Luann (comic strip)

Luann
Characters from left to right- Tiffany Farrell, Aaron Hill, Gunther Berger, Delta James, Bernice Halper, Luann DeGroot, Nancy DeGroot, Frank DeGroot, Brad DeGroot, Knute, Crystal and Puddles
Author(s)	Greg Evans
Website	http://www.luannsroom.com
Current status/schedule	Running
Launch date	March 17 1985
Syndicate(s)	United Features Syndicate

Luann is a syndicated comic strip, distributed in newspapers by United Features Syndicate since March 17, 1985, Luann is written and drawn by Greg Evans, who won the 2003 Reuben Award as Cartoonist of the Year.

The strip is set in suburbia and is mostly about Luann DeGroot dealing with school, her love interests, family and friends. The official setting of the strip remains untold. Some storylines center on other characters in the strip.

Characters

Main characters

Luann DeGroot

The main character of the strip. She is a teenager at Pitts High School. Luann often suffers from a poor self-assessment of her attractiveness and popularity (especially her large feet), when in fact she actually scores quite well in both areas. Often, she has been portrayed as being selfish, 'expecting the world to be hers, but gives nothing in return', demonstrated by how she ignored certain guys like Gunther, and expected him to favor her anyway, and often flirted with other guys, even though she's in love with Aaron Hill, and still expects him to give his love to her. But inside she is only a girl going through all the stuff a teen is going throug.

First Appearance: 3/17/1985

Bernice Halper

One of Luann's best friends. Bernice is laid back and observant, but is also portrayed as a pessimist, finding everything in life impossible (except for getting straight A's, according to Luann). She is also portrayed as the proverbial black cloud hanging over Luann's happiness. In January 2007, Bernice learned that she had an older brother, who her parents gave up for adoption (as they felt they were way too young), Army Sergeant Ben York - currently deployed in Iraq.

Delta James

One of Luann's best friends. Delta is portrayed as a go-getter, demonstrated by how she attends dozens of clubs and activities every school year and takes part in volunteering. While Bernice is intellectually wise, Delta is the most politically intelligent in the strip, wanting to go into politics for a career. In 1998, Delta was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. The following year, Delta got the necessary treatment and the cancer was removed, and she was in remission.

Nancy and Frank DeGroot

Luann's parents. Frank is portrayed as somewhat clueless but still able to point out important things to his children, while Nancy is portrayed as more aware of what is happening but not able get through to her children. Both, however, have been portrayed as not wanting their kids to age, as well as not understanding their lifestyles beyond their toddler years.

Brad DeGroot

Luann's older, former couch potato, and soft-hearted brother. Luann usually shows a common snarky sibling attitude toward Brad (and vice versa), who for most of the strip was portrayed as something of a slob and aimless. He used to work at Weenie World, a hot dog and hamburger restaurant similar to Wienerschnitzel. However following the events of September 11th, 2001, Brad was inspired to become a firefighter.

Brad was previously shown repeatedly fixing his car and as out of shape. In order to become a firefighter Brad had to spend time at a gym to build up body strength to pass his fitness exams and has since been drawn without a paunch and a stronger jawline. Brad moved into a rental home owned by his parents that he shares with his best (and in some cases, worthless) friend, TJ.

Love interests

Aaron Hill

The boy of both Luann's and Tiffany's dreams. He has been seen to be both vain, and thus favors Tiffany, and considerate of actual feelings and thus continues to spark interest in Luann. To Luann, he is cute and loveable, but mixed up, having once been in love with Diane, who is a few years too old for Aaron. He now lives in Hawaii. In August 2005 Luann won a free trip to Hawaii and visited Aaron, but learned about his new Chinese girlfriend, Lian. He has recently set up his own MySpace page, and has sent a message to Luann talking about his recent events in Hawaii, including having broken up with Lian, sparking another love craze for Aaron in Luann.

Miguel Vargas

Foreign Exchange Student from Spain. Delta was the first to fall for Miguel, but Miguel often showed more interest in Luann. To Luann, Miguel was very romantic and gorgeous, but much too pushy. This led to on-and-off romantic interests between him and Luann. He once saved Tiffany's life by performing CPR after she almost drowned in the pool. She showered him with attention, until she used him to steal Gunther's test paper so she could copy the answers. She got caught in the act and charmed Miguel into taking the blame, and claiming he stole it so she could get the answers, even though he had been tricked into it. Despite being betrayed, Miguel took the blame for it and chose to return to Spain.

