Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for March 10, 2018

So we still do not have a conversation with dad.

That was not a conversation.

That was a declaration.

Daddy, too, has to be in control, and Ann is so good at being bad, her control over Tom let’s Tom think that he is in control.

Last semester in the dorm.

Room with Tara.

Mr. Farrell does not want to admit he has family issues, does he?

Any more bright ideas, Sheraton?

She’s going to need the counseling.

“Dad” remains off-camera.

If this is not a “cliff-hanger” (and there is evidence that it might not be), then this looks like the end of the ride! In Dick Tracy, we call this a Sweatbox ending!

Doubled her counciling means his typical call lasts three sentences.

The six things he asked / told Tiffany will be learned next week back at the dorm.

And we never see the leftover inventory at the Fuse again.

So basically, he bought Ann’s story hook, line, and sinker.

We expected more from dad too Tiff. Anne is winning this one so far.

Ten years ago would we have imagined that we’d ever feel bad for Tiffany?

Poor Tiffany. Now she only gets 1/2 million $ to spend a month, so it may be that those sweatpants she was wearing could be the only things she can afford.

I suspect the real victims here are going to be us readers who will have to endure a series of schemes to expose the true nature of Ann Eiffel to Tiffany’s father so she can get her allowance restored. I will have a really hard time caring about any story where the goal is to restore Tiffany’s allowance.

You know, I’m beginning to think that this whole “lingerie scam story line thing,” was just an excuse to get Les and Tiffany together.

So just what IS Les’ “plan?” Spending as much time as possible with Tiffany over the next few weeks/months dating and making out on her couch, and “Oh Yeah, We ‘need’ to be working on that plan to break up our folks?”

Gunther should be prepared. The next time he comes over to Tiffany’s dorm room to “Study-Buddy” or watch Star Trek, he’s gonna find Les already there…..,

As Jess Lair once wrote, time to stop trying to drink from the poison well. Tiffany doesn’t need to scrape for the love of a man like Tom.

Now we know Greg always lets Ann win. That is why he draws her SO well.

Well the way I see this is that Tiffany is still the sad little rich girl, but maybe she has gained quite a bit of humbleness and humanity, and she will eventually be better off, while Les is realistic about his parent, and in a way is already better off. I still don’t see a romantic relationship here, with him or Gunther, rather more friendship. Real friendship expressed differently because Gunther and Les are two entirely different young men. Could be wrong, but that is my bet.

I am concerned that Tiffany is sinking back into her depression again…

Greg and Karen have written themselves into a no return situation.

Tiffany will never get her full allowance back, because if Ann goes away, right now, NOBODY in their right mind would want daddy to remain the sleaze that he is now presented to be.

His phone call to his daughter. 6 full sentences to 17 words in reply.

Ann is at Tom Farrell’s home. Yet Tiffany, in a dorm, perhaps less than twenty miles away, sees dad, normally, only during the summer, spring and Christmas breaks. And ZERO for last summer.

By placing dad in Pittsville, there can not be an easy way for daddy to be redeemed. No last minute confessions. No Deus Ex Machina.

He is slime and he did not have a conversation with his daughter.

Don’t let Ann win in the end.

But if we want to see daddy as a real flesh and blood character with a personality that does not come from some pulp fiction or black moustache play, then LET Ann tack him for every cent he has.

Tiffany can support daddy by working the cosmetics counter at any large department store.

….until the internet kills them all.

I thought for sure Simone would be still connected on the cell, hear the conversation and get the authorities investigating Ann on the double. For threatening Tiffany, or the selling bogus products aspect. Surely she might contact “Tom” to find out what was going on. Hope it has a surprise ending somewhere.

Another week ends…All targets metAll systems workingAll characters satisfiedAll commenters eager and enthusiastic……All pigs fed and ready to fly

Miserable being must find more miserable being. Then is happy.

Ok, time for Les to use all the nastiness his mother taught him to bring his mother down! Tiffany’s father is a jerk, we already knew that, and he just proved it even more. So Les, teach HIM a lesson by bringing down your mom!

Let us take a minute and try and think what a 19/20 girl would do in this situation. I think Tiff is likely to take the book of names and return to the dorms to report to friends what happened and get advice aka complain about what happened and then have everyone jump in with their 2 cents worth.

The smart thing to do in this situation would be to call the police. If she takes the remaining inventory, that is theft and possibly an a ligation that Tiff is attempt to frame a hard working small business owner. If she leaves it, the knock-offs will quietly disappear. Trying to use Les as a witness against his mother is problematic due to the legal history between mother and son.

