Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 10, 2023

Luann’s brain frying like overcooked bacon? Yikes.

I believe you mean you can hear her brain blowing a fuse.

AHA! Frank has a plan. Feed the wife with a steady diet of romantic titillation and benefit from the after burn, perhaps. You go guy!

Luann’s universe is in the process of rapid roll over!

I’m wondering will happen to Luann’s brain—and to Bernice’s for that matter—if it turns out that, as several here have guessed, “D. Coverly” is Mr. Fogarty.

Mocked by mother and mocked by mother’s new favorite daughter. Is this a new low for Luann?

TMI & too much sizzling, can we move on yet? Or will all this get Luann on board in time to meet the author?

Yep. A narrow minded daughter you have, Nancy.

We can all hear the gears Luann’s being shifted without the clutch.

OMG. Mom and dad have – gasp – SEX???!!!!!NOOOOOO

Gotta feel sorry for Frank. Nancy would rather read about romance than have a real one.

ick

Luann open your mind to possibility your mom likes to read romance novels.

Panel no. 2: Nancy’s “I’m in the mood look”. Panel no 3: Luann’s "get me outta’ here look’..

“Flying Buttons of Lust” Features a group of lose moral witches.

It was an easy Bakelite coven.

I like to think that Nancy made up that particularly scandalous title specifically to short-circuit Luann’s brain as payback for Luann trying to shame her. I love Luann’s mortification-face by the way, it’s very funny! Also, props to Frank! I like that he’s enthusiastic about keeping things fresh and playful in his marriage. If they both use romance stories for inspiration… well, enough said really. It shows he puts effort into staying romantic even after so many years of marriage!

It’s what I’ve been saying for a while now.It’s just terrible writing and ideas.And most of the goofs here always just say “oh if you don’t like it,go away!”Ok sure.That doesn’t change the fact that the strip has become absurd these days.I mean what mom would let a girl live in her house for free and gang up on her own daughter with her like that?

Bernice is really at Frazz-level smugness. Why, is anyone’s guess…

When will they show LuAnn their “toy” boxes?

Frank misread it – he thought it was “Flying Buttocks Of Lust”.

I mean, the very thought of your parents…eww. I’m glad mine never did. (pause) Hey, wait…

TMI for Luann, I hope she can process it. I’m sure Nancy loves reading those stories, but I doubt they’re really good stories. Minus the mermaids, they’re probably on the same level of those dreadful soap operas that have haunted TVs for decades. It’s funny to see how easily she accepts that her BFF/sister is a fan, but not that her mother is too. The image she had of Nancy is going to change and that’s good.

Reality-based Daughter- Mother ?

Impressive, within the space of the last 2 frames, Luann is confirmed as a judgemental imbecile, and her best friend as an obnoxious backstabber, making them both pathetic and unpleasant. It’s a good thing those are not central character in the comic.

I just can’t stop laughing at Luann’s expression in the last panel.

I guess this is an arc focusing on how children, even in this case a 19 or 20 year old college kid, Re uneasy that their parents might have a libido. Is Luann a bit prudish though?

I would think that Bernice, who had an adult proposition her once (Ann Eiffel when Bernice was working at the bookstore) would be very wary of another adult offering her suggestive books and talking openly about getting turned on, even if it’s Luann’s mother.

Fry, Fry, Fry!

It’s fun to playfully mess with your adult kid’s minds. I do it all the time!

Good lord, Mom isn’t allowed to have life?

LoL Luann meets reality, parents are people. Brain goes on the fritz.

Luann has the look on her face that teens do when they find out that their parents have sex.

I’m starting to think that Nancy is secretly ashamed of Luann and wants Bernice to replace her.

“I can understand why someone like Bernice would read romances…” Nice shot Lu. She deserved it.

Dad gave mom a lusty book. Which got mom’s motor running. Sounds good to me.

It’s kind of mean for Bernice to be making fun of Luann like that. It would have been hurtful when I was a teen for my mom and best friend to gang up on me.

“Coming up next, Nancy explains to Luann what the Fickle Finger of Fate, was! And later, enjoy watching all three ladies become stupified when they find out who the author “D. Coverly” really is, on a very Special, Luann!”

I think a key word is missing… the comic never said he gave a novel, just her first “romance”, which she defines a “flying buttons of love”. Must’ve been quite a scene!

Ummm. . . . Luann? How do you think you got here?

Last time. Repeating myself because I don’t feel like re-typing it. I remember several women I know saying that they did not care where their husband/SO got their appetite so long as they came home for dinner.

Hmm…I’m starting to wonder if Lu, Bern and Nancy ever read this strip.

