Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 01, 2014

Aaand… we’re now on the downside of the mountain… in Rosa’s estimation….

Happy New Year! First!

Nevermind, third.. Anyway, for those who wanted Crystal and Knute, here they are!

Does anyone else see sort of a grimacing face on the punch bowl?

“Dr. Fun Calls It”“Hickory Dickory… Dumb Clock!”“♪♫…Not Gonna Let ’Em Catch The Midnight Rider!…♪♫”“Curfew And Far In Between”or “♪♫..I’m Not Gonna Wait Till The Midnight Hour…♪♫”

You Know, Gunther? Leaving EARLY Might Not be Such a BAD Idea.

You and Rosa can go to some place Quiet and Talk about What YOU expect out this “Relationship”.

And Furthermore…, OH-MY-GAW!!!!! Saints PRESERVE US!! There’s an EVIL FACE Forming in the Punch Bowl!!!RUN for Your Lives, Hide the Nursing Babies, and CANCEL Netflix!!!!! AIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Previously on Luann.. – (Ann: ) “I’ll be back!”(Toni:) “Let’s get married!… Oh, and pass the breadsticks, please!…”(T.J:) “Phase one complete! Phase two, the truck!”(Luann:) “ABCDEFG…Quill RSTUV…”(Tiffany:) “Oxford is quite attractive… maybe I’ll apply!…”(Bern and Delta:) "Look out for that cliff!!!!….)(Rosa:) “Do I have something on my lips?”(Gunther and Rosa dancing to music, and a kiss) – Now for the continuation…

I don’t think Rosa is going to put up with this much longer. Common love of literature con only go so far. Cluelessness does not win points.

Someone needs to hit Gunther with a “clue-by-four.”

Gunth, stop being so Sheldon Cooper and get out of your over-structured life and let your curly hair down. That should be your resolution. Take your tie off, take a couple of shots of punch, grab Rosa and head for the hallways….. Enjoy some time alone to start the New Year and a new you!

To all the people who have been calling for Rosa to dump Gunther, please count me as the latest person to jump on that bandwagon.

At least 5 out of six people are happy. Maybe Gunther is just trying to be responsible and have his girlfriend home at a semi-reasonable hour? Or maybe he is just completely clueless about Rosa’s feelings…

Wait ‘till she gets him in the car. If they don’t fog up some windows, than Mr. Evens is wasting our time, as usual.

Gunther, like most men, can’t read minds. In his estimation, he’s being the perfect gentleman, and assumes that’s what Rosa’s looking for. It’s up to Rosa to COMMUNICATE and stop dropping subtle hints.

Two ships that are going to miss the boat completely.

I like how Crystal and Knute are having a good time. : )

Luann looks so Grownup, Attractive and Sexy. Knute and Crystal make a fun couple. But Gunther, buddy you need a serious ‘Dope-slap’ as you are about to lose the best thing in your life. Hope not.

Look on the bright side, Rosa. There’s still enough time left before morning for you to go on another, and much better, date with someone else.

So true. But doing laundry at 8:15 on a Saturday evening will guarantee there is no social life. Of course, we know Sheldon is more OC than Gunth. Some structure is good, too much makes him a lonely man for sure.

And this is the character some people want to see with LuAnn? I think not!

“Brought to you” by…Cindy’s Bakery… “Pies made fresh, daily!… Just make sure you eat ‘em that day….. Or stay close to your friend John… they’re uh… reeeeealllly fresh…” – Itina-Rare Airways….. “The lowest rates…. And flights to anywhere in the world, any time zone!… As long as it’s before Midnight…” – And by…the Combined Union of Time Lords and Starfleet Temporal Prime Directive Bureaucrats Officers….

G: “Better call it a night, huh?”R: “Why Gunther, are you saying that we should go to bed?”G: “Yep, we need to get up early tomorrow to see the parades!”R: “No, I mean that we should go to bed – together?”G: “Well, I suppose Mom would mind if we had a sleep-over, so long as we don’t disturb Quill.”R: “Not at your Mom’s, silly – my parents are out of town, and we could go up to my bedroom and sleep together.”G: “But who would bring me my plate of milk and cookies?”

