Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 26, 2016

And you’re leaving her in the dust.

Stop the world, I want to get off.♪ Stop! In the Name of Love ♪♪ She’s Gone ♪♪ (There’s Gonna be a) Showdown ♪♪ Sister Golden Hair (Surprise!) ♪♪ Spread Your Wings (and fly away) ♪♪ The Smile Has Left Your Eyes ♪Or Maybe♪ The Things We Do For Love ♪

You most definitely were speeding, Bradley. Toni couldn’t keep up with your talking.

I’m so glad she’s doing this. It’s time to “talk turkey.”

Finally, Toni. It’s definitely time to make Brad hit the brakes.

One of the reasons this seems so odd to me is that when Toni started to talk about stuff like who was going to do chores around the house, Brad kept saying none of that mattered as long as they were together.

So if he can be ‘big picture’ about marriage, why is he all details about GETTING married?

How do you spell relief?….

TV sitcom basis: beautiful, mature female chooses dorky, immature male.

She should stop being such a jerk about it and let Brad have his day.

She should stop being such a jerk about it and let Brad have his day.

She was in a yelling fight with her brother, had to talk her niece out of the beach/pool, and has no energy to go against Brad’s torrent. You need to be aware of what your partner is going through.

This is where people ELOPE and love getting out of all the stress….

I hope these two characters work through this and don’t break up, but it’s now obvious that Brad has some serious problems.

First, it’s weird that he is thinking in terms of such a lavish wedding, as if he’s trying to fulfill a fairy tale. But that probably stems from the deeper problem.

The real, underlying problem is that Brad is being very narcissistic – almost autistic – and has never really gotten in touch with Toni as a person. He probably thinks she’s a beautiful woman, and he thinks that mutual romantic love is just going to make everything else fall neatly into place. He’s taking her for granted. He can’t seem to fathom that she may have priorities that can conflict with his own, and that it takes a real two-way dialog – listening as well as thinking and talking – to work out things.

It’s a good thing that Toni is realizing Brad’s problem this early on. If she can cut through his fog and get him to grow up some in the process, maybe things can continue. If not, she might have to break up with him. He may have been a gentleman up to the present. But if they were married and if Brad won’t really listen to her priorities, then when things don’t go as he expects, he could become hurt, angry, and possibly verbally abusive.

This is the time for Toni either to shake some sense into him, or failing that, to bail – or at least delay or suspend the engagement for a while.

“I’ve been nailing TJ for years. And your sister’s friend Knute. And.. oh I hate to admit it… your father as well. DON’T TELL YOUR MOM, IT WOULD BREAK HER HEART. OH BRAD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?”

are there other soap opera type comics on this site? hopefully with some edgier storylines?

Get ’em, Toni!! Set that boy straight.

Seems out of character for hm to be such a jerk so suddenly. Would hope she talks some sense into him, otherwise as a reader I feel manipulated as another seemingly solid connection turns into a mismatch between two flawed characters- aren’t they all? Toni enables her brother, Brad is suddenly a clueless obsessed wedding planner… suddenly self-centered and incompatible. Is this the intent of the strip? Everybody’s a mess?

Awww – Brad was having a great time (all by himself). Now there’s several ways this could go (stay tuned).

“preventive brake list before a disaster happens”

I got the impression that Brad is being responsible. A wedding is a big deal and he realizes that there are details that have to be thought through and taken care of. He is also discussing the details with Toni and not leaving her out or going over her head. He is only being insensitive in that he doesn’t realize she is having a really hard time, but not everyone notices immediately when someone is struggling. I don’t blame Toni, either. Her brother saddles her with extra responsibilities that should not be hers, and the stress of wedding planning is getting to her. Regardless, I don’t understand all this Brad-hate.

Okay, I admit “Brad-hate” is probably too strong of a word.

Toni’s having a nervous breakdown and it’s all your fault, Brad! She might have second thoughts about going thru this wedding.

I don’t see how Brad is being a jerk? It’s his wedding too. And it seems like he’ll end up putting most of the effort into it anyway with the way he’s talking.

@ over the rainbow- you made me laugh!

A break up would be the best thing that could happen from the point of narrative drama but this strip does not do drama. So it won’t happen at all. I mean, one wouldn’t want to risk the Trufans having a mass heart attack, would one?

