Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 08, 2019

TJ in next panel asks Jack, “would you like the cheeseburger to go, sir?”

Having never see how fancy the cuisine is at the Fuse, I am curious as to whether a cheeseburger is actually on the menu.

Nothing goes with date-watching better than a cheeseburger. ✨❤️✨

And SO, Tiffany FINALLY wanders over to Luann’s table! Something SHOULD starting happening now!

But the BIG question IS: Will “We” get to actually “See” it?

Or Will We simply bear witness the grim aftermath?

Shocked and Infuriated Luann. Fired Tiffany. Oblivious Ox. Doug’s hand. TJ’s “Smirk.” Jack’s repulsive eating habits. Les Knox, who in addition to losing out on a day’s worth of tips, now has to dealing with the horror of dishpan hands.

So the new dishwasher is waiting tables?

It is about time the boss shows up.

TJ gave Tiff an arched eyebrow—is he starting to doubt his “weirdly logical” logic? Then there’s the dubious look he gave Ogg (er, Jack). Will Jack get tossed out for his seemingly creepy behavior? Will Tiffany get demoted to dishwasher…or fired? What about Luann? Tune in tomorrow for…Confusion at the Fuse!

It’s interesting. Now that T.J. is a business owner, he has suddenly become a paragon of virtue.

Why not, TJ? Everyone was watching Gunther’s date…

Love TJ’s expression in panel 3. Perfect supercilious waiter.

It is never fun watching someone else’s date on an empty stomach.

Aaand, finally, Jack suddenly realizes just how inane all this “signaling subterfuge” really is….

Jack says, “Oh, I’m just observing a date.” Not a very bright fellow – that Jack…

If Tiffany is waiting on Luann, who brought her the glass with something in it? See the May 6 strip – she is holding one in her hand and Doug’s is on the table. Usually, it is the server who waits on your table (at least in most restaurants I attend). The hostess would bring along the menus and seat them, but not take time to get glasses and fill them with water (otherwise Jack would have had a glass too). If Tiffany was on a break (as Jack thought), Ox or someone else would be waiting on that table and may have already taken the order. Plus TJ assumed Tiffany was waiting on Jack and not Luann. I guess its “cartoonist license”.

Jack.., you creep!!!! And now Tiffany will go to Luann’s table…..HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUN, FUN, FUN!

TJ is NOT impressed with either Tiffany OR Jack.

This just keeps getting better and better.

TJ doesn’t have time for this

I presume that TJ will look over and see Luann, and Doug at the other table. And, even after hearing Jacks’s comment will still be confused-or, at least be concerned for his bottom line.

Oh, oh. Ol’ Smiley’s not smiling.

(I’ll have a cheeseburger, too.)

That would come across as a bit creepy. Go with the cheeseburger.

At only 75 comments, at 7:30 Mountain Time, my guess is that this arc is putting people to sleep!

This whole thing it starting to remind me of Ursula, Phoebe’s twin sister from Mad about you.

How very nice of Tiff to offer to wait on Lu’s table. Brings a tear to my eye… not! :D

OMG, Jack’s a voyeur!

I think TJ, being the manager or maître d’, wants guests eating, paying and not just taking up space. So far, Tiff doesn’t seem to recognize Lu’s date.

Well, when you say it that way, it does sound a little creepy.

That is the restaurant manager.

TJ has matured. Let’s not go back to his younger deeds. He is the same age as Brad, who has also matured.

6

Hmm. TJ is not liking this fellow…. who is captivating the waitress and stalking other customers. The cheesburger order at the end…. might not be enough to save our fellow from being escorted out.

Other thoughts:

1) Again, today, Greg has continued with drawing Jack in a more “young kid” sort of way. To me, especially the side profile shots make Jack look like he is more around 14-15 years old rather than the 20-21 year old he probably is. I noticed it much of the week… and it is a departure from how Greg has been portraying him….. originally, as many have stated, he was more “Neanderthalesque” then he became more “Jock-esque” and then more “Clark Kentesque”. I wonder if Greg is just exploring his drawing style of him or if he was simply rushed and simplified this arc’s depiction of Jack?

2) Tiffany received the “jaundiced eye” from TJ, although she does not know it yet. Will that continue onward or be a one-time thing here? And, how nosey will Tiffany be while taking Dougy and Luann’s order? And, presuming that Luann is not yet aware that Tiffany is working at The Fuse…. what will Luann’s reaction be?

3) It is very interesting to note that there is not a whole “crowd” of folks gawking at Dougy and Luann like there were for Gunther and Bets. It would be interesting if Luann became upset at Tiffany for “crowding in” on her…. especially after Luann’s missteps in Gunther’s on-line date.

Jack is the most stable and reasonable character in the strip.

Hilarity Ensues!! That is the fundamental truth, the serious stuff is not being featured in this arc. With that in mind look at how silly the situation is: Jack is being a requested voyeur to protect Luann, whom he only considers a friend, but there might be a subtext that they could be a couple, Tiffany is being Tiffany providing comic relief by being Tiffany, interrupting Luann’s plan to be protected in case Doug does something weird, and injecting herself in that plan, while TJ, whose job it is to manage, is suspiciously observing his new server, and asking Jack if his order has been taken, gets the answer, I “watching a date.” Next for Thursday, Tiffany is going to serve Luann and Doug. I see all the comments on TJ being, gasp, mature!! He is the boss for crissakes!! Anyway, right now I am open to speculation whether this arc finishes Saturday, or goes on to next week. Way too soon to decide how it ends.

Tiff days are numbed !!!

What’s TJ being snotty about? Luann is on a blind date, she asked Jack to look out for her.

Tiff isn’t gonna make this job either!

Doug? Will we ever see him, or will we get the Tom Farrell treatment? I think that maybe it isn’t easy to create new characters that can catch on. Terra, Bets, and Fay are good, Jack is okay but forgettable and we haven’t seen Fay in a couple of years. Pru is likable, but rarely used.

I held down the key and seven possible accents to choose from by pressing the appropriate number key (while holding down the letter key). èéêëēėę Wow! I just learned something!

Good policy on TJ’s part!! … …

Luann: I’d like to order a good excuse to dump this bore and get out of here!

Smart man!

The tension has been defused… phew!! we were watching maybe all of 7 minutes of Luann with Doug where Jack was obsessing over every movement and the peanut gallery (us) has been jumping to all sorts of conclusions ranging from Luann’s terrible stress and suffering and Doug being characterized as everything from a self obsessed bore to a possible serial killer. I’m all for giving this guy and the relationship a chance.

A cheeseburger is good cover for Jack’s real mission. Tasty, too! Now, go ’way, TJ!

The word is wingman.

Use it and unbust thyself.

The Luann strip is like the slot machine in a John Wayne and Lee Marvin movie called Donovan’s Reef. Wayne stays in the Pacific after WW2 and runs a saloon that has a broken slot machine. A gang of non-English speaking Chinese keep playing the machine, putting in their money and never getting anything back. This is just like the Luann characters’ love life. At least by the end of the movie, the machine hits big.