Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 21, 2016

Joyful, enthusiastic hooray on TJ’s part. Gloomy, sarcastic hooray on Brad/Toni’s part.

Wait, Brad’s in on it …?

I love how the artist captured Brad’s fatigue so subtly with that slightly lopsided stance! If there’s a job more exhausting than fighting a wildfire, I haven’t heard of it. They go at maximum physical pitch for days without sleep. I once saw a firefighter who sat down just for a second and instantly fell asleep sitting up—with a little patch of flames right next to him!

I think a rain dance is the best resort now.

If this wasn’t a humour strip, I would be getting a bad feeling about that fire and about the prospective wedding right now…

Pardon the pun, but I wonder if they’re in our neck of the woods. That is, North Georgia. We have fires here becauseof the drought.

I love this storyline but firefighters rarely use axes on wildfires. They use Pulaskis. or chainsaws.

Why would Brad be answering his phone in the middle of fighting a fire?

Lay off Mordock. TJ has a good heart and is doing his all for Brad and Toni.

Not really realistic here. You fight forest fires with shovels and axes, not pumper trucks and hoses. Just sayin’.

I’m really starting to worry a little here, folks. Again, that “Drama & Trauma” expectation from Greg, so long ago. I really hope they aren’t harmed at all, and that the wedding proceeds as scheduled. They deserve that happiness.

They will be married. The house will be remodeled. Everything else is “on the table.” Greg likes to surprise us. And, it seems we like being surprised.

Wedding is happening bedside at the hospital

Hey Greg, wildfires usually are not fought with fire hoses. The fire is just too spread out. They should be using shovels, chainsaws, and bulldozers to create a fire line.

“Thick And Thin”

“The Rolling Phones”

“The Updating Game”

“Update, Downdate”

“The Blaze Of Our Lives”

“A Work In Progress”

Or

“Re-port In A Storm”

isn’t fighting a wildfire just before the wedding day dramatic enough for a comic strip?

Hey, looks like I was wrong about one thing — we ARE seeing some of the firefighting, after all!

93% done? And I still see open studs… ?

Watch those flash fires and high wind! Many fighters died in Arizona.

How do we know Brad didn’t call TJ on a break? Not sure about the 93% completion part on the remodel but would love to see it. TJ’s really done a super job of organizing everything IMO.

Such fires are happening more often over a wider area than before. And on top of it, houses are being built in known Fire Zones, and new Fire Zones too.

T.J. isn’t being a Jackass—-so don’t be one. So tone it down, pull it back and cool it. Okay?

I think this comic needs a dark touch, and that Toni should die, or become horribly disfigured so that we see how Brad deals with it…

Forest fire as they said and evaluated.

Drama, Drama, drama. And by the way for those anti-TJ haters please, please lay-off that, at least for the wedding. Maybe TJ will have some scheme to make you happy after the wedding, but for now he is not only showing how much a friend he is, how fantastic a best man to Brad he is, how much he can show love, but also organization and people skills, even getting Jonah to help. Now as to Brad and Toni, the hero aspect of their job, and their bravery and dedication, while being real people is so well shown in this panel (is that Toni climbing on the fire engine in the back?) I, like a lot of lovers of Luann, am worried that something bad will happen, but I don’t think so, I think they will be tired but blissfully happy. 20 days guys!!!

Don’t do it Greg. DO NOT.

Why do I get the feeling that they’re setting us up for something tragic?

5

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I am surprised that Brad is aware of Operation B.A.T. I was kind of assuming that it was going to be a surprise for both he and Toni.

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So, even though I am currently of the opinion that there will not be any CATASTROPHIC tragedy ensuing because of the wildfires, I suspect that there will be SOMETHING at least somewhat troubling that will happen. I wonder what folks most current opinions are of whom the troubling event will befall?

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Brad? I would say the odds are 5:1 that the event will happen directly to him. I feel this because he is a main character and a DeGroot to boot. With Greg rarely, if ever going really dark in his stories, it seems lowered odds IMO.

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Toni? I would say the odds are 4:1 that the event will happen directly to her. The slightly stronger odds are because she is not yet a “DeGroot” at the moment (Yes, I know she is keeping her name, but you know what I mean.)

