Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for March 20, 2018

Hair over shoulder strap.

Hair behind shoulder strap.

Body turned with no shoulder strap.

~~~

Rather strapped today for something to comment upon.

Sounds like Fay’s mother is going to have quite a conversation with Luann later on.

Filler. And/or lead-in to an excruciatingly tedious storyline between the two least-appealing characters in the strip.

Slowly but surely all of the money-making left for Prudence’s theater program goes away. She has lost the rental fee for Ann Eiffel’s lingerie party and she is about to lose whatever fee Fay’s mother was paying for tutoring. Of course since we haven’t seen Prudence in forever, it might not make any difference.

Hope Mom doesn’t bring the curtain down on Luann.

Well unfortunately, it looks like Luann may be out of a job soon.

So the question is: Is Faye’s mom merely overly protective because of her daughter “condition,” or is her “condition” imaginary and Faye’s Mom is Completely NUTS?

Because If so, this poor kid is in grave danger……,

Uh-oh. Awkward conversation coming soon!

When the all firefighter rock band, Extinguish, starts playing at the Fuse, the cash flow problems will be over.

Is the fey Fay fated to fade away?

Feh.

I concur, Faye’s mom. Luann always is dramatic about just everything, especially boys. She needs to be clarified that her mentorship with Faye does not include talking about boys. She needs to realize her own successes with boys was almost nil so who is she to talk to Faye about boys? Leave that out and focus on theater which does not equal to drama.

Speaking of drama, lady… .

So we have Nurse Ratched or Tonya’s mother.

Someone needs to tell Faye’s mom that acting IS drama. To be a good actor, you need confidence to act with all sorts of other people; people you have a crush on, uptight people, mean people, males and females of all ages, etc. It also seems that Faye is more comfortable talking about boys to Luann than her own mom. The boyfriend/girlfriend stuff is going to start sooner or later anyways, why not be prepared? Acting is helping Faye be more confident in the REAL world, Faye’s mom should be grateful for that. With that said, Faye’s mom may want to have a talk with Luann and let her know the limits of what she thinks is appropriate for her daughter to know for her age group.

Helicopter mom with two rotors and full armament. Luann does not know what is coming.

Any minute now, Fay will be riding with cars with boys!

Wow, Faye’s mother is a real witch.

Only one turning it into drama is mommy dearest. :)

Luann i would run because Fay mom is coming straight for you and she’s on the warpath.

The woman is loosing her “source of drama” herself!No more strange illnesses to show off with. Oh the humanity!

She will kill fay’s hopes for a fun future in the name of keeping herself the center of attention by inventing a new, debilitating illness. Or allergy. “Axelitis!”

Growing up in a repressive environment is going to ultimately damage Faye in her older teen years. Her mother is conflating “talking” with “dating”. I would love to get in Mom’s backstory to see what happened to her.

Thought the goal here was to boost Fay’s self confidence all around, Mom.

Well, that’s what you get for hiring a mentor who’s barely out of high school herself, Mom.

Here comes the Cuckoo. And I don’t mean kookookachoo. It’s no wonder Fay is so withdrawn and shy. I’m shocked she doesn’t stutter.

Stay tuned for our next exciting episode “Throw Momma from the Karma or She’ll Run Over Your Dogma!”

I hear helicopters!!! Get a grip, Mommy!!! Fay is trying to overcome her difficulties & learn to be her own person!!!

“Regressed Ride Story”

“Eyes And Nulls”

“Jersey Boys!…Or Any Boys, For That Matter!…”

“My Unfair Old Lady”

“Mouthed Specifics”

“That’s Not Funny, Girl!”

“The Sound Of Refusal”

“Some Right-In-Reach Memoirs”

“It’s Not OK, Homie!”

“How To Impede Your Business, Without Really Trying”

“The Plan, Of ‘Not-Much-A’ "

“The Phantom Pain In My Neck”

“It’s A Long Pause, For A 40 Second Street”

or

“The Odd Couple Of Minutes”

FIRE HER! How dare she try to help her in any other way?!?!