Excedrin headache #1

Here comes the talk! Pour Toni is getting overwhelmed!

“A Momentum Of Truth”“Speed Bumps On Your Tongue”“From An Obtuse Angle”“Shadap – A – Ya Face” (♬)“The Light Is Red….And You Need To Stop”“I Want To Break Your Sound Barrier”“The 1211 Express Of Thought”“You’re Ready To Start, But The Engine Is Flooded”

“You’re Just Like Crosstown Traffic…” (♪)“Trip Over The Lights, Fantastically”“The Theory Of Relative Oblivion”

“She = Empty Stare”“I Feel The Need….The Need For Warp Speed”“My Dear, In Heady Lights”or“There’s A Kind Of Hush” (♬)

Holy Brad is a total idiot. Dudes don’t ramble on wanting big weddings, just ask her to elope moron. I’m gonna revoke your man card.

But Bwad, it’s Friday and this can’t be resolved on Saturday to we have to wait until Monday or maybe NEXT Monday aaaaaah!!!

Ever see/meet anyone so nervous about something serious they cannot stop talking??? Brad could be very nervous about getting married and is trying to convince himself…not Toni.

I think that I might be with Toni on this one. Keep it simple.

Why is everyone shouting “elope” now? That’s why I don’t quite understand her reaction to Brad’s enthusiasm. If this really is a role-reversal storyline, men go through this all the time. It’s not really uncommon for a man NOT to be as excited as the woman. They don’t usually freak out about it though. They usually just say “yes dear” and do what the woman wants.

And when You ‘Pull Over’ tomorrow Brad, and a ‘Overwhelmed’ Toni gets Out and WALKS Away, are You going to be Depicted in the Last Panel with a Stupid “Hey WHAT Did I Do?” Look on Your Face?? Probably.

Brad DeGroot, as one of Your Long Time Fans, and Most Ardent Supporters, it PAINS Me to Type this, BUT, My ONLY Regret IS, All those Times that Dirk was Beating the Living CRAP Outta Ya? That He Didn’t take the Time to POUND Some SENSE In that Thick Cartoon Skull of Yours! THERE I SAID It!

Oh Wait-Person? COFFEE, Please! The EVIL Is Upon Me…..,

The look on Toni’s face says, ‘’ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’’

A formal wedding just screeched off the road and hit a tree dead-on.

I agree with Toni, turn it off Brad.

“Make a U-turn if possible…Make a U-turn if possible…In a quarter-mile, turn right onto Reassessment Road.”

YAY, Toni!T

Today, Brad is all about Brad. Brad’s dreams. Brad’s family. Brad’s wedding planner. No room for Toni.is his busy egoistic world.

Each decision isn’t a life-or-death one. Brad’s got a healthier attitude … just pick a preference and move on! Toni’s the one obsessing over the inflated importance of minutia.

Wow, lots of relationship judgment and unrealistic expectations of relationships here.Neither Toni or Brad has done anything wrong or malicious (or particularly selfish) at this point. And Toni asking to stop the car so she can tell Brad how she feels looks like something that would happen in a good relationship. I say wait until a character does something truly negative before condemning one of them.

A good ladder & suitcase type of elopement would solve all your problems . . .

I don’t get it. The wedding is going to get called off because Brad took an interest in it?

Interesting that if the roles were reversed, with Toni going on and on about the big wedding, and Brad desiring something small and simple, he would be told to shut up and let her have a big wedding if she wants it.

Uh Oh.

They’re gonna work this out..calm down y’all…

He’s accidentally talking her out of it.

Tomorrow’s strip: A heartfelt talk where it looks like they will break off the engagement. The last thing is Brad saying, “What do you want to do now?”

Monday’s strip: Brad and Tony walk in the door and tell TJ and Shannon that they eloped.

Wedding celebration will be in December. Just without all the pressure of the ceremony.

Brads parents own a place to have a simple wedding. TJ is a chief for simple reception after the wedding. Keep it simple and problems solved.

