Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 20, 2020

Stubborn Luann

the teacher (Luann) definitely needs to be taught

It would be funny if the answer was GREENIES.

Hmmm – I like how this is developing. Clever and humorous, too.

She likes nude art!!

The Pavlovian trick is to reward sporadically, as opposed to consistently.

Have you tried rewarding [ Luann] with a treat? psychology 101

Oh, how cute – a future people shrink and a future pet shrink, talking shrink to each other! Are they about to find out how much they have in common?

Let’s see. What does Luann like for a “treat?” Well, Luann:

1) Likes to be taken to dinner.

2) Likes to be taken to Movies.

3) Likes when a guy spends $300 bucks to win her a stuff toy at the country fair.

4) Likes it when a guy tells her she’s beautiful.

5) Likes it when a guy puts HER first.

6) Likes “cute” unobtainable guys.

Well, 5 out of 6 ain’t bad. So take your pick, Jack. ;)

So Jack,, the Cro-Magnon wannabe thinks Luann is as dumb as dirt. I’m sure he’s scoring points with Bernice. But what ever happen to the girl who wrote poetry good enough to make into a song, could sing that song, played lead in a high school musical, as good enough to be a TA in both chemistry and art and was good with children. She also had an uncanny knack for set design but we’ll ignore that. The writers are making Luann appear to be dumber than Tiffany.

I think we know what Luann likes

I’d say she likes Jack with his shirt off, but this isn’t 9 Chickweed Lane.

Fetching is play not a job like Luann thinks it is she will never teach puddles that because she hard headed.

Oh how nice! Bernice has found a soul mate. Someone else who enjoys making snarky, belittling comments about Luann. That’s one thing she and Jack “have in common.”

Luann was right to keep Jack friend-zoned. Anyone who thinks she should be trained like a dog is NOT someone she wants a romantic relationship with.

So let Jack have Bernice, no one else seems to want her. For that matter, no one else seems to want Jack, so probably good they found each other.

I love that Jack can snark with the best of the snarkers. And I don’t see any flirting or romantic inclinations as some of you are claiming. These two are just Luann’s best buddies talking about her out of her earshot. And Jack sees Luann the same way Bernice does. Yet they love her.

Puddles is approximately 35 years old, and he sleeps almost all day. What a strange time to finally try to teach him to fetch. And Jock, if Luann was too freaked out by your nude posing to enjoy it, I have no idea what treat she’d prefer from you!

Hey – Bern & Jack exchanging a little wit. We don’t know if Puddles has fetched the ball on other occasions.

Poor Luann – her idea of fun – taking Bern and Puddles to the Dog Park. Lu – call Tara. Time to get past the art class incident and break some new ground.

Luann likes chasing boys she knows she’ll never catch but she constantly pursues them with the hopes that she will. This is a common human trait.Luann, here’s some advice; if a guy you’re chasing KNOWS you are pursuing him and he keeps running—stop the pursuit. But if he stops running from you, don’t overthink it…like you ALWAYS do.

Ohmygaw! In panel 3, Jack has his arms folded instead of having has right hand down at his side near Bernice! Could there be something about her question in panel 2 that dampened his romantic ardor? Or has just now discerned, perhaps subconsciously, that by reaching across Bernice to greet Puddles, he unintentionally provoked amorous feelings on her part; and by crossing his arms is he subtly signaling that those feeling are not reciprocated? Or is he well aware of a potential smoldering mutual interest developing, and is he just playing hard-to-get?

[For the sarcasm-impaired, the preceding paragraph is meant to be a gentle jibe at those commenters who seem to imagine the they’re very good at accurately inferring an awful lot from awfully little.]

“Guys who are bad for her, mostly.”

Progress.

Good Luann: kiss!

I am all for giving Luann a break here, because some people are really reaching to mock her for doing something so stupid as trying to play with her dog at the dog park. Of course she should bring the dog to church and play there.

I don’t see that Jack said anything really bad. If he indeed has discussed with Luann about dog play and Luann basically ignored him or is being stubborn, how is it wrong for him to answer the question with “Sure but she doesn’t learn.”? And his remark about treats was a little joke. I highly doubt Luann would care.She would probably expect Bern’s lead in anyway.

