Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 24, 2023

Perceptive, Jack

Girls.. Listen to Jack! Leave Piro Alone!

Piro clearly wants to be alone and they should respect his wishes.

I’m not sure Piro is super complex.. he’s more moody and brooding.

.

Isn’t it odd the way Bernice is treating Jack? Not too long ago she was GAGA over him.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Jack nailed it!!

He sure did!

Jack’s right!

I think Jack would be a better friend to Piro, he’s sympathetic to Piro’s family troubles and knows when someone asks for space and time alone to allow it.

Also, I wish someone would get some sense into the hard heads of Lu and Bern about not being meddling busy-bodies and just letting someone socialize at their own pace. Ah, When will they learn?

I’d say that the next strip should show Jack explaining to them that they’re being inconsiderate by trying too hard… but given their dismissive (at at least a little bit sexist) remark, they’d probably be like, “You foolish menfolk always say that, but you don’t know what’s best for you like we do!”

And Bernice and Luann show us yet again how superior they feel to others.

Jack is correct. Walt likes to be left alone and not fix by Bernice or Luann.

When Luann and Bernice agree on something you know they are horrible wrong.

Bernice is soo cold as she gives Lu the side eye.

Everything they say is right. All three of them are right.

“A fascinating study,” says Bernice, unaware that she herself is a study in psych-student-itis. (Or is that just my own Luann-alyzer syndrome showing?)

Bernice’s history is pretty sad as well. She finds comfort in having a friend whose problems are worse than her own.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!! Kick @$$ Jack!!

Jack’s no dummy! Har!

Just ask Mary Worth!

Ever notice when jack’s showed from the left his curl goes twards the left an when he’s showed from the right his curl goes towards the right? Must be one of greg’s gags

Luann says Piro is the most “complex” person she’s met? Up until Piro’s reading, he seemed almost one dimensional. At this point, I am waiting for somebody in Luann’s cast to become more interesting. Piro’s family history was the pitch, now Piro or somebody needs to hit the ball…

I think that Piro’s eyes have finally opened as to what he really means to Bernice—a “case study (guinea pig, if you please)”!!

BTW, I can’t understand why the men on this strip are so physically ugly. Are G&K anti-male??

Piro Starr was an university student? He is now a community college student.

Being busybodies.

BOOM!!

Way to go, Jack!

My opinion of him just went way up.

He is exactly RIGHT!

Walt’s a “troubled guy” who wants to be left alone to sort out his own problems.

And not some “lab rat” for the ladies mis-guided “experimentation.”

If Walt-Piro wants help, then he’ll humbly ask for it.

Luann. Bernice. Tiffany. Bets.

What IS it about the ladies in this Strip that think that THEY the answers to all the guy’s problems anyway???

Jack is right, but Piro also needs someone who can make him smile and give him hope. If he could see someone like Luann once in a while, his depression would become at least a little bit lighter.As usual, Bernice’s opinion is the worst among several. She wants to become “friends” with Piro to study him and then, maybe, to help him by planning his life in a way that she thinks is best for him. Her plan would fail miserably because she would end up dramatically involved in his life complicating everything, for him and for herself. Anyway, it’s good to know that Jack came to hear the reading. I think he was here because Luann was one of the readers and he wanted to see her and meet her.

Hit the nail on the head Jack. Maybe someone should bonk Luann and Bernice to turn off the meddle machine.

Take Jack’s advice. Now we will get a battle-of-the-sexes debate among those three.

It’s clear the grls know jack about how to deal with Piro… :D

Interesting, after all that Piro has been through, Louann thinks he needs laughter, Bernice thinks he needs stable consoling friend, and Jack thinks he needs to be left alone. Believe it or not, I understand this whole situation. Some years back, when I first became a widower, I needed ALL of that. Now, finding the right amount of the right help in the right order …… ?!?!? There’s the issue.

So; Jack’s the answer?

No, not ‘meddling’. Just call it, inserting themselves into other people’s business, uninvited!

A dude telling women what another dude needs. they tell him how wrong he is. Seems about right.

When a guy says he wants to be alone, he wants to be alone. It’s not some secret cry for help and that he wants someone to actually come and be with him.

They could all be right. Wants and needs are different.

right but out, because girls clearly understand guys better than guys.

I’m telling you, Bernice is so awful that she makes Pepper Ann look like Mother Teresa.

Walt is highly introverted, and most introverts need a lot of alone time. Crowds and noise exhaust them.

But, I can change him! The usual mantra.

