Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 21, 2020

I won a goldfish at a carnival once. Happiest three days of my life.

Perseverance , not stubborn? Luann

She didn’t have a pet, she had Luann. Does that mean she considers Luann on par with a pet. Like the goldfish she sort of maybe wanted?

Just put the ball ….? . Maybe, Luann might had better chance with the fetch Routine if Puddles was a goldfish?

I am wondering if Bernice is realizing she has outgrown Luann?

A goldfish wouldn’t give you a home

“A pet can be your best friend”. That is both wonderful and sad at the same time. At least it is both when one may be your only friend. :-(

Remember, “dogs may not be our whole lives, but dogs can make our lives whole” (Roger Caras).

Bernice and Luann are young adults with different life experiences and goals. They should cherish their follies that they experience as young friends.

G & k or making Luann to look bad but she tends to herself.

Two wallflowers hinting that maybe Luann doesn’t live up to what they expected. Now what?

Perhaps this has been asked, but – where is Jack’s dog today?

“I had Luann” – I really LOVE this one… LOL!!!

you’d think by now that she would have gotten it through her head that Puddles has no interest in the stick, now messing with Luann to get her to do stupid things like putting sticks in her mouth now that’s entertainment. i’m so no a dog person or an animals for that matter but i don’t think i’ve ever met anyone who is that have put sticks in their mouth to get their dog to pay attention to them and i doubt anyone here has either for that matter

Goldfish aren’t nice. They are as mean as goldfish.

A goldfish would suit Bernice. A cold, unaffectionate pet you don’t want to cuddle, and not fun to watch for very long.

These two might make a plausible couple. She examines human nature, he is knowledgeable about animal nature.

I kind of stopping complaining about how insulting the writing on this strip has been to Luann. Now I see a lot of people are agreeing that the treatment of Luann is very mean.

Puddles looks like he’s ready to go home.

This is not what it seems either on demean Luann, or romantic set up. It might not even be a set up to anything, other than trying to be weirdly funny. I am not laughing. But I am waiting for now.

Now Bernice can “pet zone” Jack.

Easier to put a collar and leash on Luann, though. Oh, what a giveaway. :D

It sounds like Bernice is talking in the past tense. Luann used to be her best friend. Is Luann no longer Bernice’s best friend? I don’t understand why Luann is stressing over the stupid ball. She should be back at the bench with her friends and dog. At this point I don’t know in which direction the story line is going.

Makes you wonder which one is smarter, I am going with Puddles

Bern had Luann, so Pud and Brad became her step-pets.

I know, Luann will be needing the heimlich maneuver after inhaling the Puddles’ ball. Who will save Luann? Bernice or Jack? Or maybe Puddles?

Go away, Bernice. Forever. And keep your claws off Jack!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Knowing Luann, she has horses and that’s how she attracted all of her fly-by-night friends in the first place. Those big puffy silk ribbons for the PANTHEONS.

Bernice views Luann as her pet? Wow.

Wow Bernice. Nice to see you rag on your best friend..

“Lift your leg, Puddles… Like THIS…”

Somebody remind me again, why we read this strip?

ok, this storyline has officially jumped the shark

If this arc will end with Jack convincing Bernice to volunteer at a dog center, I’ll be very surprised! However, the fact that Luann’s friendship was such a big thing that it was everything to Bernice is very sweet and important ♡. I love how every speech they have ends up being about Luann♡. Who is desperately trying to play with Puddles, the indifferent dog.

Perhaps Luann is the pet.

It’s looking like a goldfish would have been a lot smarter!

Well, that wasn’t very nice of Bernice

I had a minnow I kept in a goldfish bowl when I was a kid. I rescued it from our bait bucket after a fishing trip. It lived in that bowl over five years. I found it floating belly up one morning and I was deeply saddened. Had a funeral and buried it in a kitchen match box in the garden.

“I’ve never had a pet but I have Luann,” eh, Bernice? I’m with Beb, on this one. As far as I’m concerned, Bernice just told Jack she considered Luann a “substitute pet.” And Jack has just been sitting there for the last two days taking it all in and making snarky remarks of his own. If there’s anybody out there that still think that Jack and Luann need to be a “romantic couple,” then You have My deepest sympathy.

