Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 30, 2011

All right! Brad finally got a lucky break… and an early christmas gift!

Hold up one second!!!………….gotta replace a minority with another minority

Contrived or whatever, I like happy endings! :-)

as i said yesterday……. either someone retires or someone moves……… hopefully Sanchez both retired and went back to his home country

Now for the big celebration of Brad’s re-hiring…wonder if Weenie World has a party room!

I might like to also add that even though Toni’s informing the captain about her possible resignation was a couple days ago. In Luann time, what we see here, might be a week later.

All’s well that ends well. Now accept his marriage proposal, Toni!

It all works out in the end, as long as you both SHUT UP!

I love love love this….course ya know they can’t be in the same station….but word will spread like wildfire (sorry..bad pun) that a wedding is in the future…yay!!!

A 3rd thought, maybe the captain had that memo when Toni was there and was getting ready to phone or send Brad a letter informing him of his being recalled to duty? Toni’s ultimatum might have given him a chuckle.

Something will happen, it’s too early in the week for a wrap-up to an arc.

Something doesnt seem right.

I can’t help but wonder if this was just a way of restoring status quo since the whole arc was one of the most frustrating ones. Either way, I guess it’s okay. It might have been nice to see Toni actually have to deal with her stupid threat.

Deux es machinas make for creative failures.

Yeah, it was obviously a cop-out since he painted himself into a corner.

It had to end this way, being re-called from layoff. Now that Toni was willing to sacrifice all for Brad, what will he do in return?

Good old Sanchez! (Brad and Toni’s very own deus ex machina!)

the Captain said they had to cut “one position”, not many, back when Brad got the layoff

Now, lets get Brad and Tony married !

if there had been more than one layoff, Toni would have gotten a layoff too, as she got hired a mere few months before Brad, even perhaps being the “second least senior”, with Brad being the least senior

Toni’s face in tge last panel… Didn’t seem enthused.

I am officially pleased. The firing lasted exactly long enough to make the Eiffel escapade possible. Now on to new challenges!

Oh Greg. What happened? Many of your readers predicted this. You used to be unpredictable. Sigh! But at least many of us are happy to see Brad back to firefighting, where he belongs.

In some areas, a Caucasian male is a minority.

If Sanchez is from Spain, he could have blond hair and blue eyes.

Thanking Evans for a “contrived” happy ending is a pretty back-handed compliment, don’t you think?

THANK YOU SANCHEZ!!

No, it’s not contrived. Any city or suburban fire department is going to have some turnover. People retire, get injured and take disability, have to move when a spouse is transferred in his or her job. Sometimes they even die in the line of duty.

There is always going to be some turnover in a department of any size.

@Professional Rookiewith lips the size of motorbike inner tubes, there is not a lot of room for emotion of any kind.

If its Spain, hes not a minority.

Sanchez, good luck job hunting in Spain. That’s one of the PIIGS countries.

Nice move Greg. But keep in mind, Brad needs to improve upon his skills for the long haul. Advanced skills will be a necessity, not an option in our society within a few years.

Greg usually has a reason for everything(exception was Ben and Luann) specially when is just Wednesday………….. so I expect that in the next 3 days, there is a “deeper connection between Toni and Brad”

Toni look is not of lack of enthuse, is of “wow, is this really happening? can we (Toni and Brad) be that lucky?, but I guess it is happening, I have proof in front of my eyes”……………………. we will see if Miles is or I am closer to what will happen the next 3 days

For some reason I cannot believe, that this goes so easy cheesy.

So much for a policy against office romance, cause if there was one they would not have brought Brad back, So why did he call Toni there also? Perhaps to tell them not to let it interfere with work. Maybe he will spill the beans about Toni using the “H” word. Be sure to invite me to the wedding!

Perhaps Sanchez took a promotion in Spain. It happens. Does it matter? No, it allows for the characters to be developed.

If Sanchez is European, that doesn’t count as a minority.

Totally.

Sanchez is no longer a minority.

YES!

Now Just a DARN Minute!!!Some Guy from Spain had MORE Seniority than Our Own Native Born Brad DeGroot?!!?Boy THIS Country’s Immigrantion Policies Have Got To Cha….,,

Ahhhh, Just Kidding.

