Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 20, 2015

But Gunther was supposed to be on his flight back to North America tonight, not a week from now!

Wow. 6 hours. It must be getting near dark. There’s a 5 o’clock shadow creeping about….

I thought Luis said he could get the car fixed with a new part in one day. So if Gunther had stayed with him, they would have been back in Lima long before this tour bus gets there. Obviously, Luis just wanted to get rid of Gunther because he was such a pain!

The "wake up and say: “What am I doing here?” bit. Just like in my “song/prose” composition about what “could have happened”….

At least he finally got to sightsee Peru. That’s something. This is the kind of thing he should’ve done with Rosa.

¡Excelente Gunther! ¡No sabías que estabas tan cerca del Cuzco y llegaste a Machu Picchu en seis horas! Es un lugar muy impresionante. Aprovecha la visita a uno de los lugares más impresionantes del Perú.

Did they burn the plaid shirt? Did they also give Gunther a shower, because he was stinky?

Aha!!! I was right…I just Knew that bus wouldn’t be going to Lima directly! ;)

The thought plickens!

“Time Passages” (♫)“Layover And Over”“The Shirt Off Your Back”“A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Lima”“Quick Change Artists”“When Opportunity Falls Into Your Elapse”“While You Were Sleeping”“Same Gunther, Different Day”

or “Grin And Beard It”

This looks promising. 1st. stop - hit the showers.

It’s funny, too, as Gunther has been given the “shortcut” treatment, like they do on TV, where they “skip ahead” to what it’s “supposed to be like”, like on some of the cooking shows……

Uh oh. he’s at Machu Picchu….

A nice shot (pretty much the favorite touristic image) of Machu Picchu in panel 3, so we can understand why they are a week from Lima on their sightseeing tour. And Gunny’s transformation has already begun, the Sun City Senior(ita)s having provided him with the “Peru” souvenir sweatshirt. I wonder if they threw out his stinky plaid? He’s already starting to sprout some whiskers, so a few more days on the road with his new mothers and he will be a changed person, at least in some respects. It could be a fun ride….

Now the timeline clarifies.

Now they pour the coffee in.

Well, it is getting late here! I need to get IS Katie up and schlep up the stairs! ’Nite all!-——————————————————————————“Soar not too high to fall; but stoop to rise.”(Philip Massinger, 1583-1640)

All this one ONE beer??? (or half a beer)

That was what went through my mind, too… very creepy, even for a bunch of “sunny dispositioned” and nurturing moms… makes for one of those “movies of the week”…..

LOL!!!

OMG how long do we have to hang out with this fool? Greg must be planning to rename the strip after him. He must think we love Gunther as much as these senior women, who have stripped his shirt off him while he was passed out drunk. That’s not strange at all.

I appreciate this extended vacation for Gunther, the most interesting character in the entire strip!!

It’s kind of routine for little babies and infants, though, so this may be the way the senior ladies see Gunther. Hard to blame them, under the circumstances!

We see the beginnings of a ‘5 o’clock shadow’, and a new shirt. Will we get to see the beginnings of a new attitude toward his mother, too? Four more days to find out, maybe…

Wha’ ONLY His Shirt was “Stinky?” Gunther. These Ladies Kinda Undressed You While You Were Sleeping!

Get Up, Puff Out That Sunken Chest and Look ‘em STRAIGHT In the Eye and Sing: "I, I, I, AIN’T Gonna PLAY Sun-Ci-Taaaaay! No, No, No, No!!!!"(Obscure Late Eighties Reference)

I’ll predict it: in a few years Rosa will return with some live-in-the-moment-but-very-broke “expletive” at her side. Outwardly, they will be happy but we’ll learn the sad truth.

“other people around me had changed my clothes.”-Just imagine if it was Rosa and a bunch of old geezers on that bus, and she woke up with a different shirt!

Actually, in the first panel, that is Knutes mom on the left and Tiffany’s wayward mom on the right.

