Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 26, 2017

I don’t recall Tara Starr. (Good call, Bernice, on Luann’s accidental shoplift.)

Intentional stealing (not petty theft, chocolate) is motivated by the thought that you have the right to other people’s stuff the same as your own. Where someone would get that idea is anybody’s guess. Stay safe, Texas!

I guess there can be absent-minded thievery.

Sooo, do we get to meet this new “Starr” of the strip?

I am so crossing my fingers for a Brenda Starr crossover story. Please! Evans, please! Make Tara Starr to be Brenda’s niece gone bad with the family nickname “Terror Starr”.

The interesting thing about the TV revelation is that it apparently adds nothing to other arcs in general. All it amounts to is Greg disclosing a name and a few details, which makes all of us feel like we now know what happened, and are less curious.

But on second thought, it does tell us that the thief has no connection to the regular characters. That’s actually useful information.

It’s easily fixed. Put the money in an envelope and mail it to the store with an explanation, anonymously of course!!

Of course, we still have Piro and Dr. Heald in the queue, as well as Ann Eiffel.

Hope all Texas posters are safe right now…

OK, turn the car around, re-wrap that chocolate and replace it. Actually, paying for it is the better option.

Some people steal things they don’t need or want. I guess it’s an “I think I can get away with this” challenge.

Tara Starr. Another new character.

Perhaps “Tara Starr” will feature Prominently at Ann Eiffel’s Lingerie Gig, Thingy, Something or Other.

The Poor Lass has been Expelled and She’s GOT to find some way of making (WAIT for IT)Ends Meet!

BAR-RUM-PUM!

You know… it is the clerk’s responsibility to ring up all items, not Luann’s. Secondly, when did she ever conceal the candy bar? Most people — out of long habit — place the candy in front of the clerk along with everything else they are buying. Thus is it unreasonable to assume that Luann did not pay for the candy and Bernice’s accusation is unfounded, inflammatory and slanderous. It’s time for Luann to find better friends!

A lively fun girl that steals but does not fence that which she took? Sounds a bit psyco.

If introduced as a character, do not hand her off to Less or TJ.

She belongs to Ox.

Somehow, I doubt that Tara is related to Paul …

https://youtu.be/A9TEyQVg1bo

Re Hurricane Harvey: All is quiet in San Antonio. No rain yet and no wind. From experience living just south of Corpus Christi for many years, , I’ve come to expect that eerie feeling of low barometric pressure before a storm and the quiet oppressive atmosphere. It’s 2;08 A.M /CST and time for Luannophiles to go to bed.

Tara Starr aka Hair

You have to pay for candy bars?

I did that once, had a candy bar in my hand and accidentally walked right out of the store without paying for it. However, I was eight years old.

FINALLY, the “Who Stole the TV” question put to bed. Since they gave the guilty party a name (which wasn’t necessary; girl in room 213 would have been enough), it makes me curious if this character will resurface. Maybe ask for a job at Kablooie Cafe?

You gave them $474 for textbooks, enjoy the candy bar. The real thieves are the one charging you $474 for books because you have no choice about buying them.

It was at that moment that Luann said: “Aw, nuts!”. She then realzed she’d have to pay for a candy bar the didn’t even like! …..She would have to pay for a bar with almonds in it…..

Didn’t know Ann Eiffel had a daughter as well… ;-)

Nicely done. The TV story is all wrapped up, last (school) year’s fauxmances are all wrapped up, and Bernice and Luann are ready to start the new school year with a clean slate, at least in the non-academic department.

“Bar None….But One”

“She’s Got A Confection And A Mild Feeder”

“You Can’t Have Mars, Without Some Starrs”

“A Strip Full Of Peanuts”

“She’s A Bit Wonka In The Head”

“Crunch Time”

“Caution: Proceed With Caramel”

“Better Chocolate, Than Never”

“What You See, Is: ‘What Nougat?’ "

“A Fluff Piece”

“She Liked The Sound Of Wrap”

“Going Through Ware And Tara”

“Tara And Feathered Cocoa”

“Getting Expelled Is A Real Gas”

“For A Penalty, Kick Yourself!”

“When You Steal, There’s No Payday™©® For Anyone!”

“The Mov-ing Starr…And The Rest(itution)!” (♪)

“You Don’t Have To Be A Starr, Baby, To Steal In My Show” (♪)

“The Ballad Of Sweet Candy Cane” (♬)

“It Takes Two, Baby!…Me And You” (♪)

“Saying: It’s A Mistake!” (♪)

“You’re So Focused, You’ve Got Oversight”

or

“It’s Her Thief Concern”

If I could, I’d like to track this…Tara Starr… down, so I could ask her this one burning question:

-

“Is it ‘Tar-a’, or ‘Tar(e)-a’?”

IIRC, it was BERNICE who took the candy bar off the rack, noting loudly that they were “only a dollar.” Luann was in shock from the $475 book tab and probably didn’t even hear her.

Bernice is the thief, and Luann is just her mule. If the mule is consuming your ill-gotten gains, you sanctimonious Judas, so much the better.

Munch away, Luann, and Bernice wants to pay the store for the candy she stole, let her.

Terror Star… Terra Starr… Tear a scar…

Is there any reason we couldn’t have been told this back in April, when it actually happened? Wouldn’t it have been natural for Bernice to tell Luann about it at the time, given that she and Piro were actively part of it? Well, better late than never, I suppose. Maybe in a year or so we shall meet Dr. Heald, with whom Piro had an appointment. Or maybe Piro has joined Quill on the island in the Pacific where ex-boyfriends go in order to vanish from the strip?