Yes, WELCOME Back Brad!Toni, Don’t EVER do THAT Stu…., er, I MEAN “Noble” again.

And Sanchez, I’m sending you a fruit basket and a box of bandages as I hear those Pesky Basque Separatists are about to get busy in Spain again….,

Turn and say the words…“Marry me, Toni”

DO IT NOW!!!!!!!

Clearly, Brad once saved Toni’s life; and now Toni has returned the favor. They are soul mates.

Hold on a sec Balducci – Sanchez the Spainiard is not a minority (European Americans don’t count) – only Sanchez from Central of South America would qualify. Go to love government instilled selective racism, huh?

YAYY! All is right with the world.

Hey, Fat Tony……..Love your Sarcasm! And We really shouldn’t have to think that way. Don’t need that crammed down out throat, It was done right! Happens all the time. First Laid-off, First Rehired! Can’t be more fair for ‘Unions’ DUH! THX.

Seems kind of contrived, like an old Star Trek episode where the complicated problem gets solved in the few seconds following the final commercial break.

Some strips advance in time, like Doonesbury. Others are pretty much frozen in time, like Blondie or Curtis.

This strip sometimes combines the worst of the two.

A big deal was made a long while back about Luann learning to drive a car, and she even bought a little car.

Then, it was never mentioned again!

So why do we never see her driving? Heck, there could be an arc about her car getting fender-bended by a cute boy.

I guess I’m grumpy today, but I am ticked off at the implication that someone in the USA named Sanchez has anything to do with Spain. It is far more likely that he (or his parents or grandparents) came from Mexico, or another country of Central or Souh America, or else from Puerto Rico.

Anyway, regarding Luann and her friends, perhaps the whole high school thing is played out. Perhaps it is time to move these kids on to community college and to part-time jobs. Lots of fertile ground there for the taking.

Since when does a captain do the hiring/firing/laying off? Was never in my job description. Don’t they have a chief?

Now there’s a good ending !!!!

blech… what a cop-out ending. why didn’t you just have them “win the lottery” or some other nonsensical crap? Is this the sort of conclusion we’re going to see in all the storylines now? Major problem/issue dragged out for a few weeks to be wrapped up in 2 minutes like a TV sitcom? I’d be embarrassed to publish someting like this.

In the midst of celebration (and criticism of Greg Evans’ cartoon skills) it might be profitable to step back a little and view this arc in perspective. I believe that it shows us some things about the cartoon characters and about the medium as well as about the creator of the strip. We’ve had a lot of short-sighted commentary and shocked surprise at what has happened. So let’s review and see if there was humor and believability and whether anything was gained or whether, as some state, Greg has allowed his characters to devolve into their previous immature status..A) Greg Evans addressed unemployment in an entertaining, though somewhat unrealistic manner, B) he brought back a character that raised ire and interest and allowed her to make both Brad and Toni look bad, C) he incorporated more humor by allowing us to see TJ lose his ever-present grin when he thought things were going to go REALLY wrong, D) he developed some stressful and developmental experience in the Brad & Toni relationship – to the point where she revealed that she is prepared to think about marriage..Finally, I believe this was a plot device to show Nancy that Toni will be supportive and true to Brad in hard times and this will help thaw the freeze that she showed at Thanksgiving, 2009. Let’s see if this warms up at Christmas, 2011. Happy advent, everybody!

Glad to read this storyline ending but I would have liked to see Ann Eiffel get her just desserts. But I don’t get the criticism about this storyline being contrived or predictable. Greg invested a lot of time and effort into turning Brad into a firefighter; did many really think he’d just give up his dream that easily, even in this economy? Maintaining some status quo is part of this strip, otherwise Luann and her pals would have graduated high school over 20-years ago!

BTW, the way some people carry on here in comments (myself included…sometimes…), I predict Greg will have the comments disabled.

YEA is all I can say glad to see the happy ending

as comics should.

now, lets get back to this marriage thing and quit dragging your feet!

Now we need to see if Greg is going to do anything with Toni’s statement from the other day that she hopes to become his wife….

Yay – back to the firehouse. Now we need a good grease fire at Weenie World and Brad (or Toni?) gets to save Ann Eifel!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! WOOHOO! (can you tell that I’m mildly enthusiastic about this ending?)