Again, I have to ask – why did Luis put Gunther on this bus that would take a week to get to Lima, instead of just letting Gunther wait with him until the part arrived for the car repairs, the next day? Is Gunther that insufferable? (Rhetorical question!!!)

They undressed Gunther

See the sights and sites and shirts and skirts

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single detour, den de tour, den de beard, den de Columbian coffee.

@argythree or whoever caught the resemblance between Knute and Tiff and the SeniorMama’s! Too funny! I think we might see these mama’s steering Gunther in a different direction with his own mama. And, geez, they only changed his shirt, with probably the best of intentions. If Gunth threw up on it for instance, I’m sure it would stink pretty badly.

The bus will stop at a cafe and these gals will introduce Gunther to the mind clearing virtues of caffeine, e.g. strong black coffee, and as his hair and beard grow they will tell him how ‘handsome’ he looks and that he should forget about Rosa because there are lots of other fish in the sea ….

Does anyone actually like this story??!! Sooo boring!!!!!

Well, it’s official! He’s taking the looooong way home.…And the transformation is almost complete!

LOL, ya beat me to it!!!

LOL, better that one gets stuck all day, than “Gangham Style”, “La Vida Loca”, or the one from that new “viral video of the cop lip synching” (I thought I’d spare you the title of that one!!!!)

first, lets not jump the gun, and call Luis malevolent.he might have rushed and made a wrong assumption (the bus top front might have said “destination Lima” )

second, let’s not ourselves jump to conclusions, a week is much more than mere hours, (but i still don’t get why there is no Gunther luggage when he got finally on the plane, possibly was in Luis car and he forgot to put it in the senioritas bus, or he should have left it at whatever place he was staying at Lima, be it Hotel or at Rosa’s uncle’s home) and he might be at Pitts to get his savings and return to Peru or he might have decided to go to moony and live at the dorms and not at Mommy’s house

Hahaha! Great idea!! A week with the grandma club will get him pointed in the right direction…

when he went to the village, his shirt was red, when he was gathering sticks, it was blue, when he left village with Luis, it was green, he must have at least a small luggage when he went to village, and maybe a big one at Lima, at place he was staying

@Mordock999-I wasn’t able to use the ‘reply’ function to respond to your post.-The ‘Sun City’ song is not obscure to me. What’s obscure to me is why you would pick that song for Gunther to sing. What does apartheid have to do with Gunther’s situation? -Please explain…

Maybe Gunther could interest some of these single ladies in Mr. Gray. Surely they could pry him away from his mom so Gunther could have mommy all to himself.

There is a socially accepted difference between a bare chest and bare breasts.

Nah!

So many bored whiney folks saying, all the time, “Oh I don’t like this story. Tell me a difference story.” Or, better “I’ll make it up myself!”

I must say I am disappointed that this legion of color analysts didn’t call out today’s mistake.

if this was a bunch of elderly men and Rosa was the one that got changed while passed out, people here would be up in arms.

-I already said that.

Good Job Luis. You got Gunther doing his own version of Harold and Kumar.

But all I want to do was go home man…

“we aren’t getting a different Gunther. He’s still going to be the same pathetic kid”.At least for those who can’t stand men to be different from what THEY demand.

-“Luis is stupid and/or a jerk”.At least to those who insist they know his goals and orders. Usually the term applies best to those who use it.-“Took kids to remote village without boss’s permission.”.

As someone wrote, “He’s 18, he’s not a baby, and they shouldn’t treat him like one.” This should apply to the uncle, one would think. In fact, we don’t actually know he didn’t have the boss’ permission. Nor that he needed it..

“Told to retrieve them immediately, could only get Gunther to return.”.TRANSLATION: Refused to kidnap the adults..

“Spouts off fortune cookie wisdom that is immediately ignored by Gunther”.TRANSLATION: Did not speak in sentences too long to fit in the panel.Secondary implication, if anyone doesn’t immediately do what you say, you are a failure in life, especially if someone is insisting you must be a father figure and fathers are never disobeyed or not listened to..