Faults grow thick when love grows thin.

Never thought I’d say it but I’m pretty much done with Gunther. If this is going to continue to be his m.o. and Rosa can’t pull him out of it she needs to move on.

Why doesn’t Gunther just admit that he’s gay and give Rosa a chance to find the kind of guy she deserves.

sorry to say, but Gunther’s desire to do the “right thing” is gone overboard, I could understand and respect him waiting till honeymoon to go all the way, but apprehensive about kissing and afraid to show affection to his gf? he has become pathetic

Gunther never pursued Rosa. It was she who pursued him.Turns out , they are not a match. In a true relationship neither one should struggle or strive to “remake” the other It’s not a match; give it up. Somewhere there is a match , and it will be right. For both of them.

It’s a great thing, if he’s trying to be a gentleman!… – Maybe the thing that might be at hand in the issue, though….maybe….. is if they only got there an hour or two ago….

juckylou, he is not gay, he has been made into a character that goes overboard on not doing anything until his girl ACTUALLY says what she wants, instead of reading her body language and acting accordingly, even the character Gomer Pyle has more character and backbone than Gunther

Quill has to leave early too I guess, Gunther is his ride.

No one is this functionally inept. Gunther’s got to come out of the fabric-lined closet he’s hiding in.

Greg – Quit the torture. Give poor Gunther a break…

Too late! Too late!I think Gunther has blown it. Rosa seems to have had all the pitty-patting around she can take. Stupid Gunther! Now you will be alone, and probably that’s for the best, because you are incapable of keeping a girlfriend happy. Whether it’s excessive politeness, or fear of doing the the wrong thing and so doing nothing, or utter cluelessness, you have shown yourself to be a self-destructively inept failure at romance. You don’t deserve a girlfriend.I hope Rosa finds herself a nice guy in Ecuador.

You know this is just building up for a major surprise, right?

artybee…not all the balls…Oh my, I am truly laughing out loud, very clever!

Hey look I found Levi’s blog. http://www.examiner.com/article/luann-takes-home-prize-for-rudest-comic-strip-of-the-year

Just going to add my vote….Knute and Crystal are kindred spirits!And Rosa’s wasting her time.

Rosa needs to get him into a private place, Then grab his belt & “YANK!” Give the guy some thing to remember. :) Off panel of course.

Gunther appears to be an old man before his time.

Don’t think Rosa is going to wait around much longer. Hope she takes the initiative to speak up and not just walk out.

There’s a chance he may have some surprise in store for her to save the day…but that just hasn’t been Gunther’s persona. He needs someone like himself.

Where is Tiffany?

“Faint heart never won fair maid.”

Where is Brad and Toni?

Rosa, you gotta ‘wear the pants’ in this relationship. You can’t be reserved with Gunther – you gotta be more aggressive! So what if it’s not ‘feminine’ – step out of your cultural model and pursue HIM instead of waiting for him to make a move.

Assuming you want Gunther. He seems like a nice enough guy, but one of the two of you needs to step forward, so it’s time for you to be a modern woman.

I think Darwin is about to eliminate Gunther from the gene pool!

Good, part one of my plan is going perfectly… now, time to send MPQ, back to Oz…! BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Man, watching Gunther with Rosa is really just starting to hurt. This is beyond shy, I am begining to suspect a autistic disorder here. Pre-occupation with detail and scheduling. with Savant Syndrome level pre-occupation when it comes to fashion and Textiling/Design.

Gunther man… seek help.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

There are several ways for Rosa to respond to panel #3:

1. Rosa could pick up the juice bowl and dump it on Gunther, thereby ending their “relationship”

2. Rosa could say, “you don’t want to celebrate the new year with me?”

3. Rosa could say, “Go home, don’t call me, I won’t call you”

4. Rosa could ignore him and walk away

5. Rosa could grab him and force kiss some sense into his head

I think Gunther’s character is getting way overdone at this point.

Happy New Year (eCard)

He’s toast!

Creepy Gunther, home to mommy…….

At my age, I was thrilled to be able to stay up past midnight last night, due to an afternoon nap! I can barely remember those days of returning home at 2 or 3 or 4 a.m. Gunther needs to revel in his youth.

