Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for March 08, 2021

Is anyone going to check if she’s still breathing?!

they traded coats in panel 3

Whoa

Panic, not a good look for Luann and Bernice.

Kind of intense. ✨

…you would think Brad and Toni would have trained someone here how to administer first aid or how to call 911 properly…

Such brilliant choices of words from a collegiate young lady, Bernice. Girls, GO and check for her pulse, please! And TAKE your phone with you over to Tara so you can tell the 911 dispatcher. Geez, do we gotta tell you what you should do??

Skin is now showing.

Sign of movement.

Spine not broken.

Good detail to drawing.

911: Is there an adult I can talk to?

Obviously going incognito

Freakin’ amazing artwork on Bernice’s expressions, all three panels!

Get over there Luann! Step up and help! Hopefully this sequence only took a moment…

They’re too traumatized, their brains aren’t working. They need to relax first—-then assess whats happening. Problem is: tara is dying while they’re freaking out on the phone with 911 dispatch.

Brad will be there soon with a level head to handle the situation. fire dept. paramedic duty calls.

I hope this leads to lessons on emergency preparedness. For the characters and through them for the readers.

So, a friend in need does not need Luann or Bernice?

Woman slaughter!?!? Oh Boy!

Looks like the obligatory “ditzy females” strip cam early this year.

That’s just the colorist reminding the Evans’ that Bernice’s clothes are filthy. She has been wearing them for more than a month. Do some laundry Bernice.

In a comment to Dick Johnson and Dolores J. Nurss above:

…(this is) an obvious attempt at a cheap laugh in a situation that’s not supposed to be funny.

Or, if it is (supposed to be funny), then I vastly overestimated G&K!

Luann, Tara Starr needs your help!

This is crazy! A real friend would be rushing on over to Tara and checking on her condition. What is wrong with them?? And who says “woman-slaughter”?? She would say, “There’s been an accident!”

It’d be kinda weird if we find out Tara is dead after this. First Bernice and Luann are whimsically awkward, then “Woah, Tara’s totally worm food!” A whiplash-inducing change in tone. But, it’s “Luann.” Who knows.

Time to grow up, Luann!

Bernice and Luann in the state of disbelief and denial.

Tara can be quite a card. I seriously doubt that she was hurt badly from a vehicle at point blank that hit her from a dead stop at maybe 3 to 4 MPH (how much speed can that car gather up in, like, two feet?). Would not surprise me if when Luann and Bernice come over to check on her, she was playing possum and jumps up and yells, “BOO!”

Pretty intense subject matter for a ‘comic’ strip….

Commenters keep trying to meta the comic. “Such and such isn’t happening because it’s a family strip.” You don’t set the rules. G&K are free to do whatever they want in their comic and it’s not up to you to determine what they’re allowed to do.

I checked Arcamax since it changes an hour earlier than here, and maybe it’s just wishful thinking but I think if you compare closely the Saturday panel with today"s there might a tiny bit of movement. The biggest thing is Tara’s blouse—it seems to be wrinkled and showing a bit more skin at the point. In the back where it comes out of her pants. Of course the way her legs look is not very encouraging , the paramedics would be very careful in moving her because of her spine. Give the girls a break, it is perfectly normal for them to be in shock , and Bernice’s blurring out a female gender is anne example of that. Let’s wait and see if by the end of the week and Tara is alive and in hospital we can see the bitter humor there, 911 dispatchers get all kind of shocked excited, unintelligible utterances in time of great trauma.

OK Bernice time to tighten up and report what just occurred though the operator probably has an idea of what vehicular woman-slaughter is. Simply tell 911 that your friend was hit head on by a sports car pealing out of the Fuse parking lot. Luann, I do not know if your CPR skills will come in handy here but if the 911 operator tells you to do something, please take a deep breath and get ready to help!