Everyone keeps bringing up TJ in all this and while eventually he may very well play again Ann’s nemesis the person who needs to hear about this is Al Green. I would call him right after I called the cops. I believe he is well aware of his sister’s less than sterling qualities. He might not even be surprised to hear about her scam. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

It seems WE the readers have way better story plots than Greg or Karen. Both fell flat all week. What a letdown. And IF this arc is Greg’s way of getting Les and Tiffany together, I think WE the readers would have done it better. For me, I would have Tiffany finally show up at the Berger dinner after a long hiatus only to have Les fail to recognize her and flirt with her thinking she was a new girl. I would have Tiffany give him h*ll and Gunther intervene and pacify Tiffany, and she give him h*ll too. Les goes to Tiffany’s dorm room to apologize at Pru’s direction after telling her what happened. They sit down on Tiffany’s couch and talk. They discover they have neglectful parents and they become good friends sharing understanding as neglected children. Better than the lame lingerie party to get them together only to have Ann win…again.

Honestly, I would have stopped caring about such a dad long ago, but that is probably just me.

Now, it’s Les’s turn.

Next phone call, Paris.

Les my man it’s up to you now! You know all your mom tricks and her dirty secrets.

Is this when we jump to another arc? Of course this cast will return…

I’m done with this strip for a while. It’s been the first one I’ve turned to for months, but I’m just sick of this arc. I’ll check back in a few months and see what happened. For now, it’s just frustrating and depressing.

if one used some now-famous lines from history, most likely there was this conversation going on, in Tom Farrell’s mind:

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And, apparently, according to him, the revolution will not only “not be televised”, but it will not be telephoned, either….

“Papa Don’t Preach..” (♬)

“Thomas Tanks The Engines Of Progress”

“Tom’s Major Grounding Control” (♩)

“Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ You?” (♬)

“Jumpin’ Jacked Cash” (♬)

“Cooked Goose, With A Rueful Reduction”

“The Chainsaw Redemption”

“Chop To It!”

“Tom’s Whiner” (♬)

“I Don’t Care What You Do…Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You” (♩)

“Family Shatters”

“The Facts Of Strife”

“Gimme A Break!”

“They’ve Got Nuthin’ But Their Genes…” (♪♩)

“Indiff’rent Strokes”

or

“Leave It To Behavior”

The immediate storylines about scams and ‘possible romantic relationships’ were never the main thrust here!

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The main thing/bigger picture (at least for purposes of this arc, and the “monthly dinner” one), as shown through all the interaction among one another,is really to “get into the minds of these characters”. See what motivates their behavior. Gunther and Irma Berger. Al Gray. Les. Ann. But especially Tiffany.

Back to the cookies and doughnuts,Tiff.

As I thought, Ann is a Soap Opera Villain, she can’t really lose. I hate Soap Operas for that. But I agree with some that Tiff has grown up some and maybe so has Les.

Maybe Dad isn’t quite as dumb as we thought. If there was ever anyone who needed more counseling and less money, it’s Tiffany.

Good for him for doubling the counseling

Yep, Dad is gonner as predicted and is hopelessly hooked to that evil viper. Her best bet is to let the destruction happen and head for the hills after she gets out of school. He’ll probably marry her at some point and they’ll make the perfect twisted pair. But at least her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. She got all of her friends money back and ran that viper out of there. She can be proud of that and accept her fate and move on with her life instead of destroying it with food and depression.

“About 10 or 11

In walked Tiffany Farrell

Ann jumped up

got her pistols

and she shot her with both barrels!

Whack-for the Daddy-o"

Dad has chosen girlfriend over his own blood. Letting the little head do the thinking for the big head.

Time for Les to go visit Tom. That should be interesting.

Sounds like daddy has imposed economic sanctions on poor Tiff without benefit of a summit meeting. Okay, Tiffany, time to let Les go down and dirty for you, or risk losing even more. A discreet retreat?

Old saying you can not pick there friend so Tiffany You tried if Dad get shafted I this fault

In a way, Tiffany doubled HER OWN counseling!! She did so by opening up and confiding in friends around her! It’s Tommy-Boy who needs some talkin’ to!! He thinks that solving Tiff’s problems is just a money-matter (either giving it OR taking it away)! (And all the while, he’s STILL chasin’ a skirt!!)

Tiffany is maturing, slow, but sure. Les still has not played a card, and there is STILL the ‘Simone Factor’ to consider! Cheers!!

Judging by fan comments for several weeks now, whoever came up with the idea for this plot line is missing the mark. It has certainly provided us no clue as to where they are going with these four (five?) characters. No one has any idea what purpose of it is. Either that or we all do and only one will be right. Is the purpose:• To show some character development for Les? Tiff? Gunther? Ann? Tom?

• To introduce Tiff & Les as a romantic interest?

• To move Gunther, Tiff & Les into romantic conflict?