One point that a number of comments have made over several arcs is that so many characters seem to talk past each other, in other words communication seems to be lacking. Eventually, through a number of panels an important message is conveyed. An example is the breakup with Quill and Luann, or another is the true nature of and intentions by Pru, in spite of Bernice’s assumptions; another is how Bernice and Gunther totally misunderstood each other’s feelings or intentions, and eventually Bernice realized she again had jumped to conclusions and apologized. The jury is still out though with them whether that means anything further might develop with them. I hope it does, but probably more posters hope not. My point here is that Toni has a lot in her head, the issue with her brother, Shannon, not being all that excited about a big wedding, now all the suggestions by TJ, and Brad has a million things he is excited about. He is totally into his excitement, and not being sensitive to, or listening to her, and sensing her feelings. I think she is about to bring him into how she feels real quick now. I am pretty confident that Brad will quickly become a listener and very sensitive to her.

We can hope. But this is the way we humans are, no? My wife used to watch tele-novelas on Univision to help her Spanish and she complained about the characters making unchecked assumptions and not listening to each other.

This is where she LEAVES him. Hooray. This relationship never made any sense in the first place.

Early counseling step/advice, both of you listen AND actively listen, this means watching their expressions too. Some folks will ask if a couple has had a fight and if the answer is no, start one between them.

Toni, bail out on this drip and his idiot family.

She needs to communicate more to him.

One thing that remains unclear is how much family pressure/encouragement is coming down on Brad to have a big wedding with all the bells and whistles.One or both parents and some other relations may want this first wedding in the family for this generation to be a huge celebration. Mine was not the first in our family, but my father – yes, that is correct, a male – wanted it to be a buge blow-out party and mostly for his friends with hs argument being that rhey coukd afford more costly gifts than our friends. Steve and i were in the position of Toni in relation to my dad, so we set three (just 3) conditions: our friends could not be excluded, the ceremony would be a civil one rather than a religious one, and there would not be alcohol served. We were THAT tired of him being like Brad is being here.Then one day he called and said that to be proper party for his friends there had to be alcohol, and BTW he had so many he wanted to invite that we would need to reduce our (smaller) part of the guest list, oh, and he had run into an old neighbor who wanted to officiate as a minister.We had it past our eyeballs then and said we would do it ourselves, and we did. It was small, inexpensive, and very, very happy. Dad did wind up asking someone to officiate, but a judge that time. Of course, the judge, who was a state supreme court justice showed up drunk – in the late morning – but at least that gave a story.So, YES, THERE ARE MEN WHO BEHAVE LIKE BRAD. My father was not that way in many things, just certain ones and that was one.Others have written that Frank was said to have been like Brad. He might have been raised thinking of weddings this way from the paternal side of the family and he might be getting encouragement/ pressure to do so.Given their earlier “waltz” discussion which presaged with literal missteps he might vastly overestimate how much of the wedding prep Toni woukd rather he dance solo.

Opps, UNDERestimate, not over…

I also have to add, I do not agree that Brad is being a jerk or this wedding stuff is out of character. Brad has grown up a lot since his couch potato days. He’s found his career, he’s been through quite a bit with Toni (Dirk punching him out at his graduation for one thing, the whole Noah/Shannon problems, etc.), he recognizes the importance of a good marriage from growing up w/ his parents as an example, and he wants to celebrate his marriage and do it properly. He is EXCITED folks! Toni just needs to calm him down and remind him about what she wants, a simple wedding. An elopement wouldn’t be any fairer to Brad than the elaborate wedding would be to Toni. After all, he does want his family and friends there. They can find some middle ground, and unless Greg takes a real right-turn with the characters’ relationship, they will compromise and each get what they want. They do both recognize the importance of their future marriage, and can survive this bump along the way. Again, wedding conflicts are NOTHING new in real life!

Everything you see here is based in love. It’s all just love. Brad loves Toni and knows what a treasure she is, how lucky he is to have her, and how much he wants to spend his life with her. Toni feels the same about Brad. Brad, knowing and feeling all of the above, and caught up in the excitement of it all, has a great desire (again, borne out of love) to “do it up right” for Toni, to make it the wedding special and wonderful.This might be a bit of a role reversal, since it is usually the woman who wants the big to-do and frets about all the details — or, in this case, it is not so much a role reversal as it is Brad simply wanting to make this event what he thinks she deserves. For him, “small” and “simple” are not words that describe Toni or what he feels in his heart for her.So, his only flaw here, if you want to call it that, is that in his excitement and anticipation, he is focusing on the whirlwind of thoughts in his own head, and is not cluing in to what Toni is feeling right now. Hey, that’s a pretty common problem with guys, right? After all, women are the more perceptive and intuitive ones. So, this is Brad getting a wake-up call as far as that goes.But again, this all has its basis in love. And with that as the basis, it’ll all work out for the best. Not as Brad originally planned, I’m sure, but it will work out.