A con? Stella is the bumper, and Tara is the jumper. Tara spots the intruder picking up the cash Tara has assembled for pick up. Tara stages a phony chase scene, Stella guns the engine and Tara jumps on the hood and rolls off as Stella moves on with the cash. Simple……..or we go into a big, long, complicated story line with a back burner character.

This is why the 5Ps are drilled into people in all sorts of training:Proper Preparation Prevents Pretty Poor Performance. They could be reacting better, but it isn’t at all unrealistic. Shock – and they are absolutely in shock at this point – is a biological reaction to traumatic events. It can be prevented. It can be overcome. But mental preparation and having a planned, practiced response are key. They don’t have either.

And Bern called 911 days ago, they’re just now answering?

This is a lot darker than I’m used to for this comic.

Given the reader response to Tara prior to last week, they may be able to get the charge reduced to littering.

Geeze, Id hate to have to rely on either one of them

Given the way Tara is lying, she probably just got knocked to the ground rather than run over. If Stella had run her over she’d be flat on her back.

And Bernice needs to seriously rethink her college major if she can’t handle this.

These two are idiots! Wouldn’t the first natural response be to run to Tara to help???? And most times, one doesn’t naturally turn away from an impending accident. One becomes paralyzed and CANNOT look away. Bernice is useless, as usual with her 911 call.

Bernice goes back to being Bernice. Instead of just getting Tara help she wants to explain to the 911 operator what crime they need to charge her with and what it should be called.

CHECK THE BODY!!!

Luann, you.. might want to go over to Tara and see if she’s still breathing.

Looks like the colorist screwed up the coats.

“You look. No, you look. You first, I insist. No, you go ahead. No, YOU go ahead. No, YOU. After you. I can’t look. Neither can I. Will you just look?! No! I already told you I can’t look! C’’mon, Bern! No, YOU c’mon, Luann! You’re you’re supposed to be my BFF! I am, just not at this moment! Age before beauty! Pearls before swine!” …… Jesus H. Tap-Dancing Christ already, Evanses..

I’m really disappointed with both girls. just standing there and not going to see how Tara is. Continue calling 911. And I do realize this is just a comic, but honestly.

You have to , Luann. Bernice is already doing something useful, if incoherently.

Hope Tara’s okay.

You cowards! Go get her!

Good Lord—stop blithering and go and help her!

And in a twist of fate Tara then raises up and says, “…And you were always the dumb one and then proceeds to grab her remote detonator and blows her car up it speeds away….”, saying “yippee ki yay….”. Or that’s the way I’d end it…

THE PANIC! IT’S FEEL SO REAL! Run Luann! Run to Tara!!! Even if scary you have to do it! Tara needs help, or at least to hear a friend’s voice next to her.

Heck, they are doing better than I expected…

Once upon a time, a long time ago, Luann once quickly swung into action and saved a person’s life using CPR. It was Bernice, I believe.

Saving a life, could happen here, since everything is moving in mere seconds. And after these ladies get a much needed grip.

But it seems clear so far that:

1) The neither the cops nor EMTs are on their way, because Bernice’s “call” hasn’t gone through yet.

2) Stella has just gotten away Scott-Free with several crimes, not mention the Fuse’s dough.

So what happens next, is all up to Luann and Bernice.

Will Tara die?

I kinda of doubt it since Team Evans is making light of her plight today.

And having someone killed in the Fuse parking lot would be decidedly bad for the Fuse’s business, moving forward.

It could be that Tara’s recovery (At the DeGroot Homestead?) may be the focus of the Strip for the better part of this year. Perhaps Ms Starr could end up in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, not unlike Bernice’s “Ex,” Zane.

But what I’m really waiting to see is how Ms. “Risky-Frisky” Luann is going to “explain” this mess to her parents.

And naturally, Bernice, being the SJW she is, it’s more important to make sure you say woman-slaughter instead of manslaughter. Cuz that’s what’ important right now.

Hopefully this story makes some progress before Saturday.

Look like Luann and Bernice are about to grow up a lot.

