Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 29, 2020

Cue the loser horn from “The Price is Right.”

WOW consolation prize!!!!

you definitely got Luann, Bernice: best friend remember?

Somehow, someway, Nancy’s gonna put Bernice to work at the Fuse; just wait and see.

Wait, she lost her job? I thought they were just low on funding, not firing the RAs.

Ok. NOW who is snarky? Yes, Luann knows how to do snarky.

I think this is the point in the musical where Luann sings, “But you got me” while Bernice sings a counter melody snarking all of Luann’s bad qualities and then they end with a hug.

Bernice is really turning into a Debbie Downer. Maybe the RA funds weren’t cut. Maybe the faculty was tired of Bernice’s whining.

Ok, I like Luann just fine. But she would never be my go-to for any of the sad or angry moments/time periods of life. Tiff and Les are lucky to have had each other.

Meanwhile back at the dormitory, it is nothing but nonstop partying and celebrating that Bernice is no longer there, and that’s just the summer school students.

I couldn’t even share a hotel room with my best, life long friend. We take vacations together, we room apart.

“Just temporary”; let’s see, when I started my last job; this “sucks, I’ll stay a month, max”. Now its also my present job and its 17 years later. Bernice may be around for awhile.

There! You see? Bernice just said the magic word. Temporary.

This too, shall pass. In the meantime, Bern should be thankful that she’s living rent free with friends that think of her as family.

The only downside side is there won’t be any more “Piro crashing in Bern’s room” stories for the foreseeable future.

Not without the DeGroot clan calling the Po-Po. ;)

Gee, Luann, you say that like its a good thing.

Oh Luann always thinking about yourself and not others.

Bring back Delta. Get rid of the title character like in Judge Parker for a generation.

Is this strip about to become really interesting?

Bernice has ALWAYS been a “debbie downer” she can’t see the good in anything.

Not good enough when you don’t pay rent

Such a deal. The question is not whether is worthwhile, it is; the question is what comes with it. I’m betting the brother is going to be in this somehow.

Gonna be a loooong boring week.

C’mon Bernie – make the best of it.

Bernice was terrified that she was actually going to be homeless. Now she knows she has a roof over her head, but she can’t see anything positive in that. When a friend or a parent offers a room during a time of need, it would seem as though that is a positive thing.

Suddenly, Bernie became even more depressed….

Well there’s always tomorrow…

Same pot, different spoon.

Luann you of all people should know how Bernice tends to overanalyze things.

Will Luann hang out in Bernice’s room?

You’ll have to admit she does look lost, Luann! :D

Luann is sort of thick as a brick.

If there were a fourth frame, there would be a snarky remark from Bernice.

Being an alpha female (Bernice) who is now living with the beta female (Luann) is a break in the world order (study hard and prosper). Luann has not made any sacrifices that are similar to what Bernice has made to get the University and pick a career that Bernice wants. Luann’s circumstance allows her to be a dreamer who is living rent-free on Frank-and-Nancys prosperity. Bernice is jealous of Luann situation.

How ungrateful can you be?

The glass is always half empty with Bernice.

Its quite easy (and lazy) to point out that approximately 75 years ago thousands of men Bernices age were storming the beaches of Normandy yet the first sign of anything negative and Bernice breaks down but still it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Bernice to learn about resilience…

“Luann, it just keeps getting worse!”

she lost her job? I thought it was just a pay cut. there are no ra’s now? PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, she lives in a DORM? I thought these people were high schoolers!

I roomed with my best friend from 5th grade freshman year in college. Many people said “don’t do it, you’ll end up hating each other”. 30 plus years later, we’re still pals!

Small compensation! 8^ )

I understand Bernice’s thoughts, but it would be better if she didn’t take Luann’s friendship for granted. After all, Luann is right, this it’s going to be so fun ♡♡♡!

Isn’t friendship truly what matters, Bernice?

Bernice should write a how to book. As in “How To Be A Downer In Any Situation”. Stuff happens Bernice, welcome to real life-hope you like ibuprofen.

And we all have a reprieve from that awful coconut Ann. Count your blessings.

Somehow Luann, having you, doesn’t make up for what Bernice has lost.

Oh, get a room, you two. Oh, wait.

Next Up House Party at the Degroot’s BUT responsible , Yah Right only for Bernice , Luann gets Tipsy by mistake .

A more than fair trade.

Strips like these don’t make Luann look good compared to other characters here. And she’s the title character.

So far everyone who has lived in that room has ended up in a relationship with a woman. Third times the charm.

Wow, is it me or is Bernice Debbie Downer these days?

Ann Eiffel now homeless?

Debby Downer

The number of comments here is getting less and less every day, without Anne Eiffel to complain about. Things are getting back to normal

Not a good idea to move in with bff.

