Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 09, 2017

Good praises is music to Les’s ears.

It’s wonderful to see Leslie proud and smiling!

Encouraging words can turn around some of those who think the world is against them…

Now maybe we’ll find out just how Eiffel Ann really is.

The good news is that we’re getting back to the most interesting current plot.

The bad news is that with the tray tilted at that angle in the third panel, I don’t see how Les will be able to stop those plates and glasses from sliding off the tray and onto the floor.

Props to everyone who anticipated a scene change here.

Additional props to those who’d predicted we’d cut back to preparations at The Fuse.

Yes… As a couple of posters have already said, Les could be responding positively to encouragement.

Or it could be a diabolical grin. Only time will tell.

He could help his mother pull off something horrible. Or, as some have previously speculated, he could blow the whistle on her for doing things he hadn’t counted on.

If he really redeems himself, I’d think that maybe he and Tiff could still become an item.

This is what Fuse needs: someone in management to take charge, and give a compliment to the workers now and then. If Pru hasn’t sunk the place by her stupidity I think Nancy would make a good manager.

Okay arc change! WIll this be the connect the dots between Tiffany and her father and the GF, and TJ, Ann, the Fuse, and Pru, among other Luannverse characters I think it will be? Be ready for a stemwinder!!

FINALLY! Back to the interesting part!

If Nancy only knew, she would save the complement for someone else.

Yes, Leslie, a heterosexual woman was nice to you. That has to be the first time in a long time that’s happened to you.

I doubt Les knows what his mom is gonna do. Notice a theme in these arcs? Parents. Tiffany and Gunther are struggling with their parents. Les 8s struggling with his mom and will face a big thing with her soon.

I don’t think it will be a Tupperware party tonight. The Fuse will get lit. And the DeGroots go bankrupt.

So. When Does Les RAT His Mom Out and become the “Hero” everybody’s been clamoring for?

I never cared for the Fuze idea. To work it had to become the center of all the character’s lives, which obvious;y it hasn’t. Blowing it, though, will also force the strip to center around that which will take away from the this as a character-driven strip.

We’ve been away from this arc for too long. I am not caring that much as it will take over a week to find out anything about this party.

Hopefully, with that tray tilted like it is, Luann doesn’t walk by and everything slides off, rebreaking her foot.

.

We’ll see how his attitude is when Mommy Dearest shows up…

Wish I’d had parents like that.

That’s TJ’s square top head as the black blob behind the counter at Kafe Kablooie.

So everybody knows everything and the plot advanced a lot further than I expected.

Frank and Nancy are OK with the changes Pru made in the contract. TJ is….OK? He may have extra locks added to the cabinets.

Les is and will always be Les until he confesses to Ox that he has been taking his tip money. We know he is a sleaze, but is he a big time sleaze working for his mother, or is he in a black cloud funk because he is trapped into helping his mother.

It would be a great twist if he was working with Pru, and knowing Ann was setting up something, they did the first set up.

But about that tip money…

I’m still going with the Fuse event is a bachelor party for Tiffany’s Dad. If not that, then a Pyramid investment scheme of some kind. However the Bachelor Party could bring a lot of arcs together.

Meanwhile, Gunther is getting lots of action, if you know what I mean.

Here they come!

“In Spite Of It All”

“Does The Buss Stop Here?”

“A Periodic Table Or Two”

“You’ve Got A Waiter On Your Shoulders”

“Sieze The Tray”

“Ready, Willing And Tabled”

“Knox And Pings”

“Brass (And Nancy) In Pocket” (♬)

“I’m Special!…So Special…” (♪)

“Ride, Ride, Ride….Let It Ride” (♪)

“Smile A Little Smile, For Me…Rose-Marie…” (♪)

“Sunshine, On A Cloudy Day” (♩)

“What You See, Is What You Get?” (♬)

“When You’re Estranged, Faces Come Out, In The Rain" (♪)

“Am I My Mother’s Keeper?”

“Don’t Ask For Whom The Bail Toils”

or

“Mother……Maybe I?”

Praise is a great social lubricant.

Finally we are here to see Ann Eiffel Plot to sabotage The fuse

I’m with those who feel that Les’ smile is positive… that he’s genuinely pleased with the compliment Nancy gave him. So, hopefully, this will be an arc where he has an opportunity to RAT on his mother. We’ll see of what he is made. And the fact that Uncle Al Gray is behind the Fuse financially will facilitate his decision. We know that there is tension between Al and Ann, and that Ann may be trying to pull something over on Al. Hopefully, Les will recognize what’s going on and thwart those efforts. We’ll see.

Is that smile about the compliment or the fact that he’s going to basically have his mother rob The Fuse at this event and then get Pru fired?

Glad we got away from fat whiny tiff over her daddy blues. Got tired of “Lady and the Tramp”…..

So who does Les side with …his “Fuse family” or his biological one ?

In the first frame, I was reminded of Eeyore, walking under a perpetual cloud of doom.

K2: Is Greg stealing one of Dan Piraro ’s secret symbols? Bizarro!

