Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 18, 2014

Yes, Brad, you DO win! ;)

Tony is always so wise

I thought that was Toni speaking? ;)

I see Brad’s been paying attention at “Husband College”…

“Everything And Nothing At The Same Time”“He Works Hard For The Money?”“Looking For Change But Still Coming Up Shortcut”“The Tortoise And The Slick Hair”“The Real Winners”“Playing On Easy Mode”“Trade Offs”“If It’s Not Easy Getting Green, It’s Even Harder Being Green”“2 Long Blocks From Easy Street”or“Some Guys Have All The Bread, Some Just Drive The Bread Truck” (♫)

That’s some pent up resentment you have there Brad lol

“…or the person he hired to do that for him.” You know, I never thought of that angle! ;)

Nice save there Bradley. someone has been listening to Frank after all/

“TJ has Toni and Shannon too.” I must be missing something here… =-O

“The Big Money” by Rush(♫)…Big money pull a million stringsBig money hold the prizeBig money weave a mighty webBig money draw the flies

Sometimes pushing people aroundSometimes pulling out the rugSometimes pushing all the buttonsSometimes pulling out the plug…(♫)

“No Brad. You don’t win. T.J. has Toni and Shannon too.” ^And at first, he didn’t have Shannon. That is, until Disneyland opened it’s doors the following weekend….

Toni IS that smart

He has Shannon? Personally, I’d take the $65K and leave Shannon to Jonah. You’d lose fewer fingers that way.

What time does a new comic actually drop?

…Yes, Brad clearly paid attention at ‘wise things to say around your fiancee’ class

I must say- Shannon really has a respect for the DeGroots. They treat her in the kind of way that she reaaaaaly loves, and show real love and respect- and she has “opened up” and “warmed up” to them, because of it…

Is today Luann’s 18th birthday? If not, when is it?

I think Shannon is going to bloom in her relationship with her Aunt Toni and soon-to-be-Uncle Brad! ;)

Don’t measure your happiness on what others have or do — it’s not in your control or your reality And it may never be. Have gratitude for what you do have, as there are others with much less.

I just ordered the 25 years of Luann book! I hope it is good! Hmmmm…IS Katie just went upstairs by herself…that is one Big Hint LOL! ‘Nite all! ;)-——————————————————————-“Went to hear Mrs. Turner’s daughter…play on theharpsichon (sp.); but, Lord! it was enough to make any mansick to hear her; yet was I forced to commend herhighly." (1 May 1663, Samuel Pepys, 1633-1703)

Shannon seems to like being dumped on Toni. Maybe Toni’s indifference to Shannon allows her to get away with more things than Jonah does. Also, Brad makes a good target for her bratty behavior..

“Brought to you” by…– Pent A Gone… “You don’t have to move on- with ‘Pent A Gone!’…”– and by…Lemonny Snickerdoodle’s “A Bunch Of Happy Coincidences”… “Coming straight to VCRs… maybe this Friday…ish..”

Does B. have her ONE HUNDRED percent?

activist1234 said, about 14 hours ago

@Mikeyj

“not to mention, all the time that drawing and writing my own web comic, "*Hey, Mikey J, with a teaser like that, you better show us the goods!VVVIt’s a webcomic I do for my website:

Click thumbnail for a clear view

BTW, welcome back. Hope things are evening out for you. While you were away, I lost my father on March 11. He was 91.^^Sorry to hear that, but, at least he had a good long life. :)

Well said, Toni! And Shannon! And Brad! —Sometimes the conversation just goes right at every turn!

“All TJ has to do is smile that fake stupid smile of his and everything goes his way.”

Brad is definitely the winner. Money isn’t everything, love of family and friends is. Definitely!

I call foul. TJ is creepy, but he’s not afraid of work — did you forget that he personally built or renovated most of your HOUSE? And you think it’s easy to re-build a truck, and start a business?