7

Interesting display today between Bernice and Luann. Both viewpoints are valid and important….

a) However, Bernice is focusing on the negative at the moment. This is understandable because it is really her world that has gone topsy-turvy.

b) Luann, is focusing more on the positive. This is good in several ways…. one… it helps Bernice feel truly INVITED to be there and less like a “burden” that is an easy way for people to feel if they have to take help from someone.

The one aspect of this situation that is “odd” though is that Bernice lost her RA position. It seems a bit of a stretch in terms of budget cutting measures at a University. I mean, I cannot imagine that a whole dormitory or even a whole wing of a dormitory at Moony U is going to be devoid of students. If there were that big of a loss of students in the dorms, reduction in RAs would be understandable to a degree. But, the “budget” idea seems rather preposterous if the dorm still is filled with students…. the “cost” of room and board (the usual “pay” for an RA) is miniscule compared to the value they provide the University in terms of their role in their wing of the dormitory.

But, even though the reduction in RA’s seems a “tad” preposterous… we can accept it as simply the story arc. I still wonder if the return of Bernice’s brother/family is just a plot point to give Greg an easy way to throw Luann and Bernice together like this…. or if the actual character (Bernice’s brother) will once again be a part of the comic itself?

Bernice is just a big PIA

Luann has a tendency to live in the moment, to get excited about things. Her face in panel 1 is all too familiar. Bernice looks at the big picture of a situation; by pondering too hard about circumstances and consequences, it’s easy to get down. Luann doesn’t see Bern’s side of the matter; she only feels happy that her best friend is now living under the same roof. Luann has always had the stability of her family and home (which other characters don’t necessarily have) and doesn’t understand the sense of uncertainty that Bernice feels. The support systems offered by Mooney that Bern was depending on are unraveling. She feels suddenly at large. Luann has never moved away from home and doesn’t know what it is like to keep moving around.

And this is why this is going to not end well. Bernice has matured and has real problems to deal with, and Luann is still acting like a self-centered tone-deaf thirteen year old.

Will we ever see Dez again?

Bernice and Luann hanging out together in Luann’s house, just like old times. They were doing that starting from day 2 of the strip – 35 years ago!

https://www.gocomics.com/luann/1985/03/18

I would have expected Bernice to be a little more grateful.

The Pessimist and The Optimist

Consolation prize.

Bernice sees a glass half empty. LuAnn sees a glass half full. And LuAnn’s glass has lemonade!

Luann sure knows how to cheer someone up and I am typing this sarcastically.

For all of you who are dissing Luann, go suck a lemon, sour puss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W-NCIZAXlw

Nancy jumped at the opportunity to provided Bernice , rent-free room commitment without an expiration date. Nancy justified it by calling Bernice, a member of the family. This arrangement might work against Luann’s interests.

Geez, she just arrived and already she’s annoying and pathetic. Who cares about her sob story.

For all those on here saying that Luann is in the right and Bernice just needs to cheer up, do yourself a favor and watch Pixar’s Inside Out, particularly the part where Joy is trying and failing to comfort Bing-Bong over his rocket getting lost in the memory hole. (Of course the movie is worth watching regardless, it’s just that the scene is very applicable to today’s comic.)

Bernice used to be so pretty with her permed long hair, until she RUINED it at graduation with her current cerebral rats nest.And speaking of graduation, this is the ONLY time that her parents were ever shown (though from behind) in the history of this comic strip. This comic has from the beginning purposefully left parents in the shadows (like Charlie Brown’s world) and even Frank and Nancy were not seen for a long time after its inception.Perhaps this new arrangement will pave the way for some story lines with her interacting with Luann’s parents like we never got to see her do with her own…?

I’m more interested in seeing Ben (Bernice’s brother) again. The last time he appeared, B&L were in high school and Brad & Toni weren’t even seeing each other.

Luann seems to be big on the count your blessings

I’ve never liked Bernice ever since I started reading this strip over thirty years ago. And now we have put up with her sob story.

Cheer up! At least you don’t have the trump virus.

Bernice is being a jerk! Luann is the one who should be upset instead of happy!

Right. Yes, Bernie is definitely a major loser. This is already deteriorating into a Grand Comic Disaster….

Gee… Now that she’s no longer an R.A., I wonder how everyone at the college will treat her?

It’s about time the comic lead has an interesting storyline!

Luann has an overdose of the Pollyanna Gene.

Think positive Bernice!

Okay, so here we have two sides of the same coin. Bernice, who has always been a bit of a “Debbie Downer,” always sees the glass as half-empty. Luann, who is often one toy short of a Happy Meal, tends to see the glass as half full, and just ready to be filled with good things. They kind of remind me of Felix and Oscar, the Odd Couple. In some respects, I think they’re good for each other. Then again, they could drive each other bonkers within the first week. I still think a love interest is on the way, with BOTH girls being interested. That would spice things up and be less about living together than about the possible jealousy that could arise.

I, though, no matter what other folks are saying about how boring this is without Ann Awful, am perfectly happy to have that witch gone. She gave me a stomach ache.

tomorrow : Dinner at The DeGroots?