Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 16, 2016

Continuing yesterday’s discussion, which I had a brief look at, if Evans had been an amateur one shouldn’t have criticised him. But the moment he became a professional cartoonist, he lost all right to be immune to criticism. That’s why reviews and reviewers, including sites like Goodreads, or for that matter the Michelin Guide, exist; they tell the consumer what’s good and what’s bad, in the opinion of the reviewer. Especially when a cartoonist seems to have shown a steady deterioration in content and plotting while his artwork has improved (and I certainly admit his art has improved enormously) he is not just criticisable, he deserves criticism. Back ten years ago he still didn’t shy away from such plot lines as steroid abuse, violence in relationships (Dirk, a fascinating character who deserved much more time on this strip, but who was also summarily removed), serious illness (Delta’s lymphoma). Today he spends endless time going round and round and round on non-events, and when anything even remotely interesting happens to come up, he drops the plot and never returns to it again. One can even name the specific point at which this decline began: the Great Big Washington Trip Story of 2009, which threw logic and plotting right out of the window.I’ve been a reader of this comic strip, with a couple of breaks, since 1995. Back then it was a fairly charming family strip, with no ultra convoluted plots and no storylines that disappeared after a build up never to be heard of again. Even then, though, Evans polled his readership to decide whom Luann should go to the dance with, Aaron Hill or Gunther; but at least he had the artistic integrity to shove Aaron on a metaphorical bus to Hawaii and got rid of him when he no longer was interested in the character. On the other hand, when he got rid of Quill and the “fan base” squealed, he brought him right back, and admitted that he’d brought him back because of the squealing of the “fans”. This is not artistic integrity; this is pandering to the market. That’s why I prefer Brooke McEldowney; he may despise a section of his readers, whom he calls “beefwits”, but he’ll never change his plots to suit their tastes.Apropos the Trufans. I remember Flashman, for instance, and a certain “Karnak”, later renamed “High Plains Drifter”, and who now appears on this thread under an alternate name, who used to bully dissenters, including myself, and defending Evans at all costs.