Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 04, 2016

Jack and Nil sure crashed the party.

Quill needs to walk in and save the damsels in distress

re: Yesterday.

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Welcome back, Kymberleigh.

Blimey! These two “Guys” aren’t “Stalkers.”They’re Blooming Parasites!

Gunther’s gonna look mighty Good to these Gals when THIS “Mess” is Over with….,

The interview with Michael Jantze (THE NORM, THE NORM 4.0) posted at:

webcomicsinterviews.com

New poll question – Poll: How would Luann look in a turtleneck?

Post your answer in the blog comments.

I’ve lived dates like that.

Bernice and Emo are already becoming one.

I predict theses people will become besties.

Very interesting. How will this develop?

Jack and Emmanuel ( Emo or Nil ) are kind of with 2 strikes, close to striking out

Jack thinks wromgly he is smooth and confidant, Emmanuel is just finding hard seeing how clueless Jack is

(@ Schrodinger, Susan123, LuannFan:) I left responses for you at the bottom of yesterday’s…..

Oh, wow!! it seems the two Queens are on the board, but feeling a bit cornered… of course, I don’t think the two pawns will know what hit them- once Luann pulls out the mace and Bern clicks on her Taser, that is…

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If this were “Classic and true Archie”, Jughead would have been really nice to Jack..about as nice as “Wimpy” would’ve been, after discovering a new “Tab Buddy”….

Nil and Reggie would’ve been grappling on the floor, over some smart aleck remarks…

Leaving Archie just where he wanted to be…. a soda, and three straws….

That is, until Betty, Veronica, Cheryl and Valerie show up….

Luann created a vacuum by breaking up with Quill. She has said that she’s no longer drawn to relationships with guys, but has not really addressed what she want’s in place of that. Having these two dorks pestering her is a symptom of that vacuum, and of what she hasn’t yet addressed.

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She could fill the vacuum by back-tracking, and getting interested in a new boyfriend. But that seems unlikely, since she was dating the best. And I don’t think her life purpose is to be a nun, because she’s shown that she has hormones. It kind of seems like there is only one more direction for all this to go, radical as it may seem.

Finding someone you know when you walk into a public place is not stalking. I see rude behavior on the guys part, just kind of joining Luann and Bernice without being invited. This is the first incident with ‘meeting’. If it becomes an on-going thing, then it could be construed as stalking.

“Personal Space Invaders”

“Invasion Of The Hibachi Snatchers”

“Dutch Cassidy And The ‘Song and Dance’ Kid”

“Separate Checks, Mate!”

“What We Have, Here, Is… Failure”

“Two For The Price Of None”

“Soda’t’s Why You Took My Drink?”

“Calgon, Take Them Away!”

“Dispense With The Formalities”

“We’re All Friends, Here?”

“Going Dutch Oven”

“It’s A Small World, After All!” (♫)

“Every Time You Go Away…’ (♪)

“Take… These Chicken Wings….” (♪)

“Lady And The Trampled”

or

“Two And A Half Menus”

Pandemonium at the dinner table.

I don’t see any indication that there was stalking going on. Kafe Kablooie is a hangout for college-age people. Is it astonishing that two college-age guys would wander in and see someone they know sitting with a friend?

Jack offered to pay first, I don’t see him as a parasite at all.

Nil was polite to Bernice, asking if she minded if he sat with her/them. True, he grabbed her drink, but I’m willing to call that a stress reaction to the strangeness going on next to him.

It may become time for the pepper spray, but I don’t think we’ve been shown anything yet to justify that.

Jock and Nil went up the hill to fetch a couple of girls , Jock got shot down and saved a Crown, And Nil got no thrill at all.

Nil was polite yesterday, but today he’s just a jerk.

Luann and Bernice need to tell them they don’t want their company, and then get forceful if they won’t leave.

Going to be pretty uncomfortable in Luann’s art class now though, she has to attend the class with these two and it’s going to be tricky now that she knows what they’re really like.

Luann is giving Jack The Brushoff but Bernice (I predict) is about to go down the path of another blind alley; relationshipwise. Maybe she’ll smarten up before graduation.

Our younger sister was abused by a guy who seemed like a decent sort to us. He showed one face to us, a different one to her. I’ve never gotten past that kind of thing since then, and have angry reactions whenever I see someone playing for laughs what can be a dangerous situation.<<<Greg has always tried to bring up important issues, spicing them with a little humour, just makes it more palatable, for the average reader!