Jack nailed it!

Women know men better than men know men?

Thus leading women to think men are wrong in their thinking because they don’t think always like women think they should.

Makes perfect sense to me.

PTSD is not something to take lightly.

This looks like a skit from the Three Stooges and Jack is Moe!

Actually, Jack is one of the better characters in this strip. He is very likeable, he’s non pretentious, he seems to care about people and animals.

The guy answer is correct, in this case. But, if we want to delve deeper, we can always dig for the reasons he wants to be alone. So that’s the girl’s correctness. I guess. Meanwhile, wouldn’t all that be up to him?

I’m going to go rogue here and say that Piro realizes that his isolationist response to his upbringing isn’t the path to take. He so much as said so in his manifest about shining lights and his apparently long term therapy with Dr. Heald.

But does Karen see it that way? And where is she going to take this whole arc before leaving it to return to Tiff and Kip?

The girls are trying to fix something which isn’t broken…

Luann. Bernice. Piro will reappear on his own when he’s ready (or, when Greg, and, Karen have need of him,) despite what either/both of you THINK he needs.

Pedro needs to get over himself and quit his darned whining. Stuff gets old, bro. Seriously. As far as Luann making him smile, our Dearest Ann❤️Eiffel is smiling a little bit, too, because Ann❤️Eiffel knows how Luann made Perdo smile and it wasn’t with that dopey story. It goes back a few Sundays ago when Puddles spent the night in Burnoose’s bedroom because of the noise. BTW, Gorgeous Ann❤️Eiffel and our Muse, The Count, did not approve of that move. Pedro the swine is not worthy of a bae like Luann. Just like none of you are worthy of the Exotic Erotic Ann❤️Eiffel no matter how much you long for Darling Ann❤️Eiffel. Ann❤️Eiffel… The Woman all men want and all women want to be. Eat your ❤️s out. ’Till tomorrow… same time, same station, TTFN… Count Out!

Jack is red-pilled!

Jack might use animal assisted therapy.

He needs all of these things. Before the reading, he needed the laugh to break through his nerves. Earlier, he needed the light. And right now, he needs to be left alone. People don’t need the same thing all the time.

OOOOOOOOOH Jack…… not afraid to say what he thinks which in this case may be exactly what these two need to hear. If Lu and Bern each think they (alone) have the answer then how come Piro rejected each of their offers. No one wants (unless asked for) someone to tell them what they need in life or the solution to their problems. Jack recognizes this; he takes Piro at face value just accepting what is there to see.

Jack’s right. ;)

Piro. Gosh, what a fascinating person. Lol

Nothing gets a woman fired up as much as a male improvement project.

Jack nailed it!

Wouldn’t it be nice to be described as “a fascinating study”. Bernice shows once again that she does not have the empathy to be a therapist. These dumb girls are confused because Piro doesn’t behave the way they want him to, ie, talking, laughing, flirting (although in Bernice’s case, it would be worshipping that she expects). What a couple of shallow, self-absorbed and selfish little twits! I hope Piro is observant enough to realize he gave way too much credit for his personal progress to a foolish ego-maniac.

The real question is, how does a boy from a broken home go to college and afford a psychiatrist? Did he inherit a trust? Is he secretly wealthy? Does he have enough money for a new scarf? Inquiring minds want to know!

And has anyone else noticed the Luann and Bernice are being drawn rather more “hot” of late?

Touché done Jack! Well said.

GREAT strip today!!!

The girls don’t know Jack…

Is Bernice referring to herself as Stable and Consoling? LOL!!!!

I think both girls know he is going to a therapist. Didn’t Bernice dig into his business years ago, when she found he was going to some Doctor or something?

The girls are not meddling. They are just discussing a friend. If they start taking action concerning Piro, that might be meddling.

Sorry girls Jack nailed it he’s not as dumb as you two girls think,it’s a guy thing

ZING ZING ZINGER!!

Maybe Piro needs a fix. Have you checked his arms?

they’re definitely better at meddling

Right now he does need some Alone Time to process the day’s events. And in the long term he needs friends—-real ones who care about him.

i’m with Jack on this one.

PLEASE LISTEN TO JACK! Leave Piro alone!

I’m not sure Mary Worth appreciates Luann and Bernice copying her. There’s only room for one meddler in this town!