“Doesn’t know why Gunther wants to go home”.TRANSLATION: Has the wrong set of priorities as defined by those who are certain they have the perfect set of priorities..“Does not immediately insult Gunther when the topic of Mr. Gray is addressed.”.IMPLICATION: Real successes in life insult everyone around them..“Makes no effort to stop Gunther from eating a whole pepper.”.RESTATEMENT: Isn’t fast enough to stop another adult from doing something he will regret soon..“Can diagnose car problems but has no ability to actually fix car problems.”.IMPLICATION: REAL men can carve fuel pumps out of sticks and stones..“Puts Gunther on bus without confirming where it’s going right now instead of a week later.”.This actually may be a legitimate gripe, assuming Luis’ goal was to get Gunther out of the country as quickly as possible.Alternatively, it may have been a scheme to get him some mature female companionship that wasn’t Rosa or his mother.

.“Gunther loves Rosa but would rather be home”.Homesickness is a powerful motivator..Evans is too deep to be psychoanalyzed by the unskilled. Those who read themselves into his art will be disappointed because they want to make him in their own image rather than whatever he choses..Let the adventure continue.

TJ comes to save the day?Shannon books a private jet to get Bwad’s sister’s buddy out of trouble?Dirk shows up in a garbage truck due to having taken a wrong turn at Albequerque and returns Gunther home?Delta shows up with a congregessional fact finding committee and secures an extra seat for her old buddy?.Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat station.

Also, the mountains have tiny “eye dots”. Everyone knows that only happens on “Super Mario”!!!

Dave: I think there is hope, and that there is a valuable and interesting “awakening” like you suggest in the story arc for Gunther. I had just hoped and mistakenly foresaw this awakening occurring with gentle guidance by Luis. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I am still trying to wrap my head around how an “awakening” will occur on a bus filled with little old, grannies. Either it will happen in some amazing fashion that I cannot for the life of me phathom but Greg develops…. or the “awakening” will be minor and Gunther may revert back to his former self with just a bit of a new appearance.

compare Saturday to today ;)

right now it seems unlikely Rosa and/or Luis saw him at the airport, it seems he will be rushed to the airport, his small luggage was left in Luis car, and his big luggage at his place in Lima(Hotel or most probably the house of the Uncle of Rosa ) thus reason he got to Pittsville without his normal shirt

“I am sure that the seniors and Gunther will not spend the entire duration of the trip on the bus. When it comes time for them to stop for the night, will Gunther sleep on the bus, or will the ladies hold a lottery to see who gets to keep him in their room for the night?”

So is that okay for anyone to just hitch a ride on a tour bus without paying? Do the bus drivers allow that?

Nothing says safety like throwing Gunther on a bus full of strangers!

Hey, these ladies surely know how to treat Poor Gunther after losing his girlfriend. My question is I wonder where “Diamond” Lil Bilious is on this bus? If Lil’s on the bus (I doubt it, but it would be fun if it was), Lil will treat Gunther like how she treats that lifeguard at the pool every summer near her home. “Help,” " I’m drowning in the deep blue sea of your blue eyes!"

“In Luanniverse, sometimes things come along that defy gravity… :)”

Right?! Lol!

“I am guessing that is a bus that is chartered by the group. Adding one more body might be at their discretion.”

Well, that could be true too.

I just hope Gunther doesn’t have a nervous breakdown when he realizes he’s missing his flight and is about as far from the stable routine he was searching for as he can be…

If Gunther’s shirt was “stinky”, his underwear certainly couldn’t have smelled better.

So, Gunther gets a free bus ride in exchange for what?