Take a GOOD look. These two bench warmers are currently Luann’s best “friends” in the World. But they’ve spent the week doing little but talking about Lu behind her back. And This is not the first time Bernice has done that. Look here:

https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2013/04/30

Luann had another friend who wouldn’t bad-mouth her behind her back but Oh No! “He” wasn’t “good enough.” So the “creators” had Lu alienate him this past Spring. SHEESH.

But THIS is a Good thing. This just goes to PROVE what I’ve been saying all along. That ALL of major long time young cast members NEED to start making NEW friends and as many of those as soon as possible. And MOST of those NEW friends should be of the opposite sex. There’s a new school year coming up and Pitts has two college campus’ full of students, so there’s really no excuse. (And don’t give Me that Pandemic Stuff, Dog)

One more thing. First Gunther never had a pet, now Bernice never had a pet. What IS it about depriving Nerds of pets in this Strip? Have they “suffered” enough? ;)

Daily Rant, OUT!

Yep. It’s a summer doldrums arc. Dog days at the dog park. YAWN…

Ewwww! Did she just put that ball in her mouth!?!? I hope Puds is up to date on his rabies shot.

This week’s sequence of Luann’s off panel regression to imbecility with associated droll comments by seemingly disinterested observers should be humorous. Luann1212’s “hilarity” should be “ensuing.”

There’s one problem. So many of the long-time fans of the strip have positioned Luann as a sympathetic character. A mild looser/ne’er-do-well in the Boy-friend, Best-friend milieus. I mean really! Just look at these two “disinterested bench sitters!” Even her dog is indifferent to her.

That’s why the Creators are pulling as much “shade,” as her current male and female BFF’s. Fans not only cringe at her behavior but are sorely disappointed in the unsympathetic comments by other characters.

So! I guess I don’t really see the point of the current week’s strips. What are we supposed to get from them? If anything.

That’s what he said?

I don’t remember when Puddles wasn’t a part of the De Groot’s world.

What about that dog she was training? I’d count that as a pet, at least for the little while I had it.

The goldfish would have been less annoying.

You’d think that Luann would know better than to put a filthy tennis ball into her mouth.

Interesting… Bernice and Jack continue a discussion learning a little more about each other, meanwhile Luann does a Lucy thing just as Bernice is talking about her giving us the “joke” of the day. totally looking like two friends of a friend learning a little more about each other and their relationships with their friend. On the fun side I like that Luann isn’t afraid to be herself, fun and a little different; it’s what makes the world go round.

Thankfully Luann wasn’t throwing a bone! It may have left a bad taste in her mouth.

I’m not sure, now, if she’s vying for attention or staying away from Bernice and Jack on purpose to let them talk. :-)

Nice but not as fun.

Bernice used the past tense. “Had” Luann. Their friendship is coming to an end.

Luann got all dolled up for this? Got to be something else coming down the pike ….

Thank goodness the camera stays focussed on Bernie and Jack. If it had switched to Luann, I think I’d have to turn away!

BTW, I note Jack’s defensive body language. He is trying to avoid any trouble that might result from his current situation….

I think the joke here is that Bernice had Luann and Luann is acting like a dog today!

3

Even though today’s effort is kind of dull (like a bowling ball) to me, I still have a few comments:

1. I do not feel Bernice is being mean to Luann here. I think Bernice is trying to be ironic. Think about it…. if your friend started walking around with a stick in his/her mouth…. would YOU react like everything is “normal”, “hunkey-dorey”, and that your friend was a Rhode’s Scholar? I think the answer is NO. IMO, Bernice is trying to make light of what is a rather over-the-top display by Luann.

2. Also note that Bernice now has expressed to Jack that she never had a pet growing up…. which I had alluded to as a possibility when people were thinking she wasn’t a dog person. I think Bernice does like pets…. but for whatever reason, her family construct did not allow for pets, and neither did (of course) the dorm. But, I think here that she is showing she would like pets.