• To break up Gunther’s mom and Les’ uncle?

• To waste time while they figure out how to get the title character back into the strip with a significant plot?

• To get Tiff off the pity pot and stop binge eating?

• To cause mass confusion and conflict among commenters?

• …

I’d like to hear what others think the MAIN purpose of this plot line could possibly be. (“All of the above” is a cop out. Don’t bother.)

It all too true. Dad really does not care. Ann is providing him with companionship. Why should he care if she sells a few fake items? If she earns money, he doesn’t have to give her as much.

I wonder if we’ll see Shannon tomorrow …. been a while.

Sweetie, take it to the Feds: “The maximum penalty for first-time offenders trafficking in counterfeit goods is 10 years in prison and a $2 million fine.” I suspect that would pull her fangs.

Wondering why they don’t just call the police…

Every fortification has weaknesses. Every barrier has approaches. Ann can be breached by more than one direction/method. Go at her from as many as might work and maybe feint at the ones that would not, just to keep her guessing.

Even the counselor could be a path. The law is a path. Uncle Al is a possibility. Those previously defrauded may know approaches. Prudence could be brought in and enlightened.

Setbacks aren’t defeats. My beloved Tiffany has paid a high price for her friends — and herself — but it is not over.

Again, if she’d just called the authorities and turned the evidence over to them, this might have ended differently. Of course Ann could just claim she had no idea it was fake, but her supplier would probably say otherwise.

Although claiming she couldn’t play dirty like Ann is pretty questionable, considering she used to do that kind of stuff all the time in high school. Nobody knows how to play dirty like a popular rich high school girl.

OK, I have a feeling that this will be the end of the arc, for now. They will go to something else, next week. But it will return. Hopefully, by then, TIff will have done what I have said she should do… pursue the issue with SImone, and then have Simone get with her USA legal team to contact the guests and gather more evidence. Then, they can go to the Police, not TIff or Les (which might get a little messy). It’s clear that Tiff, on her own or even with Les, will not convince her father of Ann’s nefarious activities. In order to bring Ann down, it will have to be Souffle’s USA team that does it.

Sorry TIff, You gave it your best shot. Now, you need some help from Souffle. Take advantage of it. You’ll get your father back and Ann out of the picture, eventually. Stay strong, Keep calm and keep at it.

Disappointing turn of events. Most of the Luannverse seem to be losers on some level. The only ones that seem to be “winning” are Brad and Toni, and Knute and Krystal who don’t give a f*@k about much. And maybe Luann’s parents…until the Fuse gets shut down for illegal activities.

Where is Mr Grey in all this mess? Doesn’t he know what his sister is up to. There is something funny about him too.

Time for Tiff to tell daddy to pound sand and move out on her own.

“Doubled your counseling and halved her allowance?”

That does it! Tom Farrell has failed to noticed Tiffany for the last time. She gained weight in protest of his dating Ann Eiffel and everyone saw it but her own father. This is not placing his daughter on a pedestal, this is something that’ll take more than just an intervention to get it through that thick skull of his.

(BTW, in case anyone’s wondering why I brought up the ‘on the pedestal’, see the Frasier season 8 episode, Daphne Returns, for more details.)

As depressing as this may seem, ultimately it will be a great blessing for Tiffany to realize what a slime her father is. It will cause her to stop depending on his approval for her well being, which will free her to become her own, much happier, and better, person.

Has Tiffany’s dad ever appeared in this strip?

Instead of wicked it turned out ick.

Thats how relationships harm the ones you love the most. A bad father listens to the girlfriend first. Cause he’s getting the physical relationship and thinking with his you know what. Heaven forbid that his booty call is in any way of bad character, evil, selfish,liar or a cheat.

This has become very lame

Tiff vs. daddy vs. missing mom? This whole mess needs a back story to shine some light on it. Maybe Tiff should consider getting herself a “sugar daddy”. She could be his arm candy, and he’d pay the bills.

Might be time for Tiffany to pull a Thoroughbreds…

Despite this ending (the story isn’t over yet), Tiffany showed tremendous strength. I hope she continues to grow as a character.

The old man is blind. Personally, I think Tiff should go the “Broke College Student” route and just cut off ties with her dad as a show of strength and fend for herself. Not like she’d be alone. She has actual friends, unlike in high school, who’d back her up. Eventually the old man (I refuse to use his name) will have to realize something is off with Ann and Tiffany may actually be on to something. Until then, Ann may have lost the battle but she won the war…she’ll divorce him for every dime he’s got. Ann is only out for Ann, after all.

I don’t like it. Yeah, real life is tough, we get it, but why should I read this in the comics? They’re not meant to make me unhappy over days and days and days…

She’s seeing a counselor? Maybe she will take an interest in the fact that Tiff has a recorded confession from Anne about committing Federal felonies.