Way to stay cool under pressure girls!

Is Tara badly hurt?

The doctor’s say she’ll be o.k.

But she wont be back this year.

the colorizer is having fun!

So much for rushing to Tara’s aid. These two are worse than useless.

It’s a good thing Luann didn’t react this way that time when Bernice needed CPR. If she had, Bernice might not be here anymore.

But of course it’s oh so hilarious watching these two argue while their friend may be badly injured, cause “hilarity ensues!" /S

Why aren’t they helping her?

How did I know that Luann would be useless in an emergency. Saying “she’s down” not “she’s hurt”, not checking on her friend, not doing anything but being a spoiled sniveling useless crappy stupid idiot moron. I don’t like her at all. Not at all. This is all her fault and somebody better be putting her straight before this is over.

Airman raised an interesting point. Are GnK invested in introducing a long Tara centered arc? I, for one, really cannot see a death and funeral in Luanniverse. So that leaves Tara hospitalized for some period which would hold the attention of Luann and Bernice. Else they would seem uncaring and positively callous. The degree of Tara’s injuries are yet to be revealed – so this Tara arc could continue in several ways.

Also, GnK have “issues” aplenty that are yet to be dealt with. 1) Luann’s violation of trust in allowing a clandestine sleepover in her parent’s home hidden from them. 2) Luann’s violation of trust in allowing a transient person with escape issues to camp overnight in her parent’s business. 3) Luann’s lapse of friendship with her supposed BFF in keeping Tara’s secret, then chiding Bernice when she expressed curiosity. 4) Bernice’s suggested infatuation with Jack and her (lingering?) concern that Luann is a rival for his attention. 5) The ultimate fate of the amorphous cousin and the recovery of the stolen Fuse operating funds.

Perhaps tomorrow the two inepts will settle the issue of Tara’s fate. Or perhaps, GnK will stretch out the recovery and we’ll be left with Tara laying there unattended for another day.

@wantcomicsnow: Realize that this is the same 911 call that Bernice dialed several strips ago. Only about 3 seconds has gone by since then. So stop being so critical, and Bernice is giving the dispatcher (who likely hears the screaming in the background) an accurate description. No hilarity is ensuing at this moment.

I was hoping Luann would have more of her brother in her for handling emergencies. Disappointing. But a lot of people fall apart in a crisis.

I’m a bit shocked that neither of them went to see if they could help her. Not even Luann should/could be that self-centered.

I wonder if the 911 operator will know to send an ambulance from. Bernice’s call. They are probably used to dealing with hysterical callers.

After working with kids all those months Luann never took first aid?

911 humor lacks funny.

First aid immediately is critical! Plenty of time to panic and freak-out later. MOVE YOUR A….!

Reminds me of the movie “Dumb and Dumber”

did luan forget how to do cpr she learned how to in an earlier striphttps://www.gocomics.com/luann/1992/04/17

To say the least….I will!

More of this ‘woke’ BS: “woman slaughter” when will the stupidity end?

todays strip is totally unnecessary to this story arc

2

While I know the panels today represent only a few seconds of time in the plotted story…

To me it just “feels” wrong to have an attempt at a humorous aspect today, which I feel is meant by Bernice’s statement of “Vehicular Woman Slaughter”. It is accurate as far as it goes, but is (I feel) meant to also try to humorously reiterate Bernice’s precision of language and her somewhat didactic nature.

Again, there is really nothing wrong in WHAT she said, but it just kind of feels “grimy” to me that it is being used as an effort to have something be kind of “odd-humorous” in today’s effort. I believe it would have been more appropriate for today to not feature a “gag” of sorts….. but have been played only dramatically.

Why all the hate and saying they’re panicking? Bernice is doing exactly what she should be doing. Calling 911, giving Luann directions on what to do (you look is right), and in a moment (in daily comic strip time, because after all, it is just a comic strip) the operator will likely tell her what to do next.

