Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 21, 2021

Flamethrower… sure. (The kids love Spaceballs the flamethrower though.)

She’s really freaked out. ✨

Tiffany, damsel of Oxford’s adventure

Old Fashion Gentleman

Oxford, old chum. Time to sweep the damsel off her feet, carry her to the highest parapet, and pledge your undying service and protection. Tally Ho!

Damned the flamethrowers! Full speed ahead!

Tiffany was really scared, it’s good that Ox has arrived, good for you Ox you are a good friend, or as your partner said yesterday a knight in shining armor!

Seems ox should start taking her to scary movies.

Well.

So far, so Good.

And as I thought, all Tiffany had to do was to hear the sound of Oxford’s soothing voice and suddenly he’s Prince Valiant to the rescue.

The big guy may end up getting his heart broke over this, but at least he won’t wind up with a fractured skull.

Now all he has to do is sit back, hang with her until the lights come back on and let Tiffany do ALL of the talking. Which she Will.

And above all, Ox shouldn’t fall for Tiff so fast. After all, he’s is not the first guy Tiff has thrown her arms around. And I got serious doubts Ox won’t be the last.

To tell the truth, the only thing that could possibly screw this up for him, is either Pop Farrell coming home early, or Les making a surprise visit.

And I’m a little surprised rich Poppa Farrel didn’t have a couple of very expensive skeet guns laying around that Tiff could have used for “protection.”

I guess skeet shooting has gone out of style. ;)

Much as I miss Shannon, I have to admit, this ain’t bad, either!

Thank God he has seriously short hair or she would have set him ablaze clutching him like that with a lit candle.

She’s lost weight. And Ox doesn’t know what a flamethrower is.

Tiffany debió decir: “Tengo un lanzallamas que me regaló mi tío Chuck Norris”. Con eso espanta a cualquiera.

I can relate to Tiffany. Whenever my husband has to work the overnight shift or is gone out of town for fishing, I am the same way. I turn on all outside lights and leave every lamp on in the house as a deterrent. I leave TV on for noise and pretend someone is watching which is another deterrent. I think I watch too many crime and detective shows.

So, what did she do with the burning candle?

“I have a flamethrower.”— I imagine that with that candle and a can of her hairspray she would have a flamethrower. But wait! I assumed that the flammable part of hairspray was the fluorocarbon propellant and those I thought were outlawed. Or is the hairspray itself flammable? In any case, No Oxs were harmed to the making of this cartoon. I was sure he would get major head trauma.

The most dramatic continuation of this current string of events:

From the reflection off of Ox’s face, the candle is not behind his back. It is on the floor.

When Gunther was with a clad in bathrobe only Tiffany, he kept his distance. Here we have a clad in bathrobe only Tiffany with both arms around Ox’s neck.

And the lit candle is on the floor.

The open flame being near the hem of the bathrobe.

So….

Friday: Smell. See clothes on fire.

Saturday: Drop and roll.

Or remove the item on fire.

But of course, I’m thinking of what a writer would plot out.

GnK will have something else.

The lighting effects are very nice today.

NOK NOK

“Warning! I have a weapon… A flamethrower!”

“Don’t bother opening the door – I’m in a M1 Abrams battle tank, and I’m coming in!”

“Ann’s not home! Who is this?”

“It’s Dave”

“Dave’s not here.”

“No, this is Dave!”

“I told you, Dave’s not home!”

Kinda wonder why Pops Ferrell doesn’t get at least one housekeeper or cook now that Ann is gone.

Knight in shining armor, but is there more? Today all I have is that the panels are beautifully drawn.

Ah, how sweet, sometimes fantasies do come true— for each of them.

My preference is for non-fatal weapons. In particular, the bullwhip. (I’ve been watching a lot of Lash LaRue movies.)

They’re also good at enforcing social distancing.

Beauty and the Beast…

I’ll be your candle on the water… (RIP Helen Reddy)

Or an electric generator back-up

Big fancy house like that and no stand by generator?

Funny how Tiffany manage to help take down Ann Eiffel, Yet can’t handle a little black out.

So, in the age of rampant political correctness, am I the only one who noticed that, in the first panel, Tiffany essentially looks as though she is sporting blackface? How long until this comic gets shut down? (I know — it’s supposed to be a shadow. But common sense and artist’s license no longer applies in cases like this …)

She doesn’t have a flashlight?