The worst thing that could happen to Piro would be to fall into the hands of people who pose as caring therapists types who claim to want him to heal yet play head games, keeping him spiraling for decades, isolating him with lies about things people are saying about him etc. which is what often happens to wounded individuals. Lu and Bern are kids. They’re just figuring things out at this time. They’re blessed to have a reasonable male influence. We can’t begin to read into their motives, pick them apart and psychoanalyze them when we don’t know any more than they do. Piro is lucky to have friends who care and want the best for him.

Jack knows the deal. But go right ahead, girls. Piro will no doubt resent you for trying to invade his space thinking you know what he needs.

Jack has a way of cutting through it right to the point. ;-)

A fascinating study? Way to objectify Piro, Bern.

The first time I got sick after we were married, my wife was in the sickroom every 5 minutes for one reason or another. I finally had to ask her to just let me rest, which she did. We talked about it afterward, learning that each of us has different needs. She appreciated her mom hovering over her when she was sick. I needed undisturbed rest, to fight off the illness. I felt I had to rouse a bit when she came in, and it exhausted me. People are different; don’t be too quick to think you can fix things. Guys often like extended quiet time. It’s one of the reasons fishing is so popular.

nicely played

Talking about opening Pandora’s Box it seems……

Perhaps Jack and Nik should have a private guy talk with Piro?

Haha! Trying to ignore all the crabbing a lot of folks are doing about all the various characters…….

I very much like today’s panels because I think they do an excellent job of re-identifying key behavioral and thought characteristics of each of the three characters shown…… Luann, Bernice, & Jack. And each was defined by their response to Piro’s departure:

1. Luann…. Luann’s typical way to behave and to deal with life is to try to put a “happy spin” on most things. We have seen that in her writing for the most part, we have seen that in the typical fashion in which she attempts to deal with problems. Her suggestion to find a way to keep Piro “laughing” typifies her thoughts about how to usually approach life. As we have seen, Greg (and Karen) have used this “sunny” MO to strong comedic effect.

2. Bernice…. Bernice’s way of behaving is to try to observe and analyze life. She typically attempts to delve deeper into things she is aware of and interested in. Her whole college goal of pursuing psychology reflects well that mindset. Her suggestion that she feels Piro needs consoling reflects that idea of delving deeper also. She does this sort of “immersion” in most facets of her life….. for example when she was identified as a “muse” by Nil….. she dove in head-first to try to become the best d*mn “muse” she could figure out to be. As we have seen, Greg (and Karen) have used this “intensive focus and analysis” MO of Bernice’s to strong comedic effect as well.

3. Jack…. Jack’s way of behaving is to always take things at FACE VALUE. In this sort of mindset, he often takes the “straight man” role and is the foil to someone else’s comedic foray away from a more simple explanation. But, Greg (and Karen) have also used his “face value” MO to strong comedic effect as well.

Nicely done today!

Wow!

You called it Jack.

1.)“A fascinating study”???Okay,Bernice,crawl under the microscope lens and let’s have a good look at YOU!!

2.)Jack solved the whole thing in a one word sentence

3.)Eddie Cantor once sang an oldie song titled “She Turned Out To be The Girl Friend of a Boy Friend of Mine”

Am I the only one who’s extremely put off by Bernice describing Piro as “a fascinating study” like he’s some psychology assignment?

Ah, ha! A gender-based disagreement! I would ordinarily agree with the idea that in this case Jack is probably most correct, not because, as so many say in their projective lenses, that it’s the girls “meddling”; what a chauvinistic statement! They’re correct also, Piro is a complex person, no doubt, and he is a fascinating behavioral, psychological, sociologicastudy, all the “cals” there are.  They’re not meddling and its extremely insulting to suggest they are. But in the situational context Jack is most correct. Walt/Piro just made a lot of progress, dumped a lot. He needs to, to use a contemporary term, “process” what just happened. Lu and Bern were enormous aids in this process, and as to them, the story, if any, still rock and rolls on.

REST IN PEACE, TINA TURNER, nee Anna Mae Bullock. YOU NEVER PHONED IT IN. A DYNAMO, AND AN ICON.

Jack is correct and Bernice is showing her arrogance. She needs Nil; he grounds her.

They could form a fan club and be Piromaniacs

I was left alone by most everyone in school. At work too, what is Piro doing wrong here?

Yeah, Bernice. Women are better at this. But you two girls certainly are NOT!

Yes Jack. Meddling. That’s exactly what these two are planning to do!!!!!

For today at least, Jack’s the Man! He understands what Piro needs better than Bernie and/or Lulu….

Jack & Piro ???

Hit the nail right on the head Jack.