Why can’t Brad has his own strip? He is great.

You called it Wiselad! lol!!

Maybe Sanchez will board the wrong plane and be involved in a plane crash with Tiffany and Quill!! And what about Naomi… ?!!!

I think a celebratory trip to Weinieworld is in order.

remember that the main thing is to make most(if not all) dailies funny………. not “very realistic”……. otherwise we would never see the plots we saw in “home improvement”, “I love Lucy”, “family ties”, “the Bundys”, “the nanny” and such………… the only “very realistic sitcom” that was successful was the cosby show

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Now if only this would happen in real life.

Clam up = calm up?

And thank you, Greg for not letting this boring storyline continue.

And welcome back to he real world, Brad.

I’m 71 and this is the only comic strip I follow. Thank you Greg Evans.

Toni looks suspicious. Does she know something about Sanchez?

113 comments already?

Captain to Toni: Ahem, Now about that ultimatum you gave me…

Good old Sanchez! Also known as Deus Ex Machina to his friends.

Whew.. dodged a bullet there.

Alright, TJ – what did you tell Sanchez?

Do you folks have any idea how great Greg Evans is?I have been in the comic industry for over 35 years, and I haven’t seen a comic strip, where people were concerned and talked about it’s characters, since Dick Tracy, Dondi, and Little Orphan Annie!Greg-you are to comic strips what Disney is to Theme Parks!!

Brad was better as a slob living at home annoying his sister this isn’t real life they do not have to go up

Yea!!!

I think many of you are going off a little heavy-handed on Greg. And I’ll make an attempt to defend his work.

His process of creating a comic strips is not the same as that of fully published short sories or novels. He might have a rough idea where he THINKS the arc will go, but these stories usually unfold on the fly in the mind of the cartoonist and then – at best – short segments get scripted and drawn — and then OFF they go into production. The roadmap is oftentimes a fuzzy one. Greg speaks to this in his blog. It’s a necessary challenge for a cartoonist like Greg to keep his options open in the midst of a storyline. He’s not the kind of guy who works half a year in advance with “safe” little arcs so he can hit the links by 10 am. He takes risks that sometime blossom and other times fizzle.

There’s no opportunity to rework the earlier pieces to more neatly segue towards an elegant conclusion. While his process may appear flawed to many of you, it is more an accurate story of Greg Evans the juggler than it is of Luann and Gunther and Toni and Brad, etc. Sometimes ya drop the pins and break a few plates.

And Bill – I know you love to throw the Deus Ex Machina dart, but considering the logistical handicap that cartoonists on a daily deadline face, I think your call was highly predictable and thus a cop out in its own right. I prefer to view his storytelling, mistakes and all, in a broader context. My three cents are spent.

A little bit of a “Deus ex Machina” ending I admit, but still nice to see. Brad deserves a break. And it’s possible to thank T.J. for throwing out that idea. It helped the chief to think of Brad at the right moment.

It does seem a bit contrived, but people DO move. So it is a reasonable ending to the story line.

Toni’s threat had no real impact on the decision, but it gave her the opportunity to make amends for causing Brad to lose his other job, and to think more seriously about marrying him.

mojitobaby had it exactly right. Whether from Spain or other Latin American countries, they are considered to be of Hispanic origin. My husband is from Spain (born and grew up there. While my husband argues it, our kids are considered to be Hispanic. And there are plenty of Sanchezes in Spain.While I think the link to Spain is odd, and a connection to Mexico more likely, there would be a boatload of people crying foul if Sanchez went to Mexico. Take it easy people. Maybe next time, he’ll send van der Sloot back to the Netherlands.

And TJ goes to work for Weenieworld and it burns down and Brad & Toni have to save TJ and Ann Eiffel and she apologizes for being such a b***h and falls in love with TJ and . . . . .

Way to go Brad! Now it’s time for them to become engaged.

Wiselad, you weren’t the first, I said it several days ago and I’d be surprised if someone else didn’t say it before then.

Native people of Spain are Caucasians, not Hispanic. Hispanics of Mexico are mostly descendants of European Spaniards and Mexican native indians. The same is true for many islands where Spaniards colonized and bred with the locals. However, the people in Spain on the continent of Europe are white – the darkest would be someone like Penelope Cruz. who is not Hispanic but her last name implies she is. Many Hispanic surnames are actually originated from Spain and non-Hispanic in origin.