Bernice has incredible hearing if she can detect something that small sizzling away.

I haven’t read the book, but “Flying Buttons of Lust” is a great title.

If Lu is shocked that Nancy and Bern are becoming fast friends, how would she feel if Nancy and Pru bonded?

Did Frank buy Nancy her first bodice ripper to help get her worked up for some fun (in bed) between the two of them? And, Bernice, smirk all you want. Just think how you’d feel if (from what you’ve said, is unlikely,) your positions were reversed.

A bunch of trolls sure have invaded this comment section. I’ll stick with just enjoying the comic.

I won’t say all, but most kids aren’t comfortable thinking of their parents being sexual beings…just as most parents aren’t comfortable thinking about theirs kid’s sexuality. That’s probably a good thing.

Romance novels are the lowest form of “literature.”

Bernice should gift Luann the gift that keeps on buzzing

To quote my daughters after reading “mammal reproduction” section in their biology text, “You and Mom did that—ewww.”

Wow. Who knew? Frank, the purveyor of lust.

I don’t like this turn of events at ALL.

So what’s Luann’s objection to romance novels?

A high-and-mighty intellectual sensibility? Hahaha.

A new-found prudery after spending high school obsessing with boys and later romance-novel fling with Quill? Ugh.

A general GnK-induced deterioriation into juvenile hysteria? More’n likely.

Ah, it does my heart good to see Luann melt down.

Right, Nancy. Why is this such a big deal and why is Luann becoming a “tattle-tail”? And she forgets Bernice’s dramatic episodes with Nil. April 27, 2022. So judgmental! =:-o

gotta wonder if Frank and Nancy occasionally enjoy “role playing” .

=:-O

I bet they’re not even hidden…prolly more like hidden in plain sight. Luann just never noticed….

The only baffling behavior here to me is Luanns. She seems to have an estrogen disconnect. Odd in a young lady of that age. Now Bernice, what a hot mess!

“Flying Buttons of Lust”…..I love it!

Yes, yes. Let’s all sit back and enjoy watching a young woman get smugly mocked by her mother and supposed best friend. This is great, just great. What excellent writing.

Again Luann, an aspiring writer, misses the point.

My mother, sister, and I used to read bodice rippers when I was younger. My tastes have changed but it was fun to share them and they aren’t just sexy. There is some historical fiction aspect to them.

IVLAX. Suspend reality. It is a COMIC. Also romance novels do not always descend into lust and porn. Asking if Nancy likes her daughter is total stupidity. If you follow the comic regularly, you would see the many times that Nancy has shown her love for Luann. You, sir, need a session with a psychologist, to try to understand your paranoia. Give your head a shake.

I gotta say “Flying Buttons of Lust” is a pretty good title.

Could this be the beginning of a serious rift in the so-called “friendship” between Luann and Bernice? It’s been pretty toxic for a while, and now we have Luann’s “someone like Bernice” comment, along with Bernice and Nancy ganging up to make fun of Luann. Nice way for your mom and your supposed bestie to behave.

When I was a teenager so long ago, I started reading Harlequin romances, but after a few weeks the same old storylines, repetition, sappy sex and poor writing got too boring. I then read Peyton Place which was at least a good story with interesting characters, eventually making it to a T.V. program. 50 Shades of Grey got boring years later as well, but years prior to that I found suspense novels and have been a constant reader ever since. Try reading Baldacci, Connelly, Harlan Coben, John Grisham, Lee Child, Linwood Barclay, Sue Graften, and any of the Kathy Reichs novels, to name a few. There is often romance, usually murder and/or crime and suspense and yep, even sex, all combined in a good read and satisfying ending. Buy them, get them from the library or borrow from a friend. It will start you on a life of crime (novels). Once adicted, you will be a reader of suspense/crime novels forever.

“My parents aren’t the people I thought they were.”

“That’s nothing, honey. Wait until you find out how your grandmother assassinated Hitler.”

Right now, I have a vision of Luann’s head exploding in rainbow colours, like all the elites in Kingsman.

“Listen,you can hear her brain frying!”—-LOL

Mom is describing her honeymoon,no book reading required

My oldest daughter would bang on the door and tell us to knock it off she was trying to sleep, we would yell at her to turn up the tv or read a book.

What is it with the repeated…shall we say…erotic references that this strip has taken up?

All I can say is – write more!

“Another one of the story lines going no where with no end in sight.”

A romance novel with no end in sight must involve only face to face situations.