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Other Firefighter Friend? I would say that the odds here are the most probable…. perhaps 2:1. I am taking the “Star Trek Red Shirt Principle” here as my reasoning. It seems that in the generally safe and good world that Greg has created, that one of the other firefighter friends would be akin to a “ST Red Shirt Character” and if you do not know the analogy… the ancillary characters who wore red shirts on the original Star Trek ended up having a significantly higher likelihood of having trouble befall them than other (main) characters.

Other Person in the Comic? I would say that the odds here are extremely low… perhaps 20:1 that Greg’s troubling event will be outside of the wildfire…. say perhaps something back at the house to someone or something there. To me, it would be too jarring to the story line IMO for Greg to consider that.

My guess is someone will be injured working on the house remodeling. Les would be a good candidate for that. Why else would Les be helping out?

All wildfires are extinguished eventually when they run out of available fuel.

Is it a good idea for emergency workers to get distracting personal calls? Or does it help them keep perspective?

Somebody gets injured/has a close call and Thanksgiving is in a hospital room.

Last thing on Brad’s mind is a stupid wedding aka: elaborate party. Too bad it’s not the last thing on Greg’s mind……

The bizarre wedding-planning fixation just got more bizarre

I like the “split screen” technique. It allows both story lines to run simultaneously, which also means that if anything bad happens, TJ will know right away as will the rest of the group. I know they used this in the stage production of Le Miz….same song different groups singing it from their own prospective. The theater is usually pretty good when the cast isn’t too busy lecturing someone in the audience. That blows the illusion.

Why do I have a feeling that this wedding isn’t going to take place when its suppose to?

Bunker gear at a wildfire? No wonder Brad is exhausted…

I love how someone finally is making Jonah be somewhat responsible.

Brad is holding the wrong kind of axe to fight range or forest fires. Polaski is usually what is needed to dig fire line.

It is the one titled “Frankie’s Holiday”, BTW

Am I the only one who thinks that’s not ok, to be answering your phone during a wildfire? Dude, hang up already. You got wayy more important things to be doing right now. Another thing — why did it take THIS LONG for Brad and Toni and TJ to do what a couple people could do in one/a few day(s)?

TJ, the Eddie Haskel of Pittsville

Has anyone started a dead pool on this thread yet? Wildfires don’t mess around. There’s little chance it’ll be a main character like Toni, so I’m betting on Big Mouth Laughing Guy to go.

I still have that ominous feeling, and hope neither Brad nor Toni is seriously injured fighting the wildfire. Why would Greg introduce the fire into the story if it weren’t going to have some dramatic impact?

I wonder which one of them (Brad or Toni) will get injured before the wedding? That’s the usual twist to extend drama/interest…

I was a forest fire fighter in the late 70’s. 2 years ago, brave firefighters saved my house and 10 acres of forest, although it got very close. I had to evacuate for 3 weeks. I know this is just a (great) comic strip, but it makes me think of all of the brave firefighters in the southeast right now.

Haven’t read all the posts but to me it is not clear who placed the phone call. Because the first panel is of TJ, It looks like TJ was the one, but he wouldn’t be able to know if Brad was available or if it would be a real intrusion. I’m thinking that an unanswered call placed by TJ later in the week will produce serious concern.

I am wondering if the Evanses will choose to have the fire portion of the story over by Thanksgiving to have the family all together and grateful about it on Thursday. Thoughts?

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We had our Thanksgiving plans change, though not in a bad way, so will be dining at home on Thursday. I am hoping that all of the Degroot clan, family and acquired family, will be doing the same.

All right then, since fire-fighter Brad is taking an apparent much-needed ‘break’ during the Raging Wildfire, let’s JOIN Him, shall We?Break out the Marshmallows and the Weenies. And not to worry. “Somebody’s” already got a (WAIT for It) “FIRE” going……,

Back around 1961 or so, there was a “Tales From The Bizarro World” story where Jimmy Olsen accidentally wound up there. He got a job on The Daily Htrae (that world’s version of The Daily Planet — Htrae is Earth backwards). One “story” Jimmy tried to cover was a theater fire. His mistake was in reporting it “straight” instead of in Bizarro fashion, which a rival paper showed the Bizarro firemen roasting marshmallows at the fire, with the headline “Marshmallows Get Toastid In Theatur Fire; Them Sure Taste Good!” (I spelled it the way it appeared in the story.)

My younger brother was a smoke jumper for years. Fighting wildfires is the most dangerous, difficult, and frustrating duty there is for a firefighter.

SPOILER

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We lose the fire and some drywall