3. Is it a “big deal” that Luann is carrying a stick around in her mouth? Does this mean she is being treated badly by Greg? IMO…. hell no…. her behavior is just being shown as being silly…. for a laugh… and IMO not one at her expense either. Very smart, very caring folks do sometimes do silly things. This just happens to be a day that Luann is being a bit foolish/silly. It does not denigrate her all around generally good and generally kind character.

Today is really just a “fluffy”, “silly” simple joke day.

Jack will not want to kiss Luann, not after she put a filthy ball in her mouth.

Despite lots of criticism, I love the banter. I could go with this for days.

Puddles has obviously been taking lessons on being laid back and aloof from Morris the Cat.Remember “Stroll past the old disharoo”?

I still say that Bernice simply means that she had good friend in Luann. And maybe a goldfish is about all she needed and would want in a pet. And I’m wondering if this part of the strip was inspired by something the writers saw at a dog park. I’ve seen some crazy antics by people trying to teach their dog to fetch.

Well said! well said!

I like that the tables are turned and Jack is ‘psychoanalyzing’ Bern over the importance and benefits of having a pet (a furry one). I hope this continues. It was said she raised a companion dog (while in high school) but then had to give it up and that was a tearful event. I think this is what she means when she says she did not have a pet that was her “very own”; raising a companion dog is temporary. I suspect deep down, Bern is afraid to get too close to an animal for fear of losing it. But not having a dog or cat in the house growing up is not the fault of the child. In most cases it is the parent who does not want one (and lays down the line) usually because of the cost of care and responsibilities involved. I hope Jack gets Bern to address all these things and that they stop talking about Luann.

No comments about how Luanne is Bernice’s pet?? And what neck is Luanne trying to prove to Puddles??

CJ Cregg likes goldfish too.

I see it now, 10 -15 years down the road, Bernice in her apartment…alone…withe her 7 cats

I think Bernice was about to say something like “I had Luann and she had Puddles, and I also fostered an assistance dog,” but then she trailed off because Luann is off-camera acting like an idiot. Panel 3 is well-earned snark.

I agree with sallymargret. The writing quality of the strip has definitely gone downhill. Luann’s character has regressed to maybe first grade, with her petty jealousy and nosiness re. Gunther and Bets; her plan to stay up late talking through the wall with Bernice; and this week’s implication that she’s only now training Puddles (and her training method).

It’s still a fun strip and I get that Luann is taking on the Lucille Ball role, but Greg can and has frequently done better, so it’s something of a letdown. It remains worth the price of admission, though.

If there is anything humorous today it is the humanizing of Puddles through his eyes and expression which say that he resents being compared to a goldfish and doesn’t like being imitated; probably a little of both.

Because the writers wanted to introduce Bernice to Jack Luann took Bernice on a wild and crazy adventure in the one place Luann has gone to numerous times, the dog park. Then to get Bernice alone Luann, against character tries to teach Puddle a trick he has never played, ever, fetch. While Luann is off-stage Jack shows up without his dog! and sits down to talk. Since they can’t talk openly with Luann between them the writers have had to make Luann do increasingly silly, if not to say, improbable, things. In short this whole week has been nuts because the writers didn’t have any better idea of how to get Bernice and Jack together.

With friends like Bernice, who needs enemies? At least with enemies, you know where you stand, which is better than not knowing what snarky remarks your “friend” is saying behind your back.

Luann! Really? All dressed up and trying to show a dog how to fetch? You might as well show him a Youtube video of a dog fetching.

I love hamsters but they don’t live long enuff.

Luann getting second hand Dog Kisses.

I’m not usually in the habit of making predictions.But I think that what’s gonna happen here at the end of this arc is the start of one relationship and the end of another….

This arc is cracking me up

Only Luann would put a dog’s ball in her own mouth.

YIKES! She put a dog ball in her mouth!!?? Poor Luann.

This reminds me of Kelly Bundy teaching Buck how to go through an obstacle course and she got the job instead of him.