Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for March 15, 2013

Don’t break your arm there, Toni.

Wait’ll Brad shows up and she repeats back what Luann just said

Yes, the helmet hair girl looks at ease, and yesterday too she was at ease, and that’s why it seems Greg is sending signals to his readers.

What signals, I can’t decipher. He’ll pull something out of his sleeve related to this helmet hair girl. Stay tuned. Greg can be unpredictable.

Or maybe not. Often I keep forgetting this is a family comic, not a thriller movie.

I like today’s strip on a whole bunch of different levels.

This makes me nervous. Toni is looking a little smug and Luann doesn’t fail to pick up what it looks like Toni was thinking. Actually I see dark clouds floating this way. Will it turn out that Mom was right all along???

Harsh, Luann. Brad was never a worthless loser. He was just…immature. Unfinished, perhaps.

That said, Toni DID bring out his full potential.

Same Gweedo who had, ummm, discussions with gocomics management?If so, good to see you here again.

Nice paralleling by Luann. Some folk used to call Brad a dork, but we all see that he’s really grown.Just maybe it it is possible that Dirk has turned into something decent, but I’d still give him wide berth.

OMG -,I just thought if Nancy had been in the room when Toni said that… The damage would have been nuclear.

Actually, the most hilarious thing will be if Dirk and his wife happen to be around when Toni actually accepts a proposal.

Now, one thing those two ladies need to learn…..little pitchers have big ears! She may not be reacting, but you can bet money she’s taking in the comments……

Angelalex242

Agreed-Brad is not and has not been a worthless loser. Imm ature, yes .but he has matured, much to be said, about him, now. Brad has character,good character. He is far and above Dirk, the evil D does not compare. I do not like people running others down, it always comes back on them.

It also makes Luann look bad. She needs to develop her charecter in this area. It’s never too early or late to develop in someareas.

Toni is bad news, Run Brad Run!! Her looks have given her a sense on entitlement that is not warranted by her actions. Run Brad Run!!

It’s a nice sentiment, but in real life it’s pretty freakin’ rare that a worthless loser turns into a good guy.

Luann and Toni are right. A good woman can influence a man to change for the better.

Don’t get me wrong. They cannot make him change. That is the mistake too many women make. They view that bad boy they’re attracted to as an improvement project that their love will make all better. That will seldom if ever work. Only the guy can change the guy.

Having said that, they can influence him. If he is inclined to change, a good woman can have a huge impact on the life of a man.

Yes. The key is influence. He gets better because he wants to be better to better take care of her.

But ‘you must change’ never works.

It is interesting to see how many people still hold to the Classical theory of unchanging Character. But I do believe that Dirk is reformed; he and “mellow” Grace are being used by Karen (who apparently does much of the writing now: see the Blog, linked at the right of the strip) as a foil to advance Toni’s relationship with Brad. Sure, Shannon may also serve as a proximate catalyst….

I agree about Dirk’s personality change. I have a skeptical wait-and-see attitude. In my own life, I determine to make changes, but they don’t last very long – so I think that the same will be true with Dirk. I also tend to agree with somebody a few days ago that Grace looked too happy, like she’s walking on eggs and better look happy in public or she’ll suffer abuse at home. .Having said that, I disagree with other comments that Dirk’s appearance will cause Toni to rethink her relationships with him and with Brad, and will drift away from Brad to seek out Dirk again. I’ll only hazard a guess that the real reason Greg & Karen show us Dirk’s appearance is prepare Toni for the next step with Brad – namely, discussing marriage – which she has previously avoided, to the point where Brad is scared to bring it up again. We don’t know why she’s so disturbed about this discussion, but I think it’s because her experiences with her brother’s problems, and her own with Dirk, has made her gun-shy. Time – and strip development – will answer my questions.

Maybe now ol’ Brad can start talking about the future, now that Dirk is finally really out of the picture. Eh? Maybe Toni will be more approachable on the matter? Oh, wait. We are talking about a COMIC STRIP!