For the person who wonders why the MLB Championship is called the “World Series”…. Back in the day, Joseph Pulitzer was the publisher of the one-time most popular paper in NY, the (now defunct) New York WORLD… Pulitzer sponsored the first series and donated the original trophy, thus, the WORLD Series!

As Nil might say… “Pretty rude, dude!”

Hmmm, if Jack gets too rowdy, we might see the fight of the Jocks, as Ox is the unofficial bouncer at the KK and would want to keep his friends safe.

Who would win a fight between Jack and Ox? Personally, while Ox has a weight and height advantage, Jack looks much nimbler and has at least a modicum of intelligence, I’d put my money on him.

How about a fight between Luann and Bernice?I don’t care who wins,I just wanna see it.

If Luann & Bernice want to be powerhouse women, they should hang out with these two and see what happens. Have an adventure.

This is a comic strip. Exaggerated behavior is to be expected. I see Luann warming up to Jack. Jack and Nil, total opposites, hanging out with each other, may dispel the ‘dumb jock’ view of him.

Looks like Luann has a stalker. Since she lives in a fly-over state, we’re on our way to a lesson on open-carry laws….

Let’s not minimize this: Jack is actually personifying rape culture and acting like he’s entitled to Luann’s attention. Evans: If you plan to treat this like a boy just being a boy you’re going to regret it because what just happened in the last few frames is not even remotely cool….

Nil taking Bernice’s drink, even more awkward.

Remember Hawkeye in MASH? Outrageously coming on to someone in the context of comedy seems to get excused, right or wrong.

Gotta’ let this one spin for a bit to see where Team Evans takes it. Could just be an audition for Jack and Nil and they may or may not make the cut. Sun and Viper and Hair really haven’t caught on, which has been the fate of most of the new characters. Some of us still miss Knute, and Crystal, and Rosa.

lol

As Bugs Bunny would say, “UNLAX PEOPLE !!!!” It’s NOT stalking !! There is no ’perpetuating rape culture" sheesh !!!! Have some fun for crying out loud !

I have doubts Evans will deal with stalking and domestic abuse in this strip. I mentioned months ago that Jock (now Jack) immediately brought up what seemingly involves so many athletes today – the specter of abuse and rape – because of what has happened at Baylor. Even the big star reliever for the Cubs was suspended this season for an abuse incident. Zeke Elliott of the Cowboys is still being investigated by the NFL for an incident at Ohio State. Not off the wall to think of Jack as a stalker, but I’d be surprised. I see Quill’’s name has popped up again. TTFN – (ta ta for now) is better than too da loo.

So, contriving to show up where a girl, a girl you’ve known for a while, is sitting at a table is stalking? Well, I suppose that’s why so many lf you hang around in Luann. You fell the connection with another whose head is full of neurotic snakes and has been that way since early childhood. Jack’s merely a natural man who says what he means and means what he says, and that can’t work for Luann, because in her messed up psyche, everything always means something other than what it appears. Pathetic child. Doomed.

Wellllll it looks like Luann is channeling Tiffany. She’s way too good for the “dumb Jock”. I hope he tells her off for not having a sense of humor. The move Nil did is a classic one. Deny you are a part of the situation YET inject yourself into the event.

With Luann wanting to change her seat now at K2, is she going to go ahead and try a different seat in class?

What an obnoxious jerk!!! I think the little dork with the hat is just dumb…..

I don’t like Jack already. Another Dirk? Trying to control Luann, being intentionally obtuse, forcing his way into her life?

We all insert our own experiences and emotions into Luann , which is one thing I actually like about this chatting venue. I don’t have quite enough information to settle which of the following is correct:

1) Far from following Luann, Jack and Nil innocently walked into K^2, and Jack clumsily walks over to her table and begins licking everyone’s face like a clumsy friendly great dane.

2) Jack is crudely stalking and pressuring Luann. He has poor interpersonal boundaries, and Nil is just as bad in that respect. This is consistent with the date rape culture on campuses.

3) Everyone is happening at face value with no big message from the Evanses, and Luann & Bernice are only slightly annoyed. After all, Luann is willing to stay and eat. A reasonable story and and a plausible interpretation will emerge later.

I actually like this development.

I meant I like the story arc. I don’t know which of these three situations is most accurate, but #2 seems a bit harsh, but possible.

I just wanted to say to everyone who has had stalking affect their lives…. I am truly very sorry. That is a horrible thing to experience.

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People who have experienced stalking appear to have a very different read on today’s comic than those that have not experienced stalking. I think both perspectives….. have merit.