This is the first one we had this week where Puddles was sleeping in every panel he appeared.

C’mon, Jack – you know Luann loves bowling. She’s even great at fetching bowling balls with her feet.

Einstein said it…and he was right.

Greetings all from the Monterey/Carmel area – wife and I are down here for our 30th anniversary (yesterday on the 19th).

.

Haven’t seen Clint Eastwood yet, though…

Maybe Jack’s pherohormones have Bernice a tad “uneasy”!

I am seeing today’s strip differently. I had my doubts if Luann had any romantic feelings for Jack but by Jack asking “what does she like” I think maybe Jack has feelings for her and wants to please her. Luann needs to forget about the ball and get back to the bench.

Suddenly he’s a much snarkier character I wonder what that portends.

This is Luann. Try ego-stroking.

KISS THE GIRL!

I would really like to see Luann grow up some.

If Bernice was better as a psychologist, she’d see Jack’s crossed arms and realize she’s irritated him by taking shots at Luann. I don’t think Jack was trying to snark so much as stating fact.

Puddles is like, 37 years old at this point. He is tired and he doesn’t want to fetch, poor boy.

A treat, What does Luann like?

Both Bernice and Jack have crossed arms in the last panel. To all of you hoping for a BerJack, that’s body language for “I’m not interested”.

How old is puddles now?

One of our dogs plays fetch and tug-o-war. One just lays around and one barks at everything.

I’m not touching that one

Panel 2 is basically the entire comic series in a nutshell.

Hilarious ♡! And now Jack has a chance to find out what Luann’s favorite snacks are. Bernice is subtle, but she has certainly studied the dynamics of these two as a possible couple. If she sees that they can work, she will help them become an item♡.

Lol, I love how Bernice is calling Jack dumb about Luann (you can probably expand it to women in general if you want). My coffee/beer/bacon is that the next step will be that Bernice is about to enlighten Jack about how to impress Luann and what she wants from a man.

From an elevated deck, I could throw a tennis ball about 150 feet just short of a pond. My daughters dog would race down a flight of steps, get the ball, race back up the steps, and drop the ball at my feet. I’d waste both arms before he’d quit. My dog, a retriever, was good for two tosses … maybe.

Luann is in need of some serious training.

Hilarious

130 comments in and not a single “bone”. I like this strip but I don’t belong with this crowd.

Give how much Jack loves his own dog and seems to be in tune with animals I can see how he’d get frustrated with Luann. She’s doing what she thinks is fun and not what Puddles wants to do despite Jack telling her that before. She treats Puddles like she does Bernice. She continually makes them do what she wants to do with no consideration for if they enjoy it.

Well, I kind of called it yesterday. Jack explains animal psychology to Bern, Bern compare it to human psychology and uses Lu as example.

Treat: a trip to the mall if you can repeat what I just said!!!

CAUTION: witty repartee may lead to unintended consequences! Jack and Bernie, sitting on a bench….

The young man knows about training. “What does she like” is the exact question.

excellent question, Jack

while visiting my mother (who is 95) her dog brought over his ball to play fetch….for the rest of the afternoon, i would toss the ball 4 or 5 times, then he would jump up net to me and throw the ball on the floor for me to fetch…just love the little guy

Well they have both transitioned to closed-off, folded-arm positions while discussing a third person. This romance is not going anywhere.

Puddles wants to lounge and be petted like Bassett hound do. He ain’t nothing but a hound dog.

That last panel leaves a lot to the imagination. Does Jack have a dirty mind ? I think Bernice does .

“Flattery. She likes flattery.”

“Good girl, Luann! Sit! Stay!”

Uh-huh! I like where this seems to be going. Now we know Jack likes Luann’s company because she’s a ditz, but an entertaining one. We’ve also known for some time that Jack’s a serious guy and a future veterinarian. He’s not about to hitch his wagon to a flibbertygibbet (I love that word; excuse me).

To Luann’s credit, have we not thought that she brought Puddles to the dog park so that he would get some exercise (which he doesn’t get at home), which is important for dog health. Sleeping on the bench does not serve that purpose. So she is trying very hard to coax him off the bench so that he will run around a bit, even though he is not responding.