Not as contrived as one might think. We worked with a company rep that suddenly decide to move to Spain to experience her heritage. ’Course it came out later that her boss was a serial womanizer…

Too easy an ending. But developing this particular story would’ve meant giving much less time to the other characters. Having so many characters in such a tiny performance space (a daily comic strip) means the story arcs will be trite.

i hope he dont let the bananna head go instead,but good for brad,she need to hold on to her,do we marrage bells soon

Thought so!

We have someting of a conclusion here, but it’s only Wednesday. Brad and Toni have an opportunity here. Yes, their world is now wonderful again, but TJ is at home wondering if his big mouth has done it again. If he was allowed to believe that his meddeling had any positive effect, there may be no stopping him. If they were to ignore all that he did/caused in the last week, wouldn’t we have arrived at the same end? Therefore all he caused was heartache and distrust.

I knew they would get you back Brad… Merry Christmas :-)

Something else is brewing in this teapot. Too easy, too predictable. I’m holding my breath until Friday…. [but I exaggerate]

As an old retired firefightrer, I appreciate this resolution to Brad’s predicument. Thanks Greg, you da man.

A lot of comments, here but the one I liked best was catfeets idea to have a celebration party at Weenie World. All this banter about nationalities is about as interesting as the banter about flight schedules to L.A.

Is there some reason why Mr. Sanchez CAN’T go to Spain if he wants to? And it seems a little early in the week to wrap up this storyline. Surely there will be something to explain such an inane ending.

Cute… a little over-simplified and an easy “magic ending”, but fitting for the story. ;-)

Is it just me? I find Brad’s story line much more interesting than Luann’s! Greg draws some nice looking ladies, too!

What happens next? Brad gets bitten by an insect in the fire station and gets super powers?

Welcome back cadet.

Lol!

I’ve been wondering if Greg watches your comments, then chooses his theme? Tee hee!

Dougsathome, good one. There HAS been speculation that perhaps TJ’s dad was in the mob, or something like that. He does have a kind of mysterious background….He just may know a guy named Vinnie that walks with a limp….and loves baseball too, evidently. At least he’s always carrying a baseball bat. I find this totally believable…..Sometimes it works that way, and everything becomes moot. Sometimes when it looks like things couldn’t get worse, they don’t, they get better.

I think the point of this exercise is to show how much Tony is willing to do to to help Brad. Actions speak louder than words…It’s obvious that she wants the best for him. Was it kinda stupid? Yeah. Was it kinda toyching? Yeah. Did it kinda show Brad how much she cared about him? Yeah.. It’s obvious that she intends to stick with that boy.

Ooops! toyching? Ha! Boytoyching?

Now, all that is left is for What’s Her Name from whienie world to get hers. Maybe some of the firefighters can go there to celebrate Brad’s homecomeing.

no, now all that is left is for Brad to propose.

YAY!

Sheriff must have seen the end of this arc, but it still seems unusual for this to have come on a Wednesday. .Something interesting should follow. I’d prefer the arc/stories to be more interrelated. .Where is Jonah?

I’d prefer the arc/stories to be more interrelated. .For example have Elwood buy Weenie World.Or Sanchez be Rosa’s brother, and her moving, too — and Gunther and Rosa on a wistful double date with Luann and Quill..Or Tony and Brad on a double date with Luann and Quill.

Can you say deus ex machina?

Now time for a wedding.

Something tells me, that we’re not done with Miss Ann Eiffel just yet…..

I figure that Brad will mention getting married, like he has several time, but this time Toni will say okay, causing Brad to do a spit take,

Deus ex machina strikes again. How convenient. There was no need for Weenie World or Ann Eiffel if this is the resolution. This whole storyline has been rendered pointless because of it.So why didn’t Brad go back to being an EMT? Because that would have been a complicated storyline, and Greg Evans only wants to write “Dynasty” catfights because it’s easy for him.

Nice quick solution to this problem…Or is it???Hmmm..

Now will Brad and Toni figure out if their relationship is going to the next level or not.

Thanks for the storyline Greg.

Have we met Sanchez? How do you know it’s a He?