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I do not think that getting into arguments over whether or not this is stalking will be fruitful. Instead, I think the best thing to do is to accept that there are two very different perspectives at the moment…. and for each side to try to simply see how both perspectives on how to view today’s comic have some validity.

There is a #4: The Evanses are deliberately creating an ambiguous (awkward) situation, which happens in life. Thinking of Kurosawa’s Roshomon in a microcosm.

We all have intersections in life where we can go one way or another. Those are especially prevalent in the teen and young adult years. As a result we wind up later looking back on those years with a mix of fondness and appalled amazement. None of us remain the people we were then if we continue growing in healthy ways, but we have to go through those times to learn and grow. In fact, we all have things we have to learn the hard way. Sometimes that is the best way to learn because it really sticks with a person. That person so long ago, though, is best thought of in the third person because as we grow and as times change we no longer are that same person. I am hoping that one of the young women gains enough of an internal powerhouse soon to teach Jack a hard lesson about boundaries that will be a help to all, especially to him in life if it sticks and he becomes less clueless, and especially for either Luann or Bern through tapping that internal strength and knowing it really exists.

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If Luann can not get Jack to realize where her own boundaries are she will need to move her seat in class and perhaps meet some other students as a first step.

Too bad Bernice didn’t see Nil’s “art project”.

Jock does not seem like the type to stalk, he is friendly and outgoing. He may not pick up on social cues when someone is not interested in spending time with him, but he is not a stalker at this time. If he had followed Luann there, I’m sure Emo would say something. He seems to be quite vocal about his opinions. And we’ve called these guys Jock and Emo for months, so everyone knows them by those names.

IamJayBlue: from yesterday.On a relevant note, don’t know if you know of the group “Crack The Sky”, but they have a song called “Lighten Up McGraw”

Yes I am familiar ;-)

They’re at that awkward age for males: 0-60. :- )

No matter how stupid this arc may turn out to be, we are at least over (for a while) the terminally-bad series about the wedding..At least these two guys have names now. The story badly needs some new characters, though these don’t seem much like keepers to me. .Old characters would be fine too ~~ like Bernie’s brother or her ex-druggy boyfriend, or the one in the wheelchair..I miss Knute, but he is still technically around.

This strip used to be fun. Now with all the losers, it’s not.

Why would Jock and Emo be coming in together anyway? They are in the same art class (which, as a side note, are they the ONLY 3 people in that art class? Seems unlikely.) but that does not necessitate that they would be hanging out together after class. Just seems a bit of a stretch.

Geez, I wish I could allay everybody’s fears. Carry on.

Folks, don’t forget that Jack is most likely following the lead of other fictional characters, namely the "romantically unattainable vs. the “romantically challenged”, in effect, the “Steve Urkel vs. Laura Winslow romantic path”, or the “Screech /Lisa (dis)connection”, or even the “Big Ethel chases Jughead escapades”, or the “Lwaxana Troi ‘vs.’ Captain Picard”. Or even the…. “Luann/Aaron Hill Love Wrecked Angle”. The one where she ‘followed him around everywhere…wrote his name ’obsessively’ on her books…

Maybe, too, Jack is being perceived as being “potentially aggressive”, because he’s… big/athletic looking . If this were Dilton Winslow, Gunther Berger, Screech, or some other character considered ‘physically nonthreatening’, instead of Jack sitting at the table, with this conversation, it would likely seem to be perceived differently.

(cue ‘tongue in cheek music’:) If that’s the case, then, shame on us, for “stereotyping” the physically imposing…

Howdy all! I’ve followed the Luann strip off and on for a number of years. From the current story arc, I’ve noticed something others may or may not have. To me, the stories involving Luann, Emo, and the Jock have a certain “Three Stooges” feel to them, don’t you think? Bear with me and I’ll try to explain:-When the three are together, Luann comes across as “Larry” – involved in the situation at hand, but usually distracted or confused, especially by the antics of the other two.-Emo would definitely be the “Moe” of the group – he has more sense than the others (usually, with the exception of his latest art project). Also, he’s the one making snide comments, typically toward the Jock.-That leaves the Jock serving as “Curly” in the group. He’s a (somewhat) nice guy and means well enough, but he’s certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed. Today’s dialogue proves that, right?-I don’t know if Team Evans does this intentionally, but that’s my theory, at least. I get a sense of a Three Stooges routine, especially when they’re all sitting together in art class and start bantering. However, from the current events going on at The Fuse / Kafe Kablooie, we may be heading into pure slapstick here! We’ll have to see.-Happy Weekend, everyone!