Stuart

Lifeguard at the Pitts Public Pool. He once saved both Luann and Tiffany from drowning in the pool (after Tiffany, in a panic, almost got Luann drowned, who had been trying to save her). Luann showed some interest in Stuart after that and even asked him out on a date. She was willing to take the next step with Stuart until he mentioned his wife, which broke Luann's heart, and they never dated afterwards.

First Appearance: 7/4/2000

Gunther Berger

A highly intellectual student with poor fashion sense and gentlemanly qualities. To Luann, he is sweet and sincere, but a doofus. She often hints love interest at him only so that he continues to pursue her, something she enjoys. If he doesn't, she'll get insecure and possessive of him. He has an on-again, off-again romantic interest for Luann at times and for Bernice at other times. He has recently gotten contacts to replace his glasses, attracting Luann in more ways than ever. He joined Luann in volunteer reading jobs at the local library, which earned even more of Luann's interest in Gunther.

Toni Daytona

Brad's semi-unrequited love interest and fellow firefighter. She joined Brad in all of the Pre-Fire Academy courses, including the CPR and First Aid, EMT, and the Paramedics classes, until Brad failed the physical exam for Fire Academy the first time, and had to go onto the next one alone. She seems to have shown some romantic interest in Brad, but whether it is love or just friendship remains unknown. Her former boyfriend, Dirk, had grown jealous of their friendship and became emotionally abusive to Toni and physically violent with Brad, which led to her eventually dumping Dirk. Toni re-connected with Dirk again for a short time after he was released from jail. After Brad had Dirk arrested for violating his restraining order too many times, Brad and Toni stopped speaking for several months. However, after Brad moved out into his rental home, Toni visited Brad twice, and attended a dinner Brad invited her to, and there she swore she'd never let Dirk in their lives again. After she joined him and TJ in building a Halloween House of Horror, she and Brad worked together in providing canned food for their latest charity drive. Swooned by Brad's pure heartedness, she finally kissed Brad on the lips.

First Appearance: 1/18/2002

Diane

Brad's first love interest. Brad, was very confused by her motives and character. Before she left for the last time, she found she and Brad had very little in common. Aaron Hill had feelings for Diane as well, creating a huge mess between Brad, Diane, and Aaron. Much like the fate of Lyman from the classic comic strip Garfield, Diane disappeared from the strip and has not returned. This was the last time she has appeared in the strip.

Claudia

Aaron Hill's girlfriend from Texas. She is deaf, but has learned lip reading, in order to communicate with hearing people better. When Aaron first announced to Luann about his relationship with Claudia, Luann accused him of making her up just to make Luann jealous, until he introduced Claudia to her while her mother was on a business trip. While she remained friends with Luann, she grew fed up with Aaron flirting with Tiffany while already in a relationship. While Aaron was often very mixed-up, Claudia saw Aaron's actions as untrustworthy, especially when she saw Aaron hanging on Tiffany. After a year-long relationship, she left Aaron and never returned.

First Appearance: 3/24/2001

Lian

Nothing is known about Lian, except that she was Aaron's girlfriend from Hawaii. She was shown only once when Luann went and visited Aaron in August 2005. A year later, Aaron announced to Luann that they had broken up.

First Appearance: 8/11/2005

Zane

Teenager paralyzed from the waist down. Former boyfriend of Bernice Halper. When he was driving with his parents to a college he was going to attend, they were approaching a curve on the road, and at the same time, a truck was turning to avoid that curve, and collided with Zane's car head on. While Zane was thrown from the car, and broke his spine, as well as his legs, causing his paralysis, his parents were killed instantly. It took him a year to fully rehabilitate. He was once saved by Brad in a fire. Crystal showed some feelings for him in 2003, but whether Zane really shared mutual feelings is unknown.