Where’s Tiffany? Toni might have it, but at least Tiffany flaunts it. Crystal has it, too, but she just lets it smolder.

Wait, we got 3 more days of comic! I am positive Brad might make a move!

God bless him!!!

Yeah, corny contrived entry, but c’mon, Brad had to be back at the station with Toni…

um — i don’t think this is a cop-out, deus ex machina or contrived end at all. imo it’s entirely plausible, and certainly not outrageous, that someone who has been laid off would have various unpleasant adventures in the job market before being rehired when someone leaves or retires. A deus ex machina is a new, unexpected and unbelievable event that comes totally out of left field — this ending is not like that. it’s pretty close to what happens in real life for a lot of people.

So my money is on a fire at Weenie World, Anne gets smoke inhalation and Brad has to give her mouth-to-mouth.

@Fat Tony, Spain is a European country! Minorities do not come from Europe!

Wish I had some good luck. I’m loosing my job at the end of December.

All right! Go, Brad!

Who said Sanchez is from another Country??

Got deported I bet

maybe the background point of the whole arc was for these two to have to evaluate their boundaries with respect to each other, and prep for where the relationship is headed next.

That’s an excellent point, and I wish Greg had kept that in sight, because I think he lost his way in getting there. I think he could have gotten there without reducing Toni to a self-abasing doormat, and turning Brad to a conflict-averse numbskull.

Mazel Tov, Brad! (Now propose already!)

Yeah, everyone was so happy about fat lazy slob Brad turning into a firefighter, so Evans had to restore him eventually.

Woo-hoo!

WHOA! 219 comments????

I like happy endings, too.

maybe it was the idea of her decision to give up her dream job for Brad that was important, not that she actually would have to give it up.

But except for this stupid Sanchez save (say that 3 times, fast) she would have – so saying that Greg wasn’t serious or it isn’t important because she didn’t actually have to quit is BS. The fact that she admitted Brad might be her husband pales in comparison to the fact that Greg has presented her as someone who now can’t define herself as a person unless it’s through what Brad does or doesn’t do. .Greg totally missed the boat here – he was looking at “Toni declares her love for Brad – yay!” and “Toni balances the scales for losing Brad’s job for him – yay!” and overlooked “Toni’s right back where she started in an abusive mindset so she defines herself by how fulfilled her boyfriend is, and her worth by whether he has a job or not! If he’s laid off, her dream is worthless!”

Sorry, no “yay” after that one.

*’m so glad we see the easy way out (but it WAS an obvious way anyway)!

I think now on Brad’s first payday They should go to Weinie World in full uniform and just rub it AF’s face.

All right!

This made my day. What a great way to start the morning; a comic where some good things happen to good people.

Thanks to Gregg!

They are now way above WW. So, stay away from that place, get on w/ their lives. Start dining on sushi & sake !

BTW – Toni will now propose to Brad.

This is a comic strip. To enjoy it we must suspend our perceptions of reality.

It’s a very old Dutch name -“groot” means “big” or “great”. It can also refer to being from Groot, which is a town in the S. Holland province that’s been around since the 1050’s. Belgium has 3 major languages, and altho Dutch is one you can’t really say it’s “Belgian”.

Sanchez male and Spanish? Nah. Sanchez is a Toni-twin. Sanchez is the married name and she is moving to Spain because of hubby’s new job..

I’m back ! Oh Brad I’ve never felt so happy… kiss kiss

The journey was pointless. You’ve got your statement mixed up.

Don’t try to pull that cop-out just because your feelings are hurt that not everybody bought Greg’s poor excuse for an ending. If you won’t put forth the effort to expect better out of comic strips, the quality will just get worse and worse until everything is either a zombie strip or “Reply All”.

I’ve seen many comments on the way this latest arc was wrapped up and all/none are right. My take is that this was a way to show that Toni is no longer Toni. She is now a part of “Toni and Brad INC.” She has finally realized that whatever she was and whatever Brad was doesn’t matter. She is now committed to Brad/Toni INC.

Deus Ex Machina.

All well that end well. Hope these two get hitched or will they be a career first couple. Why not tie the knot if they love each other?

It’s a comic strip

A MASSIVE FRONTAL ASSAULT ON THE ENEMY REAR ? ………………………… HOORAY !!!!