> I am guessing that is a bus that is chartered by the group. Adding one more body might be at their discretion.>Quite likely the bus is a charter, but there would be regulations (from the charter company and from their insurance companies, and maybe from the Peruvian equivalent of the Department of Transportation) against the charter bus’ picking up any passengers who are not members of the charter group. Gunther is a hitch-hiker; for all anyone knows, he could be a Yankee Bandit who belongs to a gang that intends to kidnap the old ladies and hold them for ransom. Even if the old ladies want to take him on board, the driver wouldn’t permit it.

This entire chain of events started out as an unpleasant surprise…

Gunther was an only child as was spoiled by all of the motherly attention growing up.

Leaving the nest to follow Princess Rosa to the jungle of Peru was his choice.

Gunther loved Rosa and he followed his heart, yet some of the comments here on this panel have been rather heartless towards Gunther.

He is human!!

That hotel in Peru looks rather familiar.

Perhaps Greg went to Peru recently on vacation?

“Even if the old ladies want to take him on board, the driver wouldn’t permit it.” …. fascinating that someone would know what a bus driver 4,000 miles away would do.

And, considering the situation, it’s more likely that the bus driver would allow Gunther, since it might result in a much larger “gratuity” from the senioritas…

Gunther is relating this story at the New Year’s Eve party. Wait ‘till Tiffany shows up and he drives her against the wall with a crushing kiss, then we’ll see the “new” Gunther.

> fascinating that someone would know what a bus driver 4,000 miles away would do.>I know that the driver would obey the bus company’s (and the insurance company’s, and the government’s) regulations, or else he/she would be fired. And do you really think those regulations would allow a charter bus to pick up strangers as passengers? In other words, I know that Greg Evans is throwing plausibility out the window to tell his tale, and I know that people who are buying it just aren’t thinking very hard.

If I was abandoned as a baby and had nothing in which to look forward, I would reject Gunther… he is an idoiot personified.

Dave, if you look at the first time the bus appeared, there are those minor differences.

“Thank goodness he’s not an idiot.”-Lol

Of course the ladies on the bus wouldn’t take on board anyone who looks like Che Guevara. The gang of hijackers would therefore use a harmless-looking wuss like Gunther as their “plant”. And even if Luis and the charter bus driver are old buddies, picking up an unauthorized passenger would still almost certainly be a violation of the bus company’s rules that would get the driver fired.

I’ve always thought Gunther was a bit of a wuss, but throughout it all, his friends remained his friends and put up with him—a sign that he might be immature, but not necessarily an idiot. Obviously, his view of life (thanks to a too-protective mother) and straight-laced view of things do not contribute to being one of the “cool” kids. His relationship with Rosa and his bold move to Peru showed that he had more nerve than anyone might have thought. His decision to break it off and return home was not dumb, but based on reality…and that shows maturity no one expected. This bus detour story line is just a silly, fun one. A lot worse things have happened to people who wake up after passing out from too much booze!

I hope it’s a week. How much longer can this go on, I wonder.

And Greg Evans is lucky to have among his readers some people who will bend over backwards, jump through hoops, and do whatever other mental contortions are required to consider “plausible” absolutely anything he makes up, no matter how contrary to obvious logic.

“what is yet to change, and to learn, is WHY he is to return to Pitts.”

He wants to go to college and become an engineer. He gave that up or put it off out of love for Rosa, but being with her in the boonies and doing peon work is not his thing. If she had stayed in Lima he might have done so to. Lima is a great city. Love is not always enough.

You know, you can’t get that particular view of Machu Picchu unless you are airborne, or on an adjoining mountain.

But it’s true or we wouldn’t permit it, would we?

We support this story by reading it everyday.Face it, some of us are more obsessed with the details than others.

“Rosa’s visa is set to expire very soon.”

We know nothing about that. There are all kinds of visas.

“It’s crazy, I know, but not many people support leaving the girl you supposedly love so you can fly home to stop your long time single mother from maybe dating someone.”

Look, that thing obviously bothers him but that is not why he is leaving Rosa.

A WEEK FROM LIMA!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

I can hear Gunther go: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

and it’s echo in machu pichu!

Power Puff Girls?