5Today’s panels leave me up in the air about the many ways this may proceed. So, here is what I hope DOES happen and what I hope DOES NOT happen:1. I hope that Toni and Brad really BOTH begin to hear what each other is communicating. Neither is hearing each other well.2. I sincerely hope that Toni and Brad both work on making a wedding event that is TRULY a COMPROMISE…. a wedding event that is a) not eloping or a Justice of the Peace “quicky” option like it seems Toni wants, nor b) the elaborate extravaganza that Brad is envisioning (either because he wants it or he thinks it is what is wanted or expected). In this regard, there really is a lot of room to have something that IS a compromise. Something that would be simple, yet has some of the “traditional wedding-esque” aspects and would be inclusive of family. I hope that when the two of them actually hear each other, that is what they will come up with, an intermediate, compromise that is generally good for both.3. I certainly hope that Toni DOES NOT become so forceful that she creates an “ultimatum” situation (akin to, it has to be her way or nothing). With her current state of exhaustion and stress, I fear that could be a route this could proceed down. However, I am hopeful Greg will not do this.4. While I think it is unlikely that Brad will become forceful in his ideas and create an “ultimatum” situation of his own (it does not IMO seem he is trying to force things as much as he is trying to just get done the decisions of what he (mistakenly) thinks they want), I hope that Brad DOES NOT mistakenly interpret whatever Toni will be saying in a way that hurts him, or makes him simply acquiesce instead of working towards compromise. I want to especially note and applaud Greg’s last statement for Brad today….. “Why, am I speeding?”…. it was an exceptional way to end today’s comic. It has such layers of meaning…. face-value, metaphorical, and emotional. VERY, VERY well crafted statement, in my opinion!

Only Brad would have a whole meal standing up!

I swear, this had better lead to either a simple court wedding or a vegas elopement… cause if they break up im done with the comic. XD

No one wants to eat while they are standing up. That is a terrible idea.

frazzle breakdown in …3….2…1…

Toni: Brad, I just can’t do this.

What is Brad really in love with? an elaborate wedding and a trophy woman or the human being that he will spend his life with?

And here’s the difference!!! Dirk & Jonah wouldn’t have pulled over to be corrected. Brad will.

Yup, I really see a elopement coming.

Hope it’s not “I can’t handle any more right now, let’s hold off on any plans for the future………..”

NOTHING INTERESTING HERE FOR MOST OF A MONTH.

@pipetobacco: You say1. I hope that Toni and Brad really BOTH begin to hear what each other is communicating. Neither is hearing each other well.What does Toni need to hear that Brad is saying?

Somewhat OT unless the wedding gets moved tomthe Fuse: do we see Les’s life goal here:http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/03/488487615/-72-million-in-bitcoins-stolen-from-hong-kong-exchange

A lot of people here seem to think that Brad is this detail oriented person and Toni is more a ‘big picture’ person. I am not seeing this at all (i.e. these categories). Brad has never shown himself to be interested in things at the particulate level. If that was the case then he’d be in another line of work. Brad is truly interested in the big picture of this wedding (which of course is composed of many parts). Brad is marrying the girl of his dreams and he wants to make a big show out of it. He is as much in love with the idea of marrying Toni as he is ‘physically’ in love with her. He is caught up in the excitement of such event to the point where he is not even paying attention to Toni or picking up (as people have said) on her non-verbal cues. Conversely, Toni just wants to be married, to have the safety, security and love of a decent man. She is the one who is actually focused on being married. In this sense their view of the marriage (and wedding) are totally different. As I said (yesterday) I am seeing a parallel with the Luann-Quill ordeal. Initially it was exciting for both of them until their different trajectories became apparent.