Toni ought to be shocked. Dirk addressed his concerns, married to a content small business owner and obviously loves his child. Toni still fighting her daemons and willing to settle for safe brad, a good, maturing couch potato. Now’s the time for Toni to decide whether she or brad have aspirations and what are they doing to get there. A real love moves one to action…

I thnk Luann is half- joking. Brothers and sisters may always maintain a kind of rivalry and play-like warfare from their childhood, but in a friendly, even loving way.

Did anybody else catch Luann’s comment, “Do you think he changed because of Grace”?

So Dirk changed because of Grace, and now he has Joy.

How subtle.

Actually, Luann is right. Toni has had an immense influence on Brad’s life. Before he met her, he was quite the coach potato slob. Now look at him. Quite the change.

OOOOOHHHHH!!!

No, that ship has sailed.

I still see Luann’s future including Aaron Hill….

Dirk changed because he was ready too and Grace happened to be there. Girls, you can’t ever change a guy unless he’s in diapers.

Is this the same “worthless loser” who saved Toni’s life at great personal cost?

Oh that’s RIGHT, Toni.Because ONLY Guys are “Worthless Loser” Lumps of Clay that EXIST only for YOU Gals to Mold into something that Slightly Resembles a Human Being!

BAH!!!!!

But Hey, Since the Little Monst…., er I mean Shannon’s here, lets ask HER what She thought of “Uncle Dirk”.

……, Or Didn’t Dirk ever have to DEAL with Her…..,

And NOTICE that Luann 1st thought of Her Brother Brad as being “Worthless” and NOT Mr. Oz because apparently, Ozball’s too “Cuddly Cute” to be a LOSER!

DOUBLE BAH!!!!!!

Yep. I’m just getting over that kind of “right woman”. It’s been taking me years, but I think I am back where I should have been.And earning potential is just a small part of that.

Oh and the same goes for the “right man” ruining a talented woman’s potential. I’ve been dating that kind of women, and it’s been quite an amazing experience.

notice the tongue on Shannon. She is really concentrating. LuAnn’s a great babysitter and…. she has insight when it’s important.

I don’t know about that. Toni has always had an “aren’t you lucky to be with me” attitude. The Brad & Toni thing could be going south. I could visualize Brad having a beer in a bar, and AE is sitting next to him – and she says, “At least I know I’m a B&@%#”. And I keep remembering Nancy’s insight from the get-go.

I think she WAS pickin’ up what Toni was layin’ down…. cuz she was layin’ it on the easiest spot possible…. hmm…

Toni knows that she herself was not the woman to change Dirk and I don’t think she is one to break up a marriage.

Brad deserves better than Toni, who doesn’t love him, obviously. It’s all a calculation for her. He should leave and find someone who is crazy about him.

moreZZZZZZZZzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzjust got up.

Are we expecting dirk to fall from grace?

Having spent 20 years trying to talk an old friend away from the Dirk in her life—and thank heavens she’s finally free of him after it escalated (again) to life threatening—let me chime in with the others who say an abuser can keep up the charm image for awhile, and even believe it himself—but the first time something doesn’t go his way when he’s in a bad mood, watch out. Bigtime. His little wife needs support and friends willing to ask her questions in a way that doesn’t make her feel like she has to defend him.

Amazing . . . Greg Evans can keep this up for how much longer?

What do you suppose he has to eat at night so he can dream this stuff up?

Uh-oh. I just dealt with this issue in my newsletter— it’s called the “Savior Complex”. People, usually women, develop relationships with men in trouble in order to “save” them. This is unhealthy.*Women need to value themselves first. Then, as a career, they can go into social work and try to help people who are in trouble. But first value yourself— don’t let yourself become an enabler, being willing used & abused by a troubled other. (It’s also called the Messiah Syndrome)

Alananda— Impressive comment re pi day! Shows our young friends that cool women can be geeks too!

Now if I say “Beware the Ides of March”, how many know what I mean? (Some schools no longer teach Shakespeare)

Toni: “Sometimes the right woman can turn a worthless loser into an amazing guy.”