“I’ve heard the local police has had trouble from nude frolickers who visit Machu Picchu” ^Don’t they know that frolicking is illegal?

“Inca Stinka Doo”?or“Grin And Beard It” ^Well, though I have repeated titles/captions before, I did “Grin And Beard It” yesterday……

SPOILER ALERT…-Next comes…not a big adventure.-Oh, well. Maybe Gunther’s big transformation happens on the plane while he’s finally flying home…

"…devolves into a meeting of the Neighborhood Backbiters Association, which can sometimes, just in itself, be fun to sit back and watch. ^…Or you can… “live”… in a neighborhood with a “Community Association”. (For hypothetical example:) Where regulations stipulate that there’s only one “non luxury car” allowed to be parked per house (and they think that’s lenient ) or only one “Uncle Wally visit” per year, or all grass must be cut down to 2 inches all at the same time . Talk about rigid expectations and “illogical and implausible”…

And that’s the most exciting thing about that scene…

And talk about “coloring mistakes”!!!! He must’ve learned some art to changing from the ladies. During the beginning of his story, his shirt was the one he has on with the “Senior(ita)s”. Now, he’s in “Lilac Summer colored loungewear”….

Or a shade of heliotrope…

My mistake. Gunther is relating this story at breakfast, not the New Year’s Eve party, and he didn’t get to kiss Tiffany, but she’ll be following him out of the bedroom any minute now. Quill had to bunk in with Mrs. B, and Mr. Grey had to move out to the living room couch. Toni and Brad, thrilled to be away from Shannon, went out to breakfast because Gunther still hasn’t taken a shower.

I think that you nailed every point especially Item 3.

6 hours of sleep and he is still incoherent. Doesn’t he have to pee if he drank that much or did they diaper him too.

“we are so lucky to have amongst us not only someone who knows all those regulations and facts, but also how they are enforced and drilled into each bus driver.”.More to the point, even if 99 out of a hundred buses followed such silly rules, Gunther would not be on one of those buses. He would be on the other if he were on a bus.You don’t hijack tourist buses with moles, you do it with guns and barracades, or at least that’s how I always do it.

“I have explained numerous times that when your employer gets you into a foreign country, houses and feeds you, you are obligated to show up for work. Not to mention that Rosa’s visa is set to expire very soon. They may be adults, but they sure don’t act like adults.”.This is true. Explained and explained and explained that which is false. .The uncle is not an employer to the interns..I inspected Rosa’s visa and it says she can stay as long as she wishes..Gunther’s visa says he can stay until 2058 if he wishes but must request and extention after that if he is still alive..Legally adult at 18 in this country, with a couple of exceptions.Emotionally adult varies, I usually tend to continue to call kids children until the age of 30..Some of us are young at heart much later in life while being extremely mature much before 18

“I have always been a firm advocate of Gunther dating someone that liked him for him instead of trying to change him, and have been complaining about this Rosa matchup for a very long time. It would seem I was ultimately proven right.”.It was bound to happen eventually.You may well be right again..Rosa said she has much to learn. It is quite possible she will learn how much she misses Gunther and comes to accept the fact that he is practically perfect as he already is.,She may rush home to him begging him to please take her back.(she may not)He may accept her as the woman she has become and do so.(he may not).“Ultimately” hasn’t happened yet; there are days ahead.We shall see what the genius, Evans, has in store for us.

“I don’t care if Gunther is pathetic, I even said so in my response, but you chose to ignore that.”.I try not to be judgmental about judgmental people..Just because you consider Gunther pathetic, doesn’t mean I have to do so as well.I can consider him a young man trying to find his way in a strange world.As such, I would not harp over and over and over about how pathetic he is. To do so would be pathetic on my part..Being practically perfect, I don’t dwell on the pathos of the moment, rather the coming realization life can be better and will be for those who allow it.Rosa is learning.Gunther is learning.Luis is studying auto mechanics as we speak, learning.The people of Peru are giving plaid a second inspection.