I don’t see anything romantic between anyone in this arc so far. Bernice and Jack only seem to be amused by Luann’s antics.

4

Generally both Jack and Bernice are in a somewhat comedic fashion, poking a bit of “fun” at Luann here. The banter TODAY is not really all that interesting (to me), but….

a) is the banter a precursor to Bernice and Jack developing their own friendship more deeply…. perhaps even to a potential date? Not sure at the moment… but to me it “feels” less likely than it did a couple of days ago.

b) is the banter a way for Jack to get some more “info” from Bernice that will help him to better interest Luann into potentially feeling romantic feelings for him? Again, not sure at the moment… but it seems a SOMEWHAT SMALL possibility, but a possibility none-the-less.

At some level, I was sort of wondering if Jack would be mentioning something akin to him transfering to Moony? Even though his ORIGINAL thoughts on the subject were to pursue a “Veterinary Technician” degree (typically found at Community Colleges, and probably at Pitt CC)… in some fashion and in many reader’s thoughts his carreer goal has transitioned to becoming a full Veterinariarn (DVM). If this is the case, he would likely be needing at this point to transfer to Moony U to be able to complete the upper division requirements for his Bachelor’s Degree that is necessary for applications to Schools of Veterinary Medicine. The typical community college construct allows for potential completion of typically the first two years of many of the courses for transfer to a four year program.

And, I am also wondering about Luann, and Nil in this regard…. depending upon their career goals, they may likely be near the end of requirements for their Associates Degree (typical two-year degree), or perhaps on the cusp of needing to transfer (if they ultimately want a 4-year degree).

And, what about Tara? If she has a career goal…. its anybody’s guess what it may be. :)

do I detect a bit of snark on the part of the DeGroot’s new boarder about her old friend? Did you all catch the side eye in second panel? If she were smiling or laughing, it would be kidding around…but it’s a little sketchy in my book.

Today’s comic is funny and cute. Luann is good friends with Bernice and Jack. No one is mean to anyone else today.

“What does she like?” You, Jack. You.

Rah Rah Rah

Noooo Jack! You don’t want advice from Bern…!!

tomorrow: Bernice and Jack exchange recipes.

A few strips ago, when Bernice wanted to take a backpack full of books to the park, I almost posted, “Bernice, you will make a horrible wing-woman for Luann.” Subsequently, I began to think that Bernice and Jack were destined to connect (an idea that I disliked personally). However, body language now indicates otherwise. Bernice has not relaxed her posture. Her legs remain pointed away from Jack and Jack did choose that side of Bernice to sit down. Her hands went from clenched to slightly relaxed, back to clenched and then slightly relaxed. With the advent of today’s strip, I now think that Bernice is going to deliver as a wing-woman. Bernice astutely perceives that Jack and Luann would make a good couple but they are stuck in the friend-zone quagmire. Bernice has quickly and cleverly and pointedly transitioned the conversation from discussion of training a pet to pursuing a woman (no need for anyone to be offended). Jack quickly discerns the transition and, although his crossed arms indicate uncomfortableness, his response indicates an interest in Luann which has always been there. His earlier attempts at pursuing Luann were disastrous (to him, albeit comical to the voyeurs, I mean viewers). I hope this is an accurate reading of today’s strip as I have been holding out on Jack and Luann as a couple (even though I didn’t like Jack when they first met). We shall see, and if we don’t, then we won’t.

Where’s Max? Why is Jack at the dog park?

No comment.

Why are they talking about Luann like she is a dog?

Maybe Bernice will offer to deal with Jack’s stubble by giving him a close shave?

=:-O

Luann returns with Max, the dog, and Nil, the artist from the Dark Side. Jack takes Max and Luann takes Puddles and they wander off. Bernice and Nil lock eyes, feel the urge, and dash off into the bushes. Someone in this age group has to be impulsive once in a while.

Dogs are very good at training their humans. Pud has already trained Luann to fetch.

How old is Puddles now? About 110? He’s not into fetching, Lu. Puddles is into sleeping.

“Yes, but she would not take it.”