Has Piro hooked up with Tara? Maybe that’s why no one’s seen him.

Ack! I made the mistake of searching for “Tara Starr” on Yahoo… I recommend you don’t do it…

College textbooks are such a rip off. Way back in late 1970s when I was at San Diego State, I was shocked my first semester when I bought my books. At the time, and it might still be this way, the instructors wrote the books and made them the required reading. And, since they changed them all of the time, selling them back was nearly impossible, as was trying to buy a used one. From this arc, I can see nothing has changed.

To reiterate. Tara Starr. Piro Starhead. What’s up with that?

Nobody is perfect. Bernice engaged in obstruction of a police investigation by lying to her boss about Piro, in order to protect him, and I am sure Luann being in her shocked state about the books, and talking with her friend, may just have forgotten to pay for the candy. The real interest is that we now know who the miscreant is with the TV theft, and I wonder if we might meet Tara Starr anyway. That is the resolution of one arc, which really was a way to set-up so many other arcs and we still have the new ones centering around the Fuse, and Ann and Fay, and who knows who or what. Onward on upward or sideways with Luannverse. At least there are no sexuality comments in this set of comments, although I need to check again later (lol).

Why would Bernice even ask that?

“Yes, I did. Why do you wonder?”

C’mon Greg … are you trying to make some vague equivalency between absent-mindedly walking out of a store with a candy bar, and breaking into a vending machine purposely? No.

Bernice is rapidly turning into the guidance counselor at high school – single, judgemental, prudish and unable to offer any real guidance to anyone asking for help. Hopefully Luann won’t turn into Mr. Fogey.

After paying almost $500 for the books, I would realize the misappropriation with “Oh well.”

And just yesterday I pocketed a pen at TD Bank. They’ll never take me alive!

I hope that next week’s storyline depicts Ann Eiffel and whatever apparent scam or illegal activity she is going to conduct at the Fuse. That’s the most notable storyline going on in the strip now.

A surprise Sunday comic: Luann is in court – Bernice is pointing at her – the judge is scowling – and “Exhibit A” is a half eaten candy bar. Police are still searching for the wrapper…

Is the thief related to Brenda…

Maybe Tara’s related to Leonard Starr, who revived Little Orphan Annie in 1979, perhaps? But Annie would never intentionally steal candy! Luann didn’t either. Hmmm … Luann and Annie do share similar names … maybe that’s the connection.

“to name something is to own it”. I don’t believe Greg would provide a name without then introducing a character to go with it. ( If he’s done so in the past I’m not remembering it).

Why would Luann have stolen a candy bar? When did we see her getting the candy bar?

My response to this strip was that Greg is just trying to put the issue of the TV thief to bed, because maybe he does read these comments and someone is always asking about the TV thief. Perhaps he’s putting a name to the person just to establish that it is indeed not Piro. But now he’s got a character with a name that he could use later on if he feels the need.

So we have the Sunday stand alone coming up. Then I’m ready for Greg & Karen to drop another bomb – likely with Ann’s production. When AE showed up out of the blue as Les’s mother – there were over 530 responses. Fun.

So how did the candy bar get from BERNICE’s hand to Luann’s without it being paid for as Luann checked out?

DATELINE: San Antonio TX. While watching the hints of rain beginning to fall and reminding me that 150 plus miles away people are in shock from Harvey’s destruction, I am pondering the mystery of the candy bar. I come up with more questions than answers. (1) Is it important to the story? (2) When did the candy change from Bernice to Luann? (3) How did Luann pay for the books? Cash, check, or plastic? (4) Could she have had candy bar in her hand while paying in any of the three options? (5) Neither girl was carrying a shopping bag of books when they left the book store, so were they in Luann’s backpack? If so, then Bernice must have been holding the candy while they bagged the books. (6) Why am I spending a lovely rainy Saturday afternoon pondering the storyline of a slow moving comic strip when I could be cuddling with my sweetheart on the sofa watching television or writing the epic novel or taking a nap?

1) Probably not relevant to the plot, but why waste space and time if it isn’t a clue to someone’s character?2, 3, and 4) Bernice must have been holding the candy bar while Luann paid for the books 5) and put them in her backpack. This suggests to me that Bernice, not Luann, is the culprit. New insight into Bernice which may show up later. 6) LA meeting (Luann Anonymous) I think I’m addicted to the comments and theories of this comic strip. I suspect several of my senior friends at ALIR (Academy for Learning in Retirement) have the same problem.

All’s calm on the San Antonio fro nt. Gentle breezes with occasional drop of rain.

Sunday: Frank and Nancy yearn for the olden days.

Tara Starr, expellee! No relation to Brenda Starr, Reporter, I assume. But a natural apprentice/accomplice for Annie Eiffel! Could it come to pass?

Her name is a joke, Tara (star) Starr who wasn’t the star of a story. Irony!

The point of this? An OOPS HAHA moment. It was the instant of cognitive dissonance when Luann realized that she hadn’t paid for the candy at the very moment she was pondering the motives behind petty theft. Bern isn’t criticizing or putting her down. She’s just noticed it and is simply verbalizing. Someone had to if this joke was going to happen, and no one else is there. She asked but did not accuse. I think many are projecting their dislike of her onto this innocuous moment and toting it up as one more proof that Bern is evil and mistreats Luann. Which is as silly as the vice versa of that idea, which is also expressed often.

More to the point why are you eating a candy bar at your age….?

Oh man I almost lost it at the look on Lu’s face in that last panel!