Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 01, 2018

Even Tiffany was confused what relationship the boys will have (which is first step-cousins).

Sigh! And so it begins. We will have to suffer along with Gunther until… Les gets his comeuppance.

Les is not really not happy i think Gunther is trying to make the best out of a bad situation!

Les is driving the car, but Gunther is driving him crazy.

Having any form of attachment has always been hard on poor Leslie, a weak point, chink in his emotional armor. Poor kid.

“Meet the ‘New’ Les.”

“SAME as the ‘Old’ Les.” – The Who.

Its fairly obvious to Me now that ALL of the Hatred Les harbored toward His mom, Ann, will now be directed at Gunther.

Gunther, being nice to and knuckling under this Jerk isn’t going to gain you his respect.

Ordinarily I’d recommend hiring a couple of guys to “tune-up” Les.

But since this is a family Strip, and since You two aren’t “soulmates” When it comes to doing the laundry, cooking, and cleaning, I’d let the worthless Punk fend for himself.

Oh, and get a small ‘fridge for YOUR room and put a good lock on it.

Now, if Gunther was driving the car and asking the same questions of Les, I can hear Les now, “Slow down to 50 so’s I can jump out…”

I said it all in my reply to my esteemed colleague, commentator, and supplier of my Intelligentsia coffee (virtual alas) MD, in that I see room for growth. We have two kids screwed up largely by their moms, and their lives with largely absent fathers, Les with a sociopath thief, manipulator mom, and Gunther with a overly protective to the point of neurosis mother Irma, and no father. Both of them have trouble with letting people in, getting to close to their EGO, their damaged ID keeps getting in the way. I think things will work out ironically between the two, and G & K have a few surprises up their respective sleeves with these two.

You can choose your friends, but you can’t always choose your family. ✨

“Who gives a ding-dong” is a new one. I know that “ding-dong” is a casual way to imply a body part, so it makes sense that Les is saying something different, except G-rated for a family strip. However, the phrase still makes no sense. “Who gives a doodie” would be an equally silly, G-rated phrase that hints at an actual saying.

@LUANN1212: My bro and I were raised by a woman who was widowed at a very early age, who then met a guy who was willing to take on a ready made family even though he came from a much more religious family than ours. Things were never perfect, but I get tired every time I read a comparison between Gunther and Les, and it is suggested that Irma totally messed Gunther up the same way that Les’s mother messed Les up. A mother who tries to raise a kid or kids alone (despite all the obtacles put in the path of single parents) should not be treated like some kind of monster. Irma and Gunther may have seemed too attached to each other (although she didn’t keep him from going to Peru), but since when is love the same thing as the kind of criminal behavior that Ann Awful displayed? I was 13 when our late Mom sat down with me and little bro and explained that the man she had been dating had asked US to join him as a family, and she actually said she wouldn’t if we didn’t want it. I was grown up enough at 13 to tell her that bro and I would eventually be on our own and if she really wanted to marry her man, she should do it, because otherwise she might be all alone when we were on our own. If a 13 year old can figure that out, I’m not sure why a 19 year old is so totally ‘screwed up’ that he can’t deal. And I don’t think Gunther is anywhere near as messed up as everyone says he is. I think he just hates change, so much that the idea of staying in Peru and not going to college in the US to be an engineer like he wanted was just too much of a change…

No means no, Gunther!

Gunther and Les: They’re the original odd couple!

I am not sure why everyone is ragging on Gunther. He is just a nerd who dislikes change, but with his mom marrying Al, he sees a bit of the potential of being independent after a childhood with a single mother, and it can be a scary feeling, a big transition. He is not just not the typical teenager who bolts out of parents’s house the moment they turn 18 or graduates from high school, bullies parents for their first car (see how he is not driving here? ) and heads to the DMV the moment he turns 15 for their permits….Gunther is the type who chews on his decisions, ponders on the pluses and cons, chooses carefully…he is so atypical that some of you actually hate him, pity him or are annoyed with him. Children raised by single mothers are typically closer to their mothers than two-parent mothers because the single mothers are all they have, the only adult in their lives outside of school, and Gunther is no different, and neither is Irma. Makes total sense that he rushed home after Peru because he was scared for his mother who never dated. Scared of the new changes in his mother. Quite understandable. Typical teenagers totally don’t care what goes on with their parents’s lives as long as they get allowances from them – total takers. That is not Gunther. Yes, he grumbled about his mother’s new changes and his grumbles masked his lost feelings, foreboding feelings, etc. Irma was the mother who put her child on a pedestal and worked her life around him. Perhaps she should have dated and had a life outside the home and away from Gunther a bit more – had she done that, Gunther might be more confident now about his mother’s new life with Al.

Why in the blue blazes would Gunther put up with this? He’s a smart, healthy young man. There is no reason he has to live with somebody who is clearly hostile to him. If he had the initiative to drop everything and go to Peru, he would have the initiative to say, “You know what? This isn’t going to work out. Bye!”