I tried to make separate paragraphs in my first post, but didn’t quite get there. Sorry. :)

Grow on them like a flesh eating fungus.

Neither of them want these two around. Those hooded eyes. Too bad Nil started drinking Bernice’s drink. Very uncouth.

One of the craziest ironies exists in the fact that people have misinterpreted the lyrics to “Broken Wings” by Mister Mister" as being stalkerish (the Mondegreen [misheard lyric] of "cos you’re half of the flesh, and blood makes me whole, erroneously derived from the correct lyric of: “cos you’re half of the flesh and blood that makes me whole”….which, in itself is still misinterpreted as is)…

….and yet, people have had their “first dance” at weddings to “Every Breath You Take” by the Police….

I like the Jock. I think he’s fun! Luann could do worse.

This is not a date. This is nuts.

yesterday Nil (the quiet, sensitive introverted type) asked permission to sit but he doesn’t ask to take a swallow of Bernice’s drink.. a careless kneejerk mistake or a calculated attempt to be cozy with Bernice? The sensitive introvert does occasionally make calculated bold moves, like showing up naked (almost) to art class.

I still remember Jock almost immediately picking up another girl after Luann turn him down. As an athlete he is used to picking up women and appreciates the challenge of Luann. He is also not lacking confidence either

A good time for Ox to drop by…

Jack (Jocko) and Nil (Emo) are an Odd Couple; but that sort of thing (unexpected pairs of pals) does happen in college not infrequently.

I suspect Nil and Bernie could hit it off, if she’d only give it a chance (which she may not). Luann is not entirely turned off by Jack’s attention, but I see nothing there in the long (or even medium) run….

If you want creepy, Luann could be sitting in the K2 lounge there and a flat panel monitor slowly lowers from the rafters to face her. The monitor makes a few weird buzzing sounds, the screen lights, and someone familiar to a number of us tries to hit on Luann.

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It is Max H – h – h – headroom…

Sigh…I told you he stalked her.

Hey, OT, but i think it is kind of cool. In the last five years i have spent less time online than i used to need to for getting out ferret veterinary info, and i have been enjoying that but i just realized tonight that since i currently delete about 200 emails each week that means i delete over 10,000 emails a year. That is not counting junk mails and it is my decreased mail load. Until tonight i did not realize that, and it was many more five years ago. Yipes!

Premature to call this stalking and the girls haven’t asked the guys to leave, yet. Things may be uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t hit the panic button and call this meeting criminal behavior.

I don’t see either Jack or Nil as “clueless”. Until Luann gives him a clear firm “no, I’m not interested, please stop asking me”, his persistence is not out of line. So far she’s only had flimsy excuses for not going out with him. I see Jack as friendly, enjoys the company of women, and is not at this time interested in a deep commitment type relationship. So what? Rightly so. At their age, they should not be tying themselves down emotionally ( as Luann has had a tendency to do).

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Bravo Jack!

(@Kris Bennett:) We haven’t even gotten to Saturday, yet… And according to what Karen put on FB by way of a commentary/caption for today’s strip, this seems like ‘the comedy of four people reacting in four comically different ways, after reading from the same page’…

One direction I hope that the storyline doesn’t go in:

Luann and Bernice, unhappy with Jack and Nil’s behavior, decide that meeting new men is a bad idea, and they should only date men they have known for a long time….

… which effectively means that both of them will wind up pursuing Gunther.

Quick late note: i am probably overly tired but right now Nil is for some reason making me think of Harry Nilsson and the movie “The Point”.

Some of the comments here are scary. This is a case of two college-age guys flirting with two college-age girls. There is no stalking here. While Luann may not have shown much interest in Jack, she was quite appreciative when he helped her out in art class.

As far as the “respecting boundaries” comments go, if we all “respected boundaries”, we’d never make friends. Friendships start when we lower our defenses, and reach out to others. None of us have exactly the same “boundaries”, and some people play “hard-to-get”. Part of flirting is a matter of testing boundaries. Nobody here has violated anyone else, or been violated.

Jack is friendly and outgoing. One of the keys to being a good salesperson (and being a good flirt) is not taking rejection too personally or too seriously. “Me thinks thou dost protest too much.” Jack is not the clueless one here.

Who knows where Greg will go with this, but for imaginary characters, they are all behaving pretty normally. This arc is a fair reflection of life, even if some readers may be too sophisticated or paranoid to enjoy it.