I suspect that statement has multiple layers inside of it.

Toni has been doing some serious thinking on the way home from the store. Who can blame her? First and foremost on her mind has been the amazing change that apparently has come over Dirk caused in great part by Grace’s influence. Naturally that has caused her to reflect upon how much Brad has changed since that first day of First Aid class where she first met him. He has changed a great deal. She is smart enough to know that she had a part in that. Not that she caused the change, but that Brad changed because of her influence.

She knows full well Luann’s opinion of her brother, so when Luann makes the comment about Dirk changing because of Grace, she — with a twinkle in her eye — can’t help but tweak Luann a bit with that comment about a worthless loser. She knows full well the double meaning of her sentence.

Does she mean it — the worthless loser part, I mean? No, that was a zing at Luann more than anything else with a bit of, “We girls rule”, thrown in. But it shows us what has been on her mind nonetheless.

But as Leviticus has pointed out, Shannon is right there taking it all in. So there’s a good chance that Brad is going to hear how Toni called him a “worthless loser”.

It’s as they say, “The path of true love is seldom smooth”.

Grace sure changed me…

I was just going back through some old Luann DeGroot facebook pages and I stumbled across the January 15th one. It’s theme is how Gunther has changed and wondering if Rosa had anything to do with it.

That was exactly two months ago today, and they usually plot things out in advance.

Draw your own conclusions.

Imagine an i day was good.what about the two other imaginary swuate roots of negateve one? j and k?

I guess Toni just isn’t the right woman.

I disagree that Toni believed Brad to be a “Worthless Loser” before she influenced him… Toni didn’t even KNOW Brad before he’d already begun the change, the Brad she knows was someone she believed to be a good guy, right from the start.

^^in conclusion, Tony was talking about Dirk; it was only Luann who was (Jokingly) saying that about her brother (And I’m sure that Toni didn’t appreciate it).

Luann suggested that Dirk may have changed because of Grace. I submit that Dirk has not changed at all. The potential to be a nice guy was always there. But as previously stated, when he felt threatedned, the “jerk” in him came out. He was fearful of losing Toni, and he was right to be fearful.Now, Brad is going to find himself in the same position. Look for him to begin to resemble Dirk. And I’m not talking about his biceps.

Yep, I agree. And now, we get to see Brad turn into Dirk, without the muscles.

If?

I can.

Luann still can’t believe that Dirk’s changed can she???…yea the right woman can change a man look at George Jones the country star he was strung out on alcohol and cocaine Nancy came and saved him that’s an example there of how the right woman can save a man

From Luann’s point of view, until Brad began firefighter training, he was a worthless loser. He insulted her constantly. He would not even buy her Christmas presents, but wrapped up free things he got from stores. He tricked her into doing his homework and all sorts of mean things. That did change once Brad started EMT school. Now he is much kinder and helpful to her. Luann has to give some of the credit to Toni for the drastic change.^^Yep, Brad has grown up, in every way (Here is his 1rst appearance 28 yrs ago this month and more recently)

upload foto

I’m not disagreeing with your pre-911, post-911 Brad analysis. I’m just not happy with Toni thinking or saying that.^^Toni was talking about Dirk, not Brad

Toni had no respect for herself being with that loser!

I think this is Toni’s closure with Dirk – - seeing him being human. Now she can move on —

It is not polite to admit I agree.

Interesting statement from Toni, and it has levels — was she not the kind of woman Dirk needed then, or at all? Has she changed, or was she not right for Dirk, but right for Brad? I expected Luann’s comment. Sibling rivalry .. I knew a guy who had a younger sister, and she was a knockout. One of the guys asked if he could get their phone number (this was WAY before cell phones, kiddies). His reply? “What do you want our phone number for?” “Hey, dude, so I can call up your sister!” Then; “MY sister? What for?” He just couldn’t see her the way we did .. oh, and Clark Kent? People change. Even YOU.