Seriously, given Les ’ checkered past, I tend to want to push away whenever I see him. Part of him earning my trust would include an apology for the way he treated Gunther at his own home! – probably the main reason Gunther discouraged Tiffany from going out with him. Les deserved it, even if he is unaware of Gunther ’s diss…

5

Pipe and coffee break prognostication time:

For me, the reaction of Les could be either a) he is happy because he was praised and he likes that, or b) he was reminded of the “Lingerie Party” with his Mom and he was thinking about how big of a scam this will be.

I am hoping and leaning towards believing Greg intends Les to become a nicer character, so I am of the belief that Les’s reaction is real happiness due to being praised.

As others have speculated, if his “mother” (Ann Eiffel) does do something underhanded and nefarious…. now how will Leslie act? Well, for me, it is very hard to believe that Leslie did did not know of whatever Ann’s plans are before he got her introduced to Prudence. So, I think this is going to be VERY difficult for Leslie either way:

1. Either he goes along with Ann’s plans and then ends up hurting the DeGroot parents, and now he is enjoying their (her) sincere praise.

2. Or, he turns in Ann and thwarts her plan(s)…. but then also runs the very real risk that Ann will implicate him in the whole mess as well.

So, likely Les will lose either way.

I am going to actually predict that Leslie will realize the mess he is in, and concoct some plan to keep the Lingerie Party from happening in the first place. In this fashion, he will believe he can protect the DeGroots, but also keep his role in the planned Lingerie Party scam from being as readily discovered. How might this transpire?!?!? Who the hell knows? But, perhaps he will somehow get Mr. Gray uptight enough about the party that he will work to get it called off?

I am still hoping like all heck that Ann IS NOT the girlfriend/date of Mr. Ferrel (Tiffany’s Dad).

Compliments…pass it on.

So, is he responding to kind words or because he knows what his Mom is going to do?

Leslie is EVIL? His family plots to ruin the DeGroots? What is all this? Luann is a COMIC strip after all… Let’s hope there is a good outcome here – somewhere

A little encouragement goes a long way!

Les might be initially responding to Nancy’s kind words. But he will soon realize a conflict and this could be the subject of tomorrow’s panels.

Ann Eiffel has an airplane ticket to Japan in her purse. A going away party or a quick getaway.

Some readers are speculating that Les will stop the party because it’s a scam & they might be right, but how would he do this? Pull a fire alarm & have Brad & Toni show up (extreme)? Put a triple shot of hot sauce in the snacks (comic possibilities)? Confront AE and be a hero (I think more likely).

I might be over-reading this, but I am getting the vibe that Les thinks his mom’s party is pretty much what she says it is. I don’t see how it can be, but Les seems to think so.

A little praise goes a long way.

A few observations:

Panel 1: I do empathize with Les and his dark-clouded look here – There are places where the patrons feel they can act like absolute PIGS and make a mess – all just because they know someone ELSE will be cleaning it up! I’m sure that I’m not the only one here who has worked in food service before, and you know how some folks can be! Look at the table, then his cleaning tray!

Panel 2: The surprised look on Les’ face tells me he has NOT received much praise in the past – especially from his elders. His mom IS Ann Eiffel, so is that a surprise? I figured not.

Panel 3: Les is reacting – positively – to the good Nancy thanking him for being a good worker, and welcoming him into the fold. I’ve been fortunate to have good managers (most of them, at least) who took that little bit of time to thank me for doing a good job. The cost to them for that? – Absolutely NOTHING, but the payoff can be huge!

Nancy (and Les) are not aware of Ann’s real intent, but we will see. ‘Family’ has meaning – and we’ll find out how deep it runs here soon!

We haven’t seen Tara for while. If Les meets Tara – that could be more interesting than Les & Tiffany. We are tossing the coin on both Les & Tara to see if they are on track for a better life – might be like two AA people getting together. Nevertheless I would be jealous – as I like Tara and not Les.

“Music soothes the savage beast.” And so could Nancy – what a sweetheart!

What happened to Gunther and Tiffany you know alone

I will take, for now, Leslie Knox’s new cheer as the positive sign it seems to be. Nancy may be the first person to say anything good about him in years. And as the offspring of Annie Awful, the Evil Eyeful Eiffel, he hasn’t had much parental encouragement. Nor from Mr. Grey the mysterious eminence grise who seems to have won Mrs. Berger’s heart. It’s as tangled a web as any sub-Shakespearean soap opera!

Here’s a plot twist, Leslie’s Mom is the “Floozy Tramp” who is Dating Tiffany’s Dad

Best tip he’s ever had!

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

Words of encouragement and appreciation can go a long way. Les probably hasn’t heard them…ever?

Good strip and a bit of character development for Les. I think this arc will come down to Les having to choose between loyalty to his mother and the Fuse Family (the DeGroots, his uncle, Pru).

This should be an entire week of preparation for Ann’s party.

Do we see Pru again.

Do we see Mr. Gray again.

Everybody not invited to the party can take their own sweet time in leaving the parking lot.

And that is a bright daylight blue coming through the windows. It isn’t even evening yet.

I think the evidence is in the second panel, not the third. Les seems genuinely shocked at what Nancy is saying to him.

Sometimes all it takes is a pat on the back.