What I don’t understand is how Bernice, who is so upright that she had to break off her relationship with Nil because they were gasp kissing but she doesn’t seem to have a problem with making an allusion to ol’ Nan’s fantasies about her husband. Interesting also that she makes continual burns at her supposed friend’s expense but got all indignant when she’s on the receiving end. I’m ready to remove this strip from my list. Not because I care if they read yawn bodice rippers but because this comic consistently uses the title character as the butt of all jokes. At one time the amusement was in the foibles of all the characters. But recently all the characters have been given a chance to evolve with the exception of the main character.

If you pretend that these are three teenagers and no one is anybody’s mom then you just have two horny girls and one uptight girl. But it is possible to have children who choose to disregard their parents, and parents who have absolutely nothing in common with their children, with both parties not really liking each other very much. It usually ends up with them not seeing each other unless absolutely necessary (like Bernice and her mom) so I guess it will have to be Luann that leaves the comic strip….oh wait….the comic strip is named Luann.

I find it odd both that Luann would decide to “tattle” to her Dad about Nancy’s reading romance novels, and the “fried brain” look she has when she now understands that her Dad GAVE her Mom a romance novel.

It really seems the focus is on showing (hopefully) Luann beginning to realize that her Mom is more than just the "fuddy-duddy, rather “generic” Mom" she envisions her Mom (and all Mom’s apparently) to be. If that is how this continues, the arc can be a good one. But it is surprising that Luann is depicted as that naive.

Luann also “slammed” both Bernice and Nancy with the comments she made…. I am believing it to be inadvertent “slams”… but none-the-less, not really an attractive look for Luann today.

In regards to my “tawdry” discussion yesterday, where I felt the stuff last week FELT tawdry, I am now thinking it is mostly because of the way characters were drawn last week. Both Bernice and Nancy displayed the really weird expressions like Nancy is showing today in panel 2. I “get” that Greg is portraying by that look, a sort of “dreamy” or “wistful” sort of state/disposition… which is fine. But, it LOOKS so odd that it also reads a bit “tawdry” which I do not THINK is the message that is meant to be relayed…. but it still does read a bit that way to me.

Mind your own business, Luann.

Her mom is a repressed romantic. Yeah, poor Luann. It’s hard to think of your parents as being “that way”, if you know what I mean.

And Bernice is totally clueless, as usual. She needs to get a life.

Nancy loves her daughter without question, but Nancy loves who she is and need Luann to be her clone.

Reactions by all characters completely normal

Luann can write much simpler romance books in the Dr. Seuss style:

“Hop On Pop”

“Horton Hears A Ho”

“Oh, The Places You’ll Go (Don’t Touch That)”

“The King’s Stilt”

“Fox In Socks”

“There’s a Wocket in my Pocket!”

“I am Not Going to Get Up Today”

All those above are actual Dr. Seuss titles – only two of them have been slightly modified. Truly.

I betcha more than one person lust an eye from those flying buttons!

Bernice needs to go on a trip!

Bernice is going to end up like Opal on Pickles minus a husband!

Ok…this one made me laugh out loud.

What? You don’t think your mother has feelings too? Get over yourself Luann.

this gets more baffling by the day.

Flying Buttons of Lust???? And what’s that look on Nancy’s face in the 2nd panel? I understand LuAnn’s brain frying!!

This storyline is turning out to be ‘cringe’, as the kids say today. I am VERY grateful my mother was never into those kinds of book.

I truly do not understand Luann considering Bernice a friend let alone a best friend, when Bernice is constantly demeaning towards her

Luann is reacting awkwardly, as many clueless (and surprised) people do. But as for the other two harpies, I can only say that times must have really changed since I was a teen. My mother was a fun-loving gal who could tease me (or anybody else) with a clever remark. But she would have cut her tongue out before she would have put me down like Nancy is doing to Luann. And if any friend of mine had made the remarks Bernice is making, she would have been immediately invited by Mom to either cease and desist or go out the nearest door. And it’s not the subject matter that’s the disgusting factor here – it’s the juvenile ganging-up on Luann by two people who are supposed to have her best interests at heart.

Bruised and battered by Reality today, Luann barely survives. Nancy speaks unexpected truths and has Bernie as her ally….

It’s fun. It’s entertaining. It’s also a comic strip.

If I were really taking this seriously, if these were real people in a real situation (or a Dear Abby letter), I’d say that Luann started it by insulting Bernice. And she’s so uptight that she’s threatening to tattle to Daddy about what Mommy’s been reading? She deserves the zingers she’s getting from her mom and Bernice.

I don’t care, I’m just still laughing at that title!

Luann couldn’t even look at a male nude model in art class.

Somebody call the brain electrician. Luann has had a short circuit.