First Appearance: 6/27/2001

Ben York

Bernice's older brother, who recently appeared in the strip as an army sergeant on leave from duty from the Middle East. Bernice's parents had him in college before they married and decided to give him up for adoption. His adoptive family named him Ben York. He briefly returned to his birth family after searching for them on his computer. During the month of his first appearance, the DeGroot and Halper siblings went bowling together. While Brad initially felt a bit of jealousy towards Ben for his stature as a soldier, he shortly thereafter felt more respect towards Ben after he mentioned to Brad that he tried to become a firefighter, but could not get through one week of Fire Academy, and that he has full respect for them, and looks up to them as real heroes. Luann, however, developed a crush on Ben. Although after negotiating with Bernice that Ben was not interested in a girlfriend, Luann merely procrastinated, feeling more love for Ben after recently emailing Bernice and asking for Luann's email. Luann, full of romantic glee, exchanged twelve emails with Ben in just three days, annoying Bernice to the point of her demand that any further email exchanges cease.

While on a mission in Iraq. Ben suffered a broken leg, allowing him to discontinue his service in the army and return home. He told Luann and not Bernice or their parents, fearing they would worry too much. At that point, when Bernice found out about Ben's leg, she realized how insecure and paranoid she was becoming towards Luann's friendship with Ben, and apologized to her for her behavior. Now home, Ben has begun therapy with his parents, leaving Bernice and Luann wondering when they will get to see him.

First Appearance: 1/22/2007

Other friends and neighbors

Knute

The upbeat, skateboarding, class clown and Gunther's best friend. Knute and Gunther often team up to create a working but often unsuccessful result. He and Crystal have shared feelings for each other but never showed much more than that, finding they are the exact opposite of each other in every way.

T.J.

Brad's best friend, who comes up with outrageous schemes, and when they fail, manages to leave Brad holding the bag. Nearly every time he goes off the strip and returns, he always replies with 'here. there' or 'had things to do.' He has been portrayed as a shady, sleazy, and crooked con-artist, as well as a sarcastic smart alec. He has now returned to help Brad move into his new rental home, talking Brad into repainting the living room walls, and then cutting a door in the wall in order to provide an easy tv-to-fridge access (much to Brad's outrage). However, he perfected the new door, much to Brad's and Nancy and Frank's amazement. After enough compromising, Brad agreed to let TJ move in as his roommate.

Most of TJ's latest schemes, including putting together a romantic dinner for Brad and Toni, moving in as Brad's roommate, and selling meals to firefighters have often led to his feeble attempts at making passes at Toni, despite knowing that Toni sees him as nothing more than a 'weasely do-nothing'.

Rosa Aragones

The new girl at PHS. She was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Italy, France, and Mexico, and can speak English as well as French, Italian, and Spanish, leading Luann to wonder why she's in school. Later that year, she was assisted with her books by Gunther, which sparked jealousy in Luann, which quickly stopped, on account of Gunther helping her only because she hurt her arm carrying her sister into her wheelchair.

First Appearance: 9/5/2006

Mrs. Horner

An elderly lady that Luann visits from time to time. Frequently gives candid advice to Luann. In March 2006 she moved out of her old home and into a new retirement center, but she needed the help of Luann who asked Bernice, Brad, and Toni to help her move her out, but Dirk followed Toni to the home, and in order to impress and be near Toni, helped the moving job finish faster, but when he picked up Mrs. Horner's clock, an envelope full of money fell out, which Dirk looked into and pocketed, intending to steal it, and when he was caught by Brad, he claimed it to be his, but when Brad swiped it at the perfect time to return to Mrs. Horner, Dirk turned his story around and claimed to have found the envelope in the clock and intended to return it to her. He would have been kicked out had Mrs. Horner not believed his lie. She has recently sold her old home to Nancy and Frank, who have begun renting to Brad.

First Appearance: 7/16/2001

Eddie Munter

The new manager of Borderline Books, who replaced Ann Eiffel after she was unwillingly transferred. While Munter is normally very humorous and good-hearted, often ending his comments or jokes with "Kidding!", he knows when to be tough and decisive with his employees, earning the respect of Bernice and Zane shortly after he took over.