And Bernice wakes up and it’s all just a dream.

One thing that can always be counted on with these two is hysteria.

my, is Bernice calm when talking to the 911 dispatcher

Either go and actually check on her, make sure she is breathing or go back in the fuse and lock the door until the police arrive. Stella could come back for the eye witnesses.

These two are useless.

does anyone besides me see that G&K might have been creating a little similarity between Luann in panel 1 and the famous painting The Scream by Munch https://www.edvardmunch.org/the-scream.jsp.

Yep, normal reaction would be to rush over and try to help her… check her pulse or whether she is breathing…

If I don’t look, it didn’t happen.

LADIES GET OVER THERE AND HELP. YOU BOTH HAVE FIRST AID. now calm down and move.

This will be the redemption of Starr. She’ll probably be offered a job at the Fuse.

I liked the character of Luann so much better when she was a capable intelligent young lady. They are not doing this comic strip any favors by making her a constant idiot. It’s the other characters that are carrying the weight and making it interesting. I guess they don’t care if the main character is portrayed badly…the readership is the same…so the money is the same. You would think they would care about the namesake…oh well.

You need to specify.

Yeah lets not check n see if she’s alive or anything… y’know… why are they making them so dumb?……

Having been it these situations myself, you just act or in this case at least call 911. Let’s go Ladies

Hopefully Lu’s delay in attending to Tara was no more than 5 seconds. Tara may need CPR or to stop bleeding.

I was about ready for tara to limp up behind them and ask if one of them wouldn’t mind driving her to the hospital when they got thru their panic.

I’m kinda feeling like this ISN’T one I would want to run with a punch line.

Bernice it’s called a hit and Run. And way the cartoonist make Bernice jacket darker in panel 3.

Shut up, Luann.

WE joke about all the amnesia in this strip but in some ways it’s vital. After 35+ years of writing this strip Greg has had Luann do about everything. So it becomes necessary to forget what she used to be able to do — sing, act, design sets, give CPR,, just there’s space for a new story. So the Now Luann, like most people does not CPR. And whereas in the Before Time Luann was quick to respond to an emergency — Bernice stopped breathing, Tiffany drowning — the Now Luann has never been in an emergency before. And like most people she’s panicking. After all most people have never seen someone they were talking too moments before die in front of them (as Luann assumes at the moment). If there had been blood, lots of blood their “you look,” “And you look” response would be understandable. Greg is probably exaggerating this response in order to make a dire situation as dire as possible. Finally the time since Stella shifted into Drive has been at most 2-3 seconds. A lot has happened in those few seconds that has taken days to show but unless Luann and Bernice go back into the Fuse to finish eating their pie they have been acting as fast as any traumatically shocked young people would do.

too many comments; I can no longer deal with it.

“Hello? Operator? Our friend might be dead! What should I do?”

“Calm down, please. I can help. First, can you make sure they’re dead?”

CRUNCH “I snapped her neck. She’s dead. So, now what should I do?”

I hope she is going to be okay. That and I hope they catch her cousin.

That’s some kooky hit-and-run right there! Any guesses on the damage? Will we see her with an arm in a sling or a cast on a leg or is it truly lights out? Stay tuned!

I do see that Tara must have moved somewhat because Saturday there was no skin shown, and today, Tara’s shirt has shifted to reveal skin.

Lots of comments here about the panic of L and B. If you have ever been in an emergency and called 911 ask yourself have you made that call calmly? Of course not. Emergency dispatchers are trained to calm down panicked callers and request the needed information.

Bernie is at any rate trying to do something useful.

Witless Luann, however, is not only not doing anything to help, she is actively impeding getting any assistance for Tara Starr, who may be down but not out—yet!

LUANN! GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER!

She’s a cat with nine lives who just used up at least 7 of them. Alive and breathing. Check!

Normal responses. Everyone respond differently.

“I can’t look?” Seriously?? Get over there!! Every second counts.