TJ just got his own money back from the loss of the truck……hardly getting everything. And I’d take Toni over 60K anyday :) Shannon…..thats what boarding schools are for.

HEY, KEEP Your EYES On The ROAD, “Daddy!”

Darn Straight. Brad wins in a landslide. Money is nice, but its a tool.. not a way of life.

Nice save, Brad. And trust me, you will score on the rebound! :-PPP

For now, let it go…. and let TJ go on his own.

“It’s not enough that I succeed, my friends must fail”; Truman Capote. Is that were you’re at Brad?

Brad may know what to say to a fiance’, but his jealosy of TJ may lead him to say something completely stupid.

I think it was Toni. The concept of insurance fraud is a wittle deep for Shannon.

Brad – You have a beautiful fiancee and a built in daughter. Other than money, all TJ has is you.

why is it that when something good happens to someone else it is assumed that person achieved it thru bad behavior?

Did Bernice do something bad to get a full ride to Moony? Did Rosa do bad to get into Yale? Did Toni do bad to get Brad to propose to her?

We only associate bad behavior achievements with people who have demonstrated a history of bad behavior…. (Tiff, TJ, etc.).

“Does nothing?”*HtD: The more accurate one is “.. and he gets everything.” Remember, he seemed to invest his entire available trust fund in that truck. (Admittedly, it was junk until Brad & Toni fixed it up, but the appliances, permits, and food must have been costly.)*$65,000 is far from “everything”. It’s just that TJ chooses to be happy with what he gets, instead of moping around in resentment.

I lost my father on March 11. He was 91-Sorry to hear that. I was thinking, with Mikeyj’s return that many of us here are at that age where we are losing our parents.

SOOO, where is Brad’s share now?

We have seen no indication that the relationship between Jonah and Shannon is not a loving one. He has to find someone to mind her when he works (or auditions for work), which is what all single parents always do. Shannon has never indicated that she wants to live with anyone other than her Dad.

How exactly do they adopt her?

They convince Jonah to give her up voluntarily.

Not a huge stretch in Jonahs’ case, I’m thinking. He’s pretty much done it already.

Toni plus the brat… pretty certain that counts as a washout

I don’t think he was resenting TJ’s good fortune as much as he was resenting the fact that TJ seems to skate through life, right on the edge of legality, and rarely breaks a sweat or gets in trouble, whereas he (Brad) works hard but was the one who was laid off from the fire department, the one who risks his life when he is on the job, etcetera…

I didn’t realize we all had to love everything and anything about the comic to comment here.

Joel asked why they were here to comment if they didn’t like it. That summed it up for me, you’re supposed to like it in order to comment.

Brad is an ingrate. People who don’t appreciate what they do have don’t usually have more added to be thankful for. He is dumb to complain that he has " nothing" when he is engaged to Toni.

Let’s be honest, while Shannon is not up for adoption Evans will probably figure some screwy way to make it happen.

Thanks Torad, now I’m on a roll.@Night-Gaunt49 This shows that Brad (and Toni) fulfilled their end and should get the money. Also Levi, Toni is willing.

Count your blessingsOr at least try

Or then again, maybe Jonah will be rehearsing a play at the Moony Uni theater, and he will be crushed by a collapsing gazebo that was put in a place where it would fall down by some idiot amateur set designer.

Hands down!

Brad, TJ gets ‘everything’ because he’s a scam artist with no morals. I think Brad’s bigger annoyance is that he believes TJ got away with insurance fraud and he’s jealous and angry because it seems to prove that following the rules doesn’t pay. He’s questioning his own value system and wondering if TJ has the right idea after all, and he’s just been a sucker for playing it straight all these years. ^^Very astute observation, agreed 100%…. However, Brad still wins!