I think I’d rather have more development in other areas rather than an additional possible (unrequited) romantic complication. Do more with Gunther’s relationship, or Bernice and Jack, or Wes and Punk, or throw Shannon off a cliff.

All she needed was a can of hairspray with the candle for the flamethrower.

you would think that they would have some back up generators in the mansion..

Fear not, malady. For your knight, Sir Ox has arrived.

In the last panel it looks like Tiffany is skinny again.

They both may get lucky

Oh! There’s flames alright.

Tiffany is so happy to see Ox. Maybe the cavalry is not dead ♡. Tiffany is still in her bathrobe. Maybe now she will dry and dress. She finally seems to be calm again.

I’d like to have an Ox to keep me safe too.

And she’s wearing nothing but a bathrobe… hmmm…

Rich people don’t lock their doors?

All that’s missing is the walking, talking clock.

Generators and flashlights are not the immediate problem, that little candle is. Remember the scene was set up when fireman Brad was called away from Luann’s home. Too predictable. Instead, let the relieved Tiffany put out the candle, and turn on Ox.

You get what you Ox for, Tiff!

Uh oh. Where’s the candle?

Ox has a flamethrower phobia, based on a traumatic childhood incident. Next frame, he’ll be sobbing 5x harder than Tiffany…

I love the lighting – great artwork.

Personally speaking I kind of hope that this becomes a real relationship..!

His fantasy fulfilled, though maybe not the exact way he planned it…..

That lady has issues

I like the drops on her hair showing that it is still wet. That’s California for you. In Arizona, her hair would already be dry.

Ok. Next up is a bathrobe malfunction. I think Ox and Tiffany are mostly innocent. I mean Tiffany acts like the sex object, but she has never had a serious / semi serious / casual relationship in this comic strip. Meaning she loves being the tease and the center of attention, driven by her looks and money, but never hooking up. Even with her partying with the “popular” children in college. Ox will stay with her until he has to leave, either the hour, daddy gets home, or the power comes back on.

Now she may blow out the candle to start making out with him since she’s comfortable, something she may or may not have done with prior guys, but knows he’s not going to chase after any other skirt besides the one she’s wearing. But will Ox and Tiffany knock out a homerun when the power is out? I doubt it, because this is a family friendly comic strip. How long did it take the comic to infer Brad /Toni were going to share bodily fluids?

This would be a nice thing for these two characters.

Seeing the cartoon in color, now I understand it visually. In black and white in my newspaper (Chicago Sun-Times), I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at.

Perhaps Ox will help Tiffany get her generator started. Then the sparks can fly.

This is such an echo / replay of Tiffany and Gunther where she studied with him in nothing but a towel. Just as Bernice’s fear of going to see her brother was a replay of the first time Ben appeared in the strip. Are GnK mining old Luann strips for ideas now?

Given what we know about this comic, I know exactly what will NOT happen: it’s a 3 letter word starting with s and ending with x (and it’s not six or sox or sax).

nice couple

“Things That Go Thump In The Night”

“NOK Two Times”

“Keeper Of The Flamethrower”

“Give Her The Ox! The Ox! The Ox!”

“Emotional Miscue”

is this a novel? a soap opera ? or a comic?

Hmm, Tiff seems to be thin again.

Yep, here we go… and Tiffany looks a lot slimmer now.

Maybe if she had a can of hairspray in her other hand…

Tiff really a paintbrush.

Rounding first and heading for second.

Unless I’m mistaken, that the second time Tiffany has hugged Ox.

Okay, I have to ask… Where is the cook?

Last time I checked, her idiot father (thanks to a certain gold-digging con-woman_) fired everyone except the cook. Then he left Tiffany to look after the entire house all by herself, because he and the con-woman (_yes, we know who she is!) took the chef with them to a cabin.

Now, despite coming to his senses about the con-woman, he still expects Tiffany to look after that huge house all by herself?

Tiffany needs to be rescued. Her father needs an intervention. The con-woman… needs to never be mentioned again.

Yes… A flamethrower… It throws tiny flames…

Very, very tiny flames…

Do I smell burning shirt?

The perfect person to calm Tiff’s fears. Heck, I’d feel safer if he came to my house, too.

Attagirl, Tiffany! Now, stick with it. Oxford could be just the right guy for you on a long-term basis.

Oxford, stay cool, don’t let Tiff rattle you….

Well, there is a Flame on that candle and Tiff could throw it.

She has certainly burned a few.

My brother has a natural gas powered electric generator. It comes in handy when a blizzard breaks the power lines. Farrell might look into it.