Ok so here is how I see it. Brad is rattling off a bunch of things, but a lot of them seem to be in the guise of multiple choices. Sop it seem s like a lot, but say for example you are considering live music vs a dj, you are discussing 2 possibilities, with the intent of choosing ONE. Same thing with a lot of the other stuff. Also, they work different shifts, so they may not spend every day together, so, he is trying ti cover a lot of ground in a limited time. So while he may be oblivious to her current mood, he is not being selfish, he is excited, and wants her input. He need to slow down of course, but he is not being self centered. And the sexist remarks crack me up here, " no guy would", “usually this is the bride’s issue” etc. All that said, does need to shut up, and let her speak.

He better tune in or she’s gonna tune out.

Can anyone find the results of an actual study or questionaire dealing with the relative preferences of men and women for big weddings? I looked half-heartedly but found nothing except that only 26% of the men interviewed have cried at a wedding! And 8% of men think lap dancing at the bachelor party is cheating on your betrothed.

I am wondering if physical illness (relating to stress) may become part of the equation …i.e. Toni has a nervous breakdown (or something) and needs treatment which takes the focus off the wedding. Maybe this is the traumatic event that was foretold to us…. by someone on this message board..

I hope this week ends with Toni being happy. I can’t recall the last time she was shown being happy about something.

I hope that Toni’s not having cold feet.

SHUT UP, Brad, you literally blithering idiot! This wedding is not yours alone (if it even happens after this stupidity)! Let the bride make her choices, for heaven’s sake!You’ve made Toni sick. You will be lucky if you haven’t lost her altogether! You have reverted to your teenaged brainlessness! How foolish can you be?!

That weird strip, 9 Chickweed Lane, where you can’t make comments, is going through a pre-wedding thing, too, but far different from Toni and Brad’s. I have to admit that I don’t even know the characters, but the art work is fascinating. It seems to be a very humanistic, sterile comic that totally lacks soul. Almost creepy.

Come on, Toni. Just tell him. It’s a wedding, not the rest of your life. It’s one day. Brad needs to understand that all that money he’s planning on spending on the wedding can be spent on things that matter.

Toni should just dump Brad, stand up to her loser brother, and take a vacation by herself to Hawaii to clear her head

Dude wants to be involved in his own wedding. Unusual, perhaps. But not psychotic, or as Wizardgoat so ignorantly put it, “autistic.” THAT burned my ass. What the f*@k does that mean? Brad SHOULD have recognized that Toni had reached her limit on patience and kept his mouth shut. That is NOT AUTISTIC, that is BEING INSENSITIVE.

He looks over at Toni and sees her distress, his eyes off the road for a moment. He doesn’t see a car ahead. he veers…. SCREEEEEEEEE!!!. The next panel is black.

I never really comment, but why is everyone picking on Brad? He has always gone all out when Toni is concerned. Planning a wedding is stressful, but Toni has so much on her plate…that she is just overwhelmed in general. It’s mostly her brother’s fault. During the talent show brad freaked out about the brother, and she was trying to make him do what she does…just take it and silence those feelings. I don’t think the wedding is causing the most stress, it’s her brother’s actions that are. She needs to vent, and tell her brother about himself. It’s kind of messed up that everyone is blaming Brad, when her brother stresses her out more. I don’t see anything wrong with brad being excited about planning their big day. The actions of her brother are always taking priority, especially over their relationship and their plans. she needs to make her brother take responsibility, or they are always gonna have issues in their relationship.

I’m dismayed at Toni’s weakness. Either elope or break-up but stop being so darn weak about this.

This is a thinking person’s strip, and the comments certainly reflect that. Just thought I would comment on that.

@ohwhatever.This is where she LEAVES him. Hooray.When that doesn’t happen, I reserve the right to remind you of that prediction and then ask you to stop commenting..Hooray! Another clueless voice will be silenced!Not to defend him or anything, but has he really violated the TOS? All he did was comment on the comic.(For the record, I don’t agree with what he said, either. But, it’s a person’s right to say things, no matter how silly some may view them…)

Spoiler: the inevitable cliffhanger

dedicated to Brad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e9zLohMzMw

wow, she looks like a flower that’s wilting! and Bwad doesn’t get it yet!

Poor Toni.