Wow, that Gunther’s a real party animal, isn’t he?

I give up. Rosa deserves so much better. At least she got to the ball, which is more than we can say for Tiffany.

With the way Gunther is behaving, why bother having a chaperone at all? ^Good point, but when the time is right, Kool Aid Man has legs… he knows when to move in, when those others need to… “Kool off”…. – If K.A.M. can bust down walls, he can do pretty much almost everything else….

Since this has been for 3 days so far, perhaps more development is in store for tomorrow-Saturday, where something else is developed in this, as to why Rosa isn’t telling the boy off…. or perhaps there’s finally a means that G-man gets the message of what Rosa’s been feeling…. or maybe something like that… – I guess as for now, this quote from U2, and Bono Vox in particular, may be applicable, in this situation:

“♪ ♫ …Nothing changes on New Year’s Day …♪ ♫”

Time for Rosa to give Gunther directions to the Blue Oyster and start looking for a guy who wants to be with a girl. This storyline is beyond tired…it’s entered the Kingdom of Rigor Mortis.

what the hell is his problem….when will he finally wake the F#$% up!

Unfortunately, my contribution to today’s Gunther Playlist:

Gilbert O’Sullivan – ♫♪ Alone again, Naturally ♪♫

Looks like Gunther/Rosa is not long for this world….

Where’s Tiffany?

Gunther and Rosa really have nothing in common other than that they are both top students. That’s not enough to justify pairing them off. They’ve had a year to move forward in this relationship, and it hasn’t happened. It’s time for Rosa to give Gunther the “Let’s be friends” talk and tell him that she intends to spend the rest of their senior year looking forward to her life in Ecuador rather than on her time with him in Pitt.

Wild guess. Gunther is planning a surprise trip to make out lane.

Rosa, you want a life of dry toast with no butter, much less marmalade?

Happy New Year!

My prediction for 2014 is that shortly after graduation, several main characters will leave the strip for good.

Gone will be Gunther, Rosa and Tiffany.

Oxford may show up from time to time.

TJ will also still show up too.

Ann Eiffel could show up again later this year.

I strongly believe that new characters to arrive in time for Luann’s college days.

Brad and Toni will marry (possibly 2014 or 2015).

So to make Gunther and Rosa nothing exciting to watch is precisely how it’s going to end for them as they part ways shortly after graduation.

Who knows?Gunther may kiss Rosa goodbye on Graduation day.I won’t hold by breath!

2 possibilities with Gunther. The first, which everybody seems to consider, is that Gunther is simply too afraid of girls or too reserved to have a relationship with Rosa or any other young lady. The other is that he’s gay and just hasn’t figured it out yet. Perhaps because of the nature and history of this strip, the second possibility is simply out of the question. But in real life, this kind of thing happens. If Rosa would take a very strong lead, perhaps Gunther could overcome his fears. Or not, depending on Greg Evans plans for this character. Time will tell, I suppose.

Latin culture included much open flirting offset by chaperones expecting the worst..Other cultures included coy suggestions and the improbable expectation of self-control even without a chaperone..Cultures have mixed in such a way that cultural expectations are no longer certain..And then there are different personality types. Some are very physical and noticeable while others are more mental and often called “wall-flowers” even by those who pretend they do not exist. Autism includes inability to read body language and Aspergers is in the autism spectrum and consistent with much we have seen out of Gunther..Ergo, attacking Gunther for what may be a birth defect is extremely insensitive. .Were Rosa to look at it dispassionately, she could recognise Gunther’s disability and allow for it by saying things like, “I want you to kiss me passionately every time we meet, hold me tightly whenever we are together, and whenever we are alone together I want you to . . .” (We won’t go into the specifics here; give the kids SOME privacy.).Gunther will whole-heartedly follow his instructions until told to do otherwise..If Rosa does not want to be explicit because “good girls don’t talk like that” or “If he really loved me, he’d just KNOW,” then they should break up now, sad though it would be. There is no reason for constant frustration when a solution exists..And to all of you best wishes every day in every way with hopes for more love, understanding and tolerance of differences

More like the Kool-Aid pitcher gone frustrated… like Rosa…

They’re going backwards in time. Yesterday, they were kissing as the others cheered in the new year.