First Appearance: 7/9/2002

Antagonists

Tiffany Farrell

Popular and beautiful, but vain, ditzy and shallow cheerleader, who serves as Luann's main rival. As Miss Chamber of Commerce, she also goes by the name Sheraton St. Louis, a name evocative of real-life socialite Paris Hilton. Luann and Tiffany formerly battled over the affections of Aaron Hill, but once Aaron moved to Hawaii, they found that their rivalry extended to issues beyond competition for one boy. Often, she has been seen ruining love relationships between Luann and Aaron, or Luann and Miguel, whether it's for her own satisfaction or to take Aaron or Miguel for herself. In March 2003, Luann and Tiffany formed a brief friendship after winning a volleyball game as a team, which shortly fell apart due to their chronic rivalry over Aaron.

Tiffany's behavior demonstrates common insecurity in teenagers, and how Tiffany's constant obsession over being beautiful leads to being insecure and shallow.

Crystal

Tiffany's best friend. Crystal wears goth makeup and clothing, almost the exact opposite of the shallow fashion- and looks-obsessed Tiffany. She has a handicapped brother who looks up to Zane as an older brother. In October 2000, she and Knute seemed to share feelings for each other, but very little came of it due to how different they are. She and Bernice once formed a rivalry, battling over the love of Zane, similar to the rivalry between Luann and Tiffany. It's most likely that she was trying to steal Zane from Bernice, but other possibilities are that she needed someone like Zane for her younger brother to look up to as an older brother. Although she has never taken part in any of Tiffany's schemes, she usually provides positive support for them.

First Appearance: 7/12/2000

Dirk

Toni's jealous former boyfriend, who, like Tiffany Farrell to Luann, serves as Brad's main rival, and who has been both emotionally abusive toward Toni and physically violent to Brad, and often had severe anger problems (Possibly stemming from taking steroids). The grudge between him and Brad began when Brad drove off with Toni and away from him one night, and Dirk chased after them and ended up crashing and would have died, had it not been for Brad who rushed to his aid and resuscitated him in time. Since then, Dirk had become very insecure with Toni, a foreshadowing of their eventual break-up. After striking Brad at his Fire Academy Graduation Ceremony, he was arrested and a restraining order was issued ordering him to stay away from Brad. Following his release from jail, he took a mandatory anger management course, but he has continuously violated the restraining order (since October 2005). Unwilling to accept Toni dumping him, he continuously stalked her and tried to impress her with shallow gimmicks in order to try to win her back. In the beginning of May 2006, he was sent back to jail because Brad called the police on him for violating his restraining order. They cannot keep him behind bars forever, so his return to the strip is still in the question.

While Tiffany's behavior demonstrates the feminine side of insecurity, Dirk's behavior shows the masculine side, exercising his muscles nearly all day long and having a very aggressive attitude and short temper to intimidate those he sees as a threat (Especially Brad).

First Appearance: 6/19/2003

Derek

Bernice's first love interest. Derek first hit on Bernice and asked her to let him store his gym clothes in her locker. Unaware that Derek only hit on her so he could hide his stash of marijuana in her locker, Bernice fell for him instantly. Things changed, however, when Bernice discovered the marijuana in Derek's bag while going through her locker, and was about to turn him in until he "seduced" her with a kiss. While giving Bernice a ride home, Derek almost crashed, having overdosed on marijuana. Fed up, Bernice left the car, and even dumped his stash of marijuana on the curb. His whereabouts are now unknown. (Note: Not to be mistaken for Dirk; Toni's former boyfriend and Brad's rival)

The intentions of this storyline were to teach the importance of saying NO to drugs.

Ann Eiffel

Former manager of Borderline Books. When she hired Bernice as an employee, Bernice began working with Zane, one of the supervisors of Borderline. Eiffel became very jealous of them and even threatened to fire them if they continued working together. Bernice suspected Eiffel of trying to seduce Zane, but when she fired Zane, it turned out Eiffel was extremely feminist, and sexist, and favored Bernice much more. For firing Zane, Bernice developed a very rebellious attitude, which led to Eiffel becoming more forceful to her, until Borderline CEO Jim Hernandez (who knew Zane very well and arranged to remove Eiffel from the store as a means of payback for firing Zane), entered the store and transferred Eiffel to the new bookstore in Tokyo, Japan.