“TJ gets everything”. Huh? Besides having 65k in cash, I can’t think of one good thing TJ has. He lives with and his only friend is Brad DeGroot. He appears to not have a degree and will always be doing remedial jobs. He has never had a relationship that I know of. Again, he associates with Brad DeGroot. TJ clearly has nothing.^^ One of those rare times that I agree with you

she hasn’t displayed any bratty behavior i a long time. Do you have kids? Would you hold against them something they did say last year or 2 years ago? Would keep bringing up old crap because you cannot forgive? Lighten up.^^Ditto

Glad to see you back here. Wanted to convey my condolences to you back then…

^^TY

I think here being ‘bothered’ is probably more of a projection on her brother, and who she is the obvious default person.^^Good point, Toni loves her Brother (Her only living relative, besides Shannon) and would like to be proud of him, instead, she justifiably finds his lack of priorities to be not only wrong, but, likely, an embarrassment.

How exactly do they adopt her? You can’t just take someone’s kid because they’re busy with their career. ^^Well, he might just sign away his rights, he’s already proven that he likely would, last Halloween.

Shannon is that way because of the terrible neglect. Toni is only helpful some of the time. She is doing much better with Brad there too.^^ Yup, they bring out the best in each other.

Leviticus GoComics PRO Member said, about 3 hours ago

@Nun’Ya Bidness

Or it could have been an enemy of TJ’s that blew up his food truck.

That would be all the people listed in the Pitts’ telephone book^^HAHAHAHAHA!!!

For all we know he’s a loving parent, and what we all should know is that being a single parent is a LOT of work. Just because he’s not exceptionally good at it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love his kid^^I don’t think anyone doubts that he loves his kid, but, I think there is no more of a bond than that she IS his kid. I don’t think that he considers her a priority in the least; don’t forget, she wasn’t in any sense of the words “planned for”.

Our society seems to reward people for doing the wrong thing and getting away with murder. Just look at the scandals and the recent domestic-abuse cases of Rice and that judge. Yes, these people—T.J. incuded—are being rewarded for their devious shenanigans now, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t be answering for it when their Judgment Day comes.

I wonder if Shannon feels this way towards her dad?-Does it really matter? He’s her kid, he’s not Brad’s kid^^Jonah is Shannon’s kid? Wow, time to call Ripley’s!

And I also hope for you, as well! – I had also been reminded of the recent losses my family has suffered in the past two years, and one that especially had affected me, so I can appreciate the feeling of missing someone, and also personally know how painful the process feels (including having to watch events unfold), as was discussed the other week…

And which would be the greater trauma: her part-time dad dying at this young age, or continuing to grow into a teen with him still treating her like he does.^^Good question. I think her Dad dying would be traumatic in the short run, but, her life would be much happier, in the long run, with Brad, Toni and her (so far) surrogate Grands, Frank and Nancy.

ORMouseworks said, about 17 hours ago

@Mikeyj

This picture of Shannon and the blowing up of TJ’s food cart was great! ;)^^I drew Shannon, but, SHE did the painting in art class… The teacher gave her an “F” unfortunately, for the inappropriate subject manner!

I don’t think the strip where Jonah is happy to turn away and leave Shannon to go Trick or Treating with Brad necessarily shows that he is an uncaring father. It shows that he had a social engagement (which might have been just pleasure, but which also might have been business-related, if theater directors and casting agents were going to be there). Whatever his reason for either wanting or needing to attend, it would in any case be an adult party, and it is certainly no place for Shannon, which is why she would have to stay in the bedroom. By turning Shannon over to Brad, Jonah was thus doing Shannon a favor, since she didn’t want to stay shut up after finishing her Trick or Treat. Brad shouldn’t feel like, or be treated like, a hero simply because, unlike Jonah, he had no place to go on Halloween night. Jonah’s action does not show that he is a poor parent.