(Besides, boys got cooties — whatever that is.)

I thought Fay’s mother is paying Luann to help get Fay “out of her shell.” Help her feel more confident about herself. Which will include interacting with boys.

Momma sets the standards and everybody better live up to them…..kind of like Bernice.

I’m under the impression that Fay’s reticence is a result of an overly protective mother precipitated by Fay’s allergy(ies). Isn’t the mom a “single mom?” That might be the cause of her concern re “boys.” Fay isn’t the only one that needs mentoring.

I guess we know why Faye has problems now.

And people wonder why their teenagers don’t share things with them. This shows why. Because adults (most I know) have forgotten (or altered their memories of) what it is like to be a teenager. So they intentionally or inadvertently forge anything a teenager tells them into a weapon based on whatever emotional baggage they have as an adult.

Mom SHOULD have a talk with Luann, starting with how much she appreciates the positive changes in Faye. From there, she can talk about her concerns with Axle, her daughter’s interest in him and Luann’s role in that situation. Then they can talk about her expectations from Luann regarding boys.

But that’s not how helicopter mom’s do things.

Mom needs to take a pill.

So Fay can’t have a crush either?

4

A lot to work with today it seems. Here are some thoughts I have related to today:

1) While at first glance it seems Mom is being over protective of Fay, another way to view this is that in reality, Mom really knows little about Luann other than her “theatery” aspect. I can understand a Mom being at least cautious about a young adult who she really doesn’t know, giving her daughter a bunch of boy advice.

2) WE, the readers, know that Luann has great intentions and also a sensible mindset in how she has and will advise Fay in this regard…. but again, the Mom DOES NOT KNOW Luann at this level at the moment, so I can understand her reticence.

3) Of course, the Mom could OVER-REACT and shut down all the interactions between Luann and Fay….. but she may respond more SENSIBLY instead, and simply want to learn and understand Luann’s point of view about dating and about boy-girl interactions between kids who are Fay’s age before she makes a decision. I could see the arc progressing in either direction.

4) While the past we know about Mom is somewhat murky (Is Fay truly medically fragile, or is Mom hyper-protective and helicoptering?), we will have to wait and see how she interacts with Luann about this matter. There are a variety of approaches that could be taken.

Theater?! … Drama?!

Why those totally disparate things just CAN’T go together!!

Why … that’d be like Chocolate with Peanut Butter!! (I mean really)!!

Now, please pardon me whilst I go get some candy! ;)

She sounds like a typical “helicopter mom.”

A few readers said this as well….assuming Fay’s mom is a single parent (haven’t heard one mention of her dad), her reluctance with letting Fay talk to boys may be due to her own self-doubts and feelings of inferiority. Anyone else notice that in a previous strip, it was revealed Fay is 14 years old? That’s plenty old enough to “talk” to boys…good LORD!!! And most girls that age are interested in boys. I’ll bet Fay’s mom is the reason for ALL of Faye’s issues regarding self-confidence. And I’ll bet all those “conditions” aren’t real either. But not to worry Fay, the wonderful thing about childhood is it never lasts forever. One day you will be an adult and you’ll be in control of your own destiny and can make your own decisions. One day……

I know I’m assuming a lot here but it just seems this is where the story arc is headed.

Once again I’m amazed by how differently Faye and her Mom are drawn than are others in the strip. Much more minimalist (I think I once said there was a tribute to manga in their style). If you compared them to Dez, the most realistically (as in non-cartoonishly) drawn character in the strip, it would look like they were created by two completely different artists.

I believe I’ll be skipping this arc, my tolerance for stupidity, ie her moms reactions, is non existent

Did anyone notice that Fay’s Mom looks like Bernice with dark hair – creepy

Okay, a little off-topic, but does anyone use the GoComics app (on the iPhone)? Does it still work? Mine stopped working a few weeks ago. I can’t get it to load any of the comics. Is there a new upgrade that I am missing, or does the app not work anymore?? I can’t get my comics on-the-go anymore.