First Appearance: 1/24/2002

One time characters

Elwood

The "Elvis Jr." of Pitts High School. His first appearance was here He is half Luann's height, has a very cocky attitude, and is willing to walk in and out on any woman at anytime he pleases. He once accepted Luann's offer to take him to the Spring 2005 Dance, until he 'was asked by someone better', but then went back to Luann once again to go with her, who turned him down for turning her down. Later he turned up as the boyfriend of Tiffany, who presumably only went out with him because he was, of all things, a millionaire videogame creator. He was a character created for several story arcs, and hasn't appeared since these stories ended.

School & faculty

Mr. Fogarty

The school history teacher. He secretly loves Miss Phelps.

Miss Phelps

The school guidance counselor. She secretly loves Mr. Fogarty.

Miss Allison

The school P.E. teacher. She, like all other fitness teachers, is very tough and hard-nosed with her students. Out of all the teachers Luann knows well at Pitts High School, Miss Allison seems to be the only one Luann looks up to as a mentor figure.

Principal Hightower

The principal of Pitts High School. His name practically speaks for itself when referring to how high he is above the faculty. His face is never seen, only his hands when they're placed on his desk.

Emergency Medical Services

Captain

The Firefighter Captain of Fire Station #3, and Brad's superior officer. Brad first met him when he began the physical exam for Fire Academy. While his name remains unknown, he is very straight-forward, disciplined, wise, and hard-nosed. He has assigned Brad and Toni to take Reddy to local schools on more than one occasion, and has assigned Brad to his tasks of his rank as a firefighter.

First Appearance: 6/7/2004

EMT Supervisor

Brad's supervisor during his 6 months of EMT service before taking his Paramedics class. As gracious as he was about Brad fearlessly saving Zane from dying in the fires of the Borderline Bookstore, he had to file a reprimand on Brad's record for violating safety rules, acting outside his training scope, and not wearing proper safety gear. Like the Firestation Captain, his name is not given.

First Appearance: 8/3/2002

Animal characters

Puddles

Luann's dog, so named for his tendency to wee in the wrong spots.

Monroe

Zane's dog and special canine companion. He is a Golden Retriever and has grown to be a very faithful companion for Zane.

Reddy

The Fire Station Mascot. He is a small, 3-foot, Fire Truck, with a remote controller and a built in speaker connected to a microphone and head set, to appear as though he is speaking with his partner. Brad and Toni have brought him to local elementary schools on more than one occasion in order to demonstrate the importance of fire safety.

First Appearance: 6/6/2005

Cuddles

Luann's cat, a recent addition to the strip (the storyline has Frank DeGroot being allergic to cats; thus, Luann must keep the two separated). Recently Luann gave Cuddles to Mrs. Horner, to spare her father from his allergies. While Puddles showed some hatred towards Cuddles mainly over territory and attention from Luann matters, he also showed some love as they've cuddled and slept together a few times. Cuddles' original name was Sassy (clearly a reference to the film Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey), until Mrs. Horner found a better name as Cuddles.

First Appearance: 11/1/2005

Topics

The strip has attained a degree of notoriety for its mixing of consideration of real-life topics with the lightness of being a teenager in high school. Evans has occasionally sprinkled in such topics as Luann's concerns about her first menstruation, Dirk's jealousy (which has led to emotional abuse of Toni and physical violence toward Brad), birth control, drunk driving, handicaps, and other social and policy issues that are of interest to young people. Evans drew praise and some criticism in 1998 for a series of strips based around Delta contracting Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After September 11, 2001, the layabout Brad was inspired by the actions of the FDNY to become a firefighter and there have been extended storylines following him every step of the way. (Oddly enough, on November 14, 2001, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a story supposedly detailing Evans' struggle to address the events of 9/11 in his strip. [1]) Some of Evans' topics show to teenaged readers an inspiring young citizen ideal for teenagers to live up to. Other topics show to adult readers the daily trials and tribulations faced in youth in case the reader forgot or in case things have changed since the reader was young many years ago.

Specific storylines

Below are the more famous story arcs of Luann, along with the time period they took place.