Doesn’t look good for them, does it?

You know this arc is on Rosa and Gunther, and I think there may be a surprise coming up—I hope so—but one thing no one may have commented on is that TIffany is not apparently at the dance. Knute and Crystal are showing why they enjoy each other so much, and we know about Luann and her knight in shining armor, but Tiffany probably is at home alone. Quite sad.

Welcome to the friend zone!

I think Rosa has about had it with him, thank God.

I think Rosa is the clueless one here. Gunther has made it very clear that he does NOT want to be with her, or spend time with her. He is trying to dump her without have to do it himself. He is hoping she will take the hint and stop pursuing him. This is not how any male would act around a woman he has any interest in.

Gunther, Gunther, Gunther………

Rosa should tell Gunther it’s been sort of fun, but it’s time for a change. Either he grows up, or she’s outta there.

Gunther is not interested in Rosa. No one should suggest she force herself on him. Would any one suggest a male force himself on a female who was behaving this coldly?

Gunther would rather hurry back home so he can play with his Nintendo Wii U and rescue the princess in a video game than to kiss Rosa.

rosa will take gunth home and come back find a party boy and cut loose.

Move on, girl.

Maybe she and Ox eloped? Nah, that would be too exciting a development for the strip.

Happy new year, “Luann” readers." My brother, his girlfriend and I went to a dance in Lake Oswego which ends at 12:30am. The three of us only stayed until 11-ish. Went to downtown Portland to the Pioneer Plaza instead to hear the countdown.

I didn’t go to bed until after 1:00 am, and then I didn’t get back up until after 10:00 am.

Splitsville for Rosa and the G man. Tomorrow will find Gunther alone with his milk and cookies.

Interesting that Tiffany is not at the dance. She has always attended school dances.

Isn’t she banned from these school social things for something she did a while back, or has that all been lifted?

Sad news to report. James Avery (Fresh Prince, etc..) passed away….

Alas… No cigars for Gunther!

NO GUNTHER! You need to party like a MAN!!!

Here’s a link that can provide some insight into Gunther’s psyche:

http://teenshealth.org/teen/your_mind/emotions/shyness.html#

He has a disorder. Then again, with his extreme nervousness and lack of social skills, he’s the textbook definition of a geek.

We never saw anything about Tiffany’s picture-frame modeling job after Mrs. Manezone told her that it had been set up. For all we know, she did the job, the company liked her, and they invited her to the company’s New Year’s party,

In a situation like that kind of pairing, Crystal would be Les Knox’s reform school…

Gunth, you had something perfect and forever-lasting. Too bad you won’t realize it til you are 30 and contemplating suicide because of loneliness.

New Year’s Eve. Is anyone going to have some kind of sexual encounter?

And Gunther drops the ball in three, two, one ….

While ultimately, it would fail to try to force change upon someone, yet- if somehow Crystal were to…. “on a whim”…, perhaps, engage in a relationship with said Mr. Knox , or actually, if he were to somehow pursue a relationship with her , one thing would be sure- she would be…. as some would say… “time enough for him" ….

I’m beginning to think that Gunther is an old man in a young man’s body.

Okay Greg we get it Gunth’ is a dweeb, that has been established over the many years. the last few strips have been pointless in establishing an arc, either get there, or move on.

I saw her in “Imitation of Life” and “Paternity.”

HAPPY and HEALTHY 2014 TO ALL!

Gunther, you’re old before your time. That’s my line for the past few years.

Sigh, poor Rosa.

Is it just me, or wasn’t it a few years ago (or months ago in LuannLand) where Gunthie was popping Altoids by the case because he anticipated tounge-lashing Luann at the movies? Rosa is waaayy hotter than Luann (IMHO) so what’s his hangup now???

Good grief. Gunther, you are a goofball. I think Rosa will be getting the picture soon. Go home and eat some cookies.

Gunth, you schmuck!

Deck-9-deck!…

Somebody buy Gunther a clue

Poor Tiff, she needs some love.

What a dunce.

Go Knute, Go!!!