Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 27, 2016

At the level of metafiction, Brad can never marry Toni. Charlie Brown can’t make babies with the Little Red Haired Girl. It violates the laws of comicland.

Brad exists as a foil for Luann, a buffoon. As the strip has evolved away from broad to more nuanced humor it has made sense to clean Brad up. But take that too far, and the character loses most of his comic potential.

Toni originates as a femme fatale. Mysterious with dark secrets. As a character, she verges on the possession of agency, but she works best as a prop. Either we eventually get to know her…at which point she stops being capital T Toni Daytona…or she has to reestablish her distance, or even leave the strip (as Aaron Hill did).

Marry Brad and Toni and Brad turns into a responsible adult and Toni into a housewife with a career. That’s not the Luanneiverse.

Now Toni disappears and Brad and TJ wind up (somehow) with Shannon. That’s comic gold. Perhaps a girlfriend or wife down the road for one of them…but someone just as goofy as they are…someone who drive Luanne a bit crazy. Like I said, comic gold.