• The Trouble with Derek: 1987 (5 Weeks)

• Luann's First '.': 1991 (2 Weeks)

• A Very SADD Story: Unknown (2 Weeks)

• Delta's Hodgkin's Lymphoma: 1998 (2 Weeks)

• Goodbye Aaron: 2004 (2 Weeks)

• Toni & Brad vs. Dirk (In general): 2003 - Present (On & Off) Most recent: 4/27/2006 - 5/12/2006

Aging of the characters

From 1985 to 1999 Luann was vaguely in the 8th Grade in the Pitts school system. This younger era of Luann focused on topics among children in junior high school and within Luann's family at home. As might be expected, since eighth grade is not exactly the most substantial year in the typical person's life, after a certain number of years fresh topics for Evans were becoming exhausted or trite. Also, by 1999 Luann's popularity was widespread and broadbased, permitting both a volume of feedback from readers who wanted more of certain topics as well as a certain degree of comfort that the established popularity would buoy a small adjustment to the strip. Also by 1999, distribution of Luann had changed to the current United Features Syndicate, which also welcomed expanding readership of each of their strips.

From 1999 to the present Luann has been slowly aging from 15 to 16 years old at perhaps the rate of one Luann month per one reader year. Based on a comic strip from February 21, 2006, it was revealed that a four week period in the comic strip takes approximately 17 reader weeks (from the start of the Sassy storyline). Luann and her classmates have progressed from Pitts Junior High School to Pitts High School. Luann has learned to drive. Her approximately 19-year-old brother earned his firefighting certification after his graduation from high school. Bernice raised a seeing-eye dog for an organization that helps the blind. Luann and Aaron went out on a real date. None of these storylines could have believably or appropriately been enacted by junior-high students, but do show a look at high school students as emerging young adults who are half filled with childhood and half filled with the real life of adulthood, just as the typical American was at that age.

All attempts at calculating the passage of time are merely for fun, since it is just a comic strip and cannot be bound by real time. Brad's quest to become a firefighter, the raising of a puppy to a trained seeing-eye dog and such events have progressed far faster than they realistically could while Luann remains the same age.

Musical

In 2006, Greg Evans wrote a musical based on the comic strip, produced by the California Center For The Arts in Escondido. It was performed by local drama students from Rancho Buena Vista High School. A cd, titled Scenes In A Teen's Life, is available from CD Baby.

Books

There are no fewer than 21 books featuring Luann.

Title	Publication Date	Publisher	ISBN
Meet Luann	1986	Berkley Books	Template:Auto isbn
Why Me? (Luann, No 2)	August 1986		Template:Auto isbn
Is It Friday Yet? (Luann, No 3)	January 1987		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: Who Invented Brothers, Anyway?	June 1989	Tor Books	Template:Auto isbn
Luann: School and Other Problems	August 1989		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: Homework Is Ruining My Life	December 15, 1989		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: So Many Malls, So Little Money	July 1990		Template:Auto isbn
Luann : Pizza Isn't Everything But It Comes Close	January 15, 1991		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: Dear Diary, The Following Is Top Secret	August 15, 1991		Template:Auto isbn
Luann : There's Nothing Worse Than First Period P.E.	March 15, 1992		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: Will We Be Tested On This?	January 15, 1992		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: School's Ok If You Can Stand The Food	November 15, 1992		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: I'm Not Always Confused, I Just Look That Way	January 15, 1993		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: My Bedroom And Other Environmental Hazards	March 15, 1993		Template:Auto isbn
Luann: If Confusion Were A Class I'd Get An A	January 15, 1995		Template:Auto isbn
Sometimes, You Just Have to Make Your Own Rules	April 1998	Rutledge Hill Press	Template:Auto isbn
Luann	September 1998		Template:Auto isbn
Passion! Betrayal! Outrage! Revenge!	October 1, 1999		Template:Auto isbn
Luann, Curves Ahead	September 2003	Andrews McMeel Publishing	Template:Auto isbn
Luann 2, Dates And Other Disasters	September 2004		Template:Auto isbn
Luann 3, Sixteen Isn't Pretty	August 2006		Template:Auto isbn

Trivia

• Mr. Fogarty's character was born well before Luann. His character starred in Fogarty, which was distributed free of charge to several high school newspapers in the late 1970s.
• In this strip, the engraved words on the tombstone read as follows:

- Brad DeGroot - Ran out of luck - Fell in love - Forgot to duck

External links

• Official site