Gunther could go nerd-rogue here: “Clean up your act Les, or I’ll hack your webpage!”

Is this Ma Berger’s car? If so, why is Les driving? So, are these Uncle Al’s wheels?

Les is using the “sissy 10 & 2” hand position on the steering wheel. Doesn’t suit his character.

And no, Gunther. You are not “connected.” You’re probably soon to be rivals; on at least a couple of levels.

Dear Lord… let this story arc END already.

Ding dong? Ding dong? “1. a silly or foolish person”? “a chocolate cake produced and distributed in the United States by Hostess Brands”? “A comment made to a clueless person usually accompanied by a rapping on the head”?

No! “An expletive first introduced in 2018 by Lester Eiffel.” :o)

One clear thing here is Les’ happy face: Looks like he was hoping to have stayed in Vegas. And Gunther is making him wish he had.

If Greg tries to go any deeper into this strange relationship, he’s going to need SCUBA gear. Make Comics Fun Again, make Tiffany shallow again, let Tara pose for art class again, cut loose the hormones again, let Bernice and Fay experiment with makeup again. Things have gotten more appropriate for a psychology class than a cartoon page.

Oh uh… Looks like someone try to deny that something has changed.

In regards to his new “cousin” all Les cares about is being fed, and, his laundry done. Other wise Gunther is just an irritant, that he’ll ignore.

Wait. The mother and Mr. Gray are flying to Vegas and Les and Gunther are driving? Why?

So yesterday’s Vegas trip and wedding was real, not imaginary? We had a 4-year build-up to a one-day strip? Just… wow.

Yes, Gunther, and stop being a Ding Dong while you’re at it… I think Les and Gunther will eventually become friends (hey, it’s a comic strip remember, anything can happen – and will), but it will be interesting to see how they get to that point.

" On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence; that request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right, but he also knew that some day he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his friend, Oscar Madison. Several years earlier, Madison’s wife had thrown HIM out, requesting that HE never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"cue Odd Couple theme song…(yeah, I know they aren’t divorced, but it occurs to me Mr. Evans isn’t passing up an opportunity to pair ‘Felix’ & ‘Oscar’ together lol)

♪♪ "Oooh, “Laundry?” Do you know You Know what that’s worth?"

♪♪ "This Here “Gulag,” ain’t a place on Earth!"

♪♪ “(Les) Your just a PUNK, with Absolutely NO-WORTH!”

♪♪ "This Here “Gulag,” ain’t a place on Earth!"

♪♪ "No, this Here “Gulag” ain’t a place on Eaaaaaaaaarth!" – Belinda Carlisle (Whom I always thought was Cuddly Cute, by the Way)

Remind me – why was it considered a good idea to spent all that money to build a house for Gunther and Les, instead of just paying rent for Les and Gunther each to have a separate apartment for the next few years, or for Les to have an apartment while Gunther lives in the dorms?

I wonder why no one spoke up before the guest house was built. Why didn’t anyone tell Al the truth about how the boys feel? It wouldn’t have stopped the marriage and it could have helped. It doesn’t cost much at all to have a shower (1/2) bath in both rooms. And, as many have pointed out a tiny fridge in the room would make contact between the two less frequent.

@yvonnembf: Yeah, people keep making this comparison. But the reality is very much otherwise. Oscar was a slob, but not a bully or criminal. And Felix was a fuss budget perfectionist who had to have every object in a prescribed place and would grow nauseated at the sight of Oscar’s messes, which doesn’t describe Gunther at all.

@SEISMIC-2: There had been some mention of Al being responsible for oversight of Les during a probationary period, while Les was supposed to reimburse his mother (Ann Awful) for the misuse of her credit card. If that is the case, Al was required by a court order to have more daily contact with Les than he would have if he rented the kid and apartment and dumped him in it.

Yo, Gunth-man: “Zits” just called. Jeremy wants his shirt back. We all thought you lost that rag when you grew the stubble on your face.

Sometimes mix families don’t turn out well.

@TYGE: Les’s last name is Knox, not Eiffel

I’m concerned that Les is going to make a wrong turn and see a sign that says, “Dead End” and realize that it is referring to his story line. Please come back Tara, all is forgiven.

What a miserable “soul” Les is. You would think he might be a happier more directed person now that is no longer beholden (financially) to his mom (thanks to Al). But he’s still looks and acts like the same mean person he’s always been. Even though he has severed himself from Ann, I think he’s got her “blood” in him. He is the way he is because of her.

“Who gives a ding dong” has got to be the silliest phrase uttered by any of these characters in recent history. Was “who cares” considered too harsh by the writers or something?

Oh Look! The car has WINDOWS !!!!

@SDOG: I guess you can tell that because Greg wrote on one of them?

I wish these guys would make up their minds which direction they’re driving … they’re making me dizzy!

Grumpy Les is terse but pragmatic. Babbling Gunny is not helping their roomie-relationship by his logorrhea….

Ding Dong was used because Twinkie is too close to twink.

What about Luann and Bernice get together for what friends do ???