Miss DeGroot? Drama?? Don’t be ridiculous!

This will PROBABLY lead to a lesson in why you shouldn’t shelter your child/stop them from living their own lives/be overbearing.

actually, Fay kinda fibbed a little there, saying that she “only” talked to Axel because Luann encouraged her to. As if the thought didn’t occur to her before!

Children are so stupid. Nobody in their right mind would love Axel; they would loathe him. (Besides that it’s true, I can’t insult Axel enough.)

Looks like this lady is going to be a helicopter mom. Of course I can understand on some level, considering Faye’s health. But she can’t keep Faye in a glass box or a bubble ALL the time.

Wouldn’t have let her get involved in theater in the first place since that’s her attitude. And drama is a part of theatrical work, Fay’s mom.

I was about to say the same thing….helicopter mom who is clueless about her daughter actually having a crush on a boy. Yeah, Mom, blame it on someone else.

And I join the ranks of those disappointed we’ve changed course and have a new story line. Which is, so far, boring can be. I kinda like Fay, but she just threw Luann under the bus. I’ll give it another day or two to see what happens for poor Luann, who meant well to draw Fay out of her shell.

As someone who used to be terrified of talking to people and had confidence problems, I think Fay’s mom is being unreasonable. Challenging yourself is how you can grow as a person. In the case of someone who is shy, like Fay, that means talking to people, and that includes… GASP…boys.

With that type of reaction, I can see why Faye confides in Luann and not her mother. I would imagine in real life, she would be even more reluctant to tell her mother anything.

I don’t know what’s funnier, How over the top the mom is reacting or the fact someone actually believes Luann can be a mentor

Someone earlier in this thread had suggested that there would be some kind of tie-in between this new arc and the Ann versus Tiffany arc. So, here’s a thought.

….

As Faye and her mother are pulling up to the Fuse, Luann has just finished explaining to Nancy that the boxes of lingerie she found are all fake, and telling her about Ann’s scam. Nancy is really upset and worried about legal ramifications, and thinking about calling the cops.

…..

Faye’s mother marches into this scene and begins to tell Luann off, but Nancy jumps into the fray, and orders Faye’s mother to leave the premises. “No one talks to my daughter that way (except for me)! I’m about to call the police because a crime has been committed against us, and I won’t hesitate to report you for harassment! Out!”

…….

Faye’s mother grabs her daughter’s hand and stomps off. Both she and Nancy have angry expressions on their faces, and Luann and Faye just look at each other and shrug…

cue the ominous music

Reinforcing my comment from yesterday, that Fay’s mom is an older version of Bernice. As prissy and uptight and smothering as a hundred bungee cords wrapped around your neck!

Luann is being paid for this work so Fay’s mom wants some clarification , I suppose.

boy, that’s gonna be one confused little girl.

Too many characters story’s to keep up with creator needs to get focused or start creating new strips for the other characters

Too many characters story’s to keep up with creator needs to get focused or start creating new strips for the other characters

Too many characters story’s to keep up with creator needs to get focused or start creating new strips for the other characters

Fay’s Mom has got it going on!

Unfortunately, this “it” is the overbearing, smothering crush of a smug, priggish mother.

Luann worked in a child care job, worked with kids in the library, babysits Shannon, and now she mentors Fay. She is a social worker specializing in kids and will never finish college because she doesn’t have the focus or the drive or the interest in it.

tomorrow: the car wreck!

Or perhaps this mom is confusing theater with drama.

I think I’m beginning to understand why Fay was so quiet in the first place. Mention a harmless boy’s name and she freaks out.

I’m confused as to why mom is upset. Wouldn’t the play have both the leads as siblings?? No kissing scenes…overreaction for nothing, and there goes all the confidence progress Fey has gained….