Really, as conniving as Les is, they should have figured out they needed to have photos of barcodes on Anns “fake goods” and already have sent some of fake goods to Tiffs friend the owner of “real goods” so they could have taken Ann down with that phone call and had the evidence to arrest her for fraud and had a cop there……..this strip with Ann and her "ann"tics is getting really old – thrown the bit*h in jail so Tiff can have her Daddy back and get on with more interesting characters in the strip

When will this strip learn to have the teens/emerging adults to ask experienced adults for perspective?

When will this strip learn to have the teens/emerging adults to ask experienced adults for perspective?

I agree with Tiffany’s dad, who rightly thinks she should mind her own business. Having so much spending money hasn’t made her happy. The counseling/therapy is needed if Tiffany is ever to let go of her Dad’s choices – however bad – in a girlfriend. She has accomplished the healthier objective of getting the money back.

So what’s for the Sunday strip? Brad? Toni? Shannon? All three? Frank trying to exchange something at the store?

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Personally, I feel confident in guessing that the strip will be…..an hour earlier….

Oh silly me, I forgot one of the primary rules in this strip: Tiffany is the only character whose actions ever result in tangible consequences, so naturally she would be the only one negatively affected even when she’s in the right. Other characters either get away with it or end up back where they started, but Tiffany alone ever ends up with a net loss.

Think back: in high school, when Tiffany took and distributed photos of Luann she got suspended. But Les roughed up younger students for money in full view of faculty members and nothing happened. When Tiffany joined in on TJ’s “meals for firefighters” scam, once caught TJ just refunded the money, shrugged his shoulders, and called it a wash, no worse than he was before. Tiffany, on the other hand, got stripped of her Miss Chamber of Commerce title. Even Ann just disappears long enough to think up new scams and returns no worse for wear. Even as a sympathetic character, Tiff remains the strip’s resident punching bag.

At this point, the problem is not Ann Eiffel. It is Tiffany’s horrible father! He hasn’t been a real father to Tiffany during the entire Luann series!

At this point, the problem is not Ann Eiffel. It is Tiffany’s horrible father! He hasn’t been a real father to Tiffany during the entire Luann series!

Finish one story arc. That’s all I ask. Just one.

I think this whole arc is about the new Tiffany: (1) Gaining confidence and severing ties with her Dad; (2) moving on in life, (3) finding value in friends as opposed to her former fashion queen self (3) seeking justice and as opposed to scheming against others in order to get ahead. I’m hoping she will find some new purpose in her education at Mooney. I believe Les is a friend not a future lover as people here think. They have a common mission. Tiff needs to go back to the dorm re-group and figure her next steps in consultation with Bern and Dez.

Aww I’m sorry Tiff but dont worry, you will have a another chance. Plus you got her to shutdown her business and even got your friend’s money back, and even got a new friend out of it. So in my eyes you’ve won

Aww I’m sorry Tiff but dont worry, you will have a another chance. Plus you got her to shutdown her business and even got your friend’s money back, and even got a new friend out of it. So in my eyes you’ve won

Aww I’m sorry Tiff but dont worry, you will have a another chance. Plus you got her to shutdown her business and even got your friend’s money back, and even got a new friend out of it. So in my eyes you’ve won

Aww I’m sorry Tiff but dont worry, you will have a another chance. Plus you got her to shutdown her business and even got your friend’s money back, and even got a new friend out of it. So in my eyes you’ve won

Aww I’m sorry Tiff but dont worry, you will have a another chance. Plus you got her to shutdown her business and even got your friend’s money back, and even got a new friend out of it. So in my eyes you’ve won

Aha. And therein lies the answer: Tell dad you don’t want his stupid allowance, no “counseling”, and then they can talk. He yields too much control using the money, she’s open to manipulation. Cut the cord!

This is intolerable. Once upon a time, Good could reliably be counted upon to triumph in works presented for public entertainment and edification. But now we have instead gritty (or start it by substituting “sh…”) reality and Evil Ascendant. That would be Ann Eiffel, with Tom Farrell wrapped around her little finger. Maybe Leslie can come up with a way to dim her aura and satisfy our yearning for justice….

Tiff should’ve just called the Cops.

I don’t care what anyone says – this ain’t over.

Isn’t the name of this strip “Luann”? So why are we spending weeks following these people?

Maybe Tiff’s dad DID believe her — he might have called her (while Ann was there at the house) so Ann would believe she’s escaped scott free. But what I want to know is WHY THE HECK DIDN’T SOMEONE RECORD THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN TIFF AND ANN.

That sucks…

That sucks…

Hey Tom, hear your daughter’s Side of the story before you make decisions there.