cute and smart. She will turn out great with Brad and Luann’s influence.

Ha ha ha!

I don’t sense contempt at all. I see a little girl who has had to be independent a lot sooner than she should have to, now feeling comfortable enough to show her ‘surrogate’ parents that she is able to handle this. Manners, maybe, but “You stay here. I can do it myself” is hardly the rudest thing in the world.

All depends on her tone of voice… and the recipient’s perception of that. Some adults would think nothing of it. Some would have Shannon “picking up her teeth off the ground/floor” (i.e. more likely, the ones who “demand respect”).

Maybe it is just a matter of perfecting her politeness, but I sense a bit of an edge there, based on how she’s interacted with others.

I agree!

I suspect that, after the kids are done “trick-or-treating”, Brad may be in for some late night Levi-denying activity.

Dave – A Michael Jackson song comes to mind, here… something about:

“Too high to get over….

Too low to get under…

You’re stuck in the middle…

and the pain is Thunder..” ;-PPP

I suspect that, after the kids are done “trick-or-treating”, Brad may be in for some late night Levi-denying activity..Levi just might be right – there are still some couples that wait. And I think Toni learned something from her wild brother and his wilder gf – namely you can get in trouble that you can’t easily get out of, if you let your emotions rule your intellect.

Why are people talking about Brad’s “standing up to Jonah”? Taking Shannon and being her baby-sitter isn’t “standing up” to Jonah, it’s “giving in” to him. “Standing up” to Jonah would be if, the next time that Jonah asks Toni to ea his baby-sitter, Brad told Jonah “No, Toni and I have other plans, so you will have to get another baby-sitter or take care of Shannon yourself.” As it is, Brad is just playing into Jonah’s hands, always giving in and never once standing up to him.

Thumbs up for this reply and also your reply to Eric Post.

it doesn’t matter at all who the female was that ran out on Shannon, that a ‘someone’ did is as much as we need to know.True, but, as I said a few days ago:Shannon’s Mom will return to claim her darling daughter – having regretted abandoning her. Just like Dirk, she’s reformed having come to her senses..Of course, that’ll happen just when Jonah decides to let the happy, newly married couple raise his daughter, so he can be free to pursue his acting career.But that’s far in the future

Did someone here mention that Shannon’s mom’s name is Ann? If so, I wonder if its the Eyefull. I know it shows here in this strip the two of them and how similar they look, but I wonder since she dumped ShANNon on Jonah after she was born, if she would even know what Shannon looks like or if she even knows that Toni is Jonah’s sister.

http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2012/04/17#.UnP_OhC4Ea0

And so, the #1 song on TODAY’S “LUANN” PLAYLIST has to be:

“Respect,” by Aretha Franklin!

“Just a little bit…” :-)

I want to express a little horror at Jonah teaching her that obnoxious replacement for “trick or treat.” If he thinks it is a good idea to teach a kid to be rude (even though it technically means the same thing) then it means he regards her as a toy for his personal entertainment, not a someone whose development is dependent on what he teaches her.

Well, in reference to feudin’ couples, like Paul Davis said… ’A Little Bit Of Soap"…

That was The Jarmels. (Or was Paul one of its members?)

There was a “Paul Burnett” that was part of the “Jarmels.” Not a Paul Davis.

Well, ya know why there’s a lot of babies born in june? “Trick or treat, baby…” (Likewise, August babies are results of a lot of Ho Ho Ho, merry Christmas…)

Don’t forget the Otis Redding version !!

Redding being the writer/composer, of course. But to me, Aretha’s cover is “cannon.” :)

And the answer to that question is, “Watching my dad be the kind of dad I’m going to be.”

Can you show us the strip in which Brad or Toni reprimanded Shannon for biting Ann and then apologized to her for it? If there is none, then the lesson she learned is that biting is OK.

Thank you for the help — you are a gentleman and a scholar. Have a good weekend!

“Respect,” by Aretha Franklin! ^And don’t forget to give “respect” to the song’s writer, and original performer, Otis Redding!

That was The Jarmels. (Or was Paul one of its members?) ^Well, to “clean” this up, they are the original performers. Paul Davis’ cover was to “…Soap” was what Aretha’s cover was to Otis’…

Yeah, was a puncher of a song!

Removing a paper crown from a child’s head, without even touching her, is not battery. Biting a person is. If Ann had called the cops (as she was certainly entitled to do and explained what happened), Shannon might have been placed in protective custody, or at the very least she would have been returned to her father with strict instructions never to let Toni baby-sit for her again. Toni would have been slapped with a court order to stay away from Shannon, and she could have been sued by Ann Eiffel. Ann would not have faced any legal consequences for her actions, since she was clearly the victim here.

Instead of taking Shannon home and punishing her for her bad (actually, criminal) behavior, lecturing her about how you should never bite people, and taking her back to deliver a personal apology to Ann, Toni did nothing to correct her ward’s actions. She thereby showed that she is unfit to be a parent. As a result of doing what she do and not being even scolded for it, Shannon thinks that biting “bad people” is a justifiable and perhaps even commendable action, and apparently lots of people herein think so, too.

Yes, I get it. You’re making up your own laws.

And no matter how much you corrupt the actual criminal justice system, there’s no denying that Toni is a bad parent for not disciplining Shannon when she bit Ann’s finger. Shannon has learned that she can get away with anything, so long as she thinks the other person deserved it. Ann is “bad”, so biting Ann is “good”! Shame on Toni, TJ, and Brad. They are not good role models for children.

I’m glad I don’t live on your planet, where children can cause severe physical harm to people who simply take a paper hat off their head, and then they are not ever told that what they did was wrong (apparently because on your planet, it wasn’t). Is your planet the one in which the Luannverse is situated? That would explain so much.

Here are some great Otis Redding performances, from the year when he died (1967). This is “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”, recorded at the Monterey Pop Festival:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vUc17A0SNY>and this is “Try a Little Tenderness”, recorded live on the very day before he perished in that plane crash:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vUc17A0SNY>There is so much else that could be cited, such as his composition “Sad Song (Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa)” and of course his duets with Carla Thomas, such as “Knock on Wood” and “Tramp”.

And Shannon bites Ann, and no one disciplines her. Not only does she not get punished, she doesn’t get scolded, and no one even tells her she shouldn’t bite people. Of course she loves being with Brad and Toni – they will let her get away with anything. If they adopt her, she’ll be in juvenile hall before her 15th birthday.

She did indeed. This is not self-defense, it is an aggressive assault. Toni, Brad, and TJ will not tell Shannon that it is in any way wrong, though. Shannon will grow up thinking this is the right way to address disputes. Let’s hope Jonah gets married to a woman who will be a responsible mother and who will make sure that Shannon stays far, far away from these irresponsible people.

I just don’t drink every glass of Kool-Aid that’s handed to me. When some character in a comic strip does something reprehensible, such as allowing a child in their care to bite people and not doing anything about it, not even telling her that it’s wrong, then yeah, I call them out on it. I find it hard to understand the people who don’t.

Oh god no

http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2007/11/01#.UnW3QhwoRic