Very nearly the only times we see Shannon is when Jonah leaves her with Toni. We don’t see the great majority of Shannon’s time (when she is alone with Jonah), because they are incidental characters in the strip. Again, the fact that he has to leave Shannon with Toni on the occasions when we do see her doesn’t mean that he’s an unfit Dad. It means that he’s a single parent doing the best that he can to make sure that his kid is cared for, when he has work. For her part, Toni does what she has to, but there is no indication that she in any way more than tolerates Shannon when she has to be responsible for her. She certainly doesn’t seem to look forward to their times together.

Perhaps TJ will take his new found wealth and get a place of his own, leaving the house half full and need of another room mate. Any suggestions as who it could be? Yes, we all agree it is obvious who will move in with Brad if TJ moves out. Get ready to see a lot more of Knute.-Brilliant!

> Perhaps TJ will take his new found wealth and get a place of his own, leaving the house half full and need of another room mate. >If Bard can’t find someone to share the rent, he too will have to move out of the house and search for someone to take him in. Let’s see, Hot Lips Mrs. Berger still has room for one more young lad in her house…

Yep. Brad wins hands down…

“i think Greg should have another vote …. I vote we kill Jonah off !!!!”^Ha ha! Or if it’s going to be a “vote”, at least vote to make him “leave the island”-Or if it were that game show, he’d be “The Weakest Link”….

Jonah is cute.Bwad is not.TJ is not.Gunther is notKnute is knot.Ox is not.Les is not.Aaron Hill was, but he got swallowed up by a volcano.We cannot lose the last cute guy.

For no reason other than than some people herein want the tidiest of all possible lives for the people in Pitt whom they consider to be their fantasy friends, and so everyone else in town (the “shadow” people) should be considered at best dispensable, or more likely, evil and deserving of suffering.

(Greg Evans is one of those people, so yeah, it’ll probably happen.)

i think Greg should have another vote …. I vote we kill Jonah off !!!!

Too risky…. Shannon might end up blaming herself. Better if he got into some kind of trouble and either had to leave town or went to prison or some such thing.

the trouble with him just leaving town is that it leaves Shannon’s status ill-defined. Toni would have to eventually establish guardianship, showing that he had abandoned his daughter.

Which is why I suggest a prison term. Might be easier for Toni to claim “unfitness as a parent” in that case.

hey, don’t blame me … after all it was S-2’s idea originally : “he will be crushed by a collapsing gazebo that was put in a place where it would fall down”

No blame to assign…. We’re all just “speculating.” :-)))

GE will, hopefully, tell us in the future.

> Jonah has demonstrated (at least once) that he’d rather be elsewhere and doing other things than take care of her.>Jonah demonstrated that although he had a personal commitment for that evening, he was willing to take Shannon Trick or Treating first. Unfortunately, that would leave no way of caring for her when he went to the adult party afterwards, so he intended to take her too, but make her stay in the bedroom to keep her from being exposed to an inappropriate situation. Many would call that “trying to make the best of a bad situation”, rather than an indication of indifference. Brad was willing to take her Trick or Treating, too (just as Jonah was), but then he had no place to go afterwards, so he brought Shannon home instead of taking her to an adult party and leaving her in a bedroom. This doesn’t show that Brad is a better parent; it just shows that no one invites him to parties.

Who’s to say that Shannon ‘s flair for the theatric and vivid imagination doesn’t come from interactions with her actor father?

And who’s to say that Shannon’s demonstrated bratty behavior doesn’t come from her knowing that Toni lets her get away with a lot more such behavior than her Dad does when she’s in his care? Who’s the better parent then?

“the trouble with him just leaving town is that it leaves Shannon’s status ill-defined. "^Not to mention, angry letters (hypothetically, although possible, given some of the letters he once mentioned were sent before) at another “child abandonment” happening, and “not setting a good example”…

I never said Jonah couldn’t have backup. But the point I was making is that Jonah hasn’t even been the 1st string … And that was according to all of the dialogue in all of their “speech balloons”…..

TJ wasn’t doing “nothing.” He was really trying to make his business work, but it just wasn’t cutting it. And TJ has no family in his life. Get over yourself, Brad.