Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 08, 2017

Better grab a pair of boots and a shovel, because it’s getting DEEP!

Prudence looks like she’s being played like a… well, I wouldn’t say fiddle… a something.

HOOK LINE AND SINKER!

Seems Pru is a soft touch …

See? It wasn’t that long a wait to see what Pru was really thinking. Unless you want to maintain that she’s still acting to get Ann to further incriminate herself.

Al Gray, Ann Eiffel, and Les Knox – a family portrait that appears on bulletin boards of post offices across America.

I think I’m going to throw up…

And the DeGroots will not be happy when they find out just who Pru is giving a discount to.

Geez, you guys are such naysayers. Les did say he was in foster homes some time ago, long before this scheme with his mother. I think Al Gray said the same some time ago also. Les also said his father was a cop to which Gunther guffawed at. So, I believe Ann is the real deal – as in Les’s mother. That is how Les came to be what he is – a schemer just like his mother. He learned from the best. They both may be scheming to rob The Fuse blind. Ann is already starting the footwork with Pru.

Pru(ne) is just one of the boys. a sucker for pretty ladies!

Oh, she’s GOOD!

And, before I forget, there’s a few things that we may have to wait a while before their significance becomes clear. I’ve been thinking of the notion of Chekov’s gun often referenced in drama. Generally speaking, it’s the idea that if a writer depicts a gun on a table or in a desk drawer or where ever, that it would be a cheat never to have the gun figure in the story at some point. The “cheat” might be a distraction, a red herring or a McGuffin (and yes, there are at least three accepted spellings of this term), but fair play between writer and audience means that it’s usually good manners and good drama to let it be foreshadowing. I’m speaking of the reference to Pru and Les BOTH being raised in foster homes. I don’t see that as irrelevant, but its meaning is not yet apparent.

unfortunately!

Just wait til she gets home and tells Luann who she just “contracted” with…..

Nancy or Luann would not be swayed the same way. lucky Ann. can’t believe she’s his mom!

We have to feel sorry for her, since to be Les’s mother she must have been a widow since she was about 13 years old.

Pru(ne) better be ready to answer Frank’s questions about the 50 % discount on the rental fee. Ann won’t go too far with them. Pru is also looking for unneeded trouble.

Hey Ann? You need to give Tiffany tips on how to ‘Cry,’ and not have Ones Mascara ‘Run’…..,

Maybe this is Les’s revenge for that expensive dinner he ended up treating all the Degroots to. They lose money, Pru gets in trouble (or at least is made to look like an incompetent employee), and Les gets to sit back and enjoy the fallout. Maybe next time don’t be such a cheapskate, Frank!

Won’t there be a bigger scam when the customers buy things at the party that are prepaid and never delivered? Could make the customers mad at the DeGroots.

This would be funny if it wasn’t funny…

By the time Ann gets through, Pru will be offering to pay Ann to use the venue. I would almost bet it is not going to be a innocent lingerie party, knowing Ann…

Ann’s husband was probably killed by Ann when he tried to arrest her for doing something illegal and she made it look like someone else killed him.

There’s nothing to bring together an estranged son and his mother like a lingerie party.

I’m not impressed by Pru’s business sense. Even knowing nothing about Ann Eiffel’s past within the comic strip, she ought to realize that the lingerie party is a business opportunity for Ann to earn sales commissions, not some kind of good cause for which Pru ought to offer a deep discount out of sympathy.

It occurs to me that for some decades, the Internet may have been making the populace less vulnerable to scams than they once might have been.

It used to be that people never saw a scam until they eventually got bitten.

But since most of us get a few scam emails on a regular basis, and have been forewarned to spot them, it’s probably helping people to be less gullible in live situations as well.

Don’t believe a word …

Well, now we know where Les got his mendacious, manipulative nature.

Pru is an actress, not a manager. She ought not forget that.Again, who gave her power to alter and sign contracts?

So it appears that Pru has torn up the $500 dollar deposit, and accepted a $400 rental fee. That means that if the contract is agreed, which it is with the tender of the 400, based on Pru’s counteroffer of half the usual contract expense, that the Fuse has already lost $900 dollar net. It is also obligated to put on the lingerie show, which Pru thought was a good idea, but what will the Fuse get from the proceeds, and what about the expense of the lingerie, and marketing, etc. Moreover, Pru is very vulnerable, and again, Ann is a pirhana, very vicious.

Said the spider to the fly "step right into my parlor ".

She’s a liar, and Prudence is too trusting to realize it, of course. I hope this doesn’t cost her her job and she goes back home. I’ve come to like her character. Do you all think Les knew what his mother would do? That he may be aiding and abetting her in this scam? I still find it very hard to believe that she’s his mom…TJ where are you????

See, Frank? This is what happens when you let the bartender do what ought to be your job.

Oy vey.

You can see where Les gets his unscrupulousness from. UGH!

So. Some keep imagining that they can discern Ann’s approximate age by “looking at her” when all they are looking at is a cartoon of a person, depicted to be an attractive adult female. They go so far as to assert that she can’t be Les’s mother unless she got pregnant as a preteen or some such. They find it impossible to believe that she may be 36, or 38, or 45 or whatever. OK. She’s been represented to Pru as being Les’s mom. She’ll doubtless be presented to others in the Luann cast as his mom. Those people will not be looking at a cartoon, they will be looking at HER, if we accept the conceit that these are characters in a world more or less like the real world. If she is clearly and certainly too young to be his mother… don’t you think that all the other denizens of this strip will see that immediately? I know many here think Pru is as dumb as a sack of hammers. Even if she is not very smart, don’t you think even she would see the age discrepancy if it is right in front of her in the form of the alleged mother and son? I’m willing to believe she MAY NOT be his mother, but I find it silly to think she CAN’T POSSIBLY be his mother.

You don’t read too well. We are NOT saying that we think she CAN’T POSSIBLY be his mother. We are saying that we have a hard time BELIEVING that she is his mother. Big difference!!!!! Please quit telling me and others what we must believe.

Lord, what a pair of wet blankets.

Time to scrounge around for a copy of Martin Scorsese’s 1990 film, “The Grifters”.

Meanwhile, we should all hope this is Pru showing off her acting chops to counter Ann’s performance.

What does Ann Eiffel and Jessica Rabbit have in common?

Pru, Pru, Pru… you’re an actress… you should be good at “reading” people… so why are you letting Awful Annie pull the wool over your eyes like this?

I think Les is still trying to impress Pru, and that he intends to ride in and save the floundering Pru from the evil Ann Eifull.

I’m disappointed in Pru. I thought she was a more savvy character. Nancy should have been the one to deal with for booking gigs. Pru…? YOU’RE FIRED!

How did Pru survive in NYC? I keep getting flash backs of The Midnight Cowboy.

Ms. Eiffel has gotten a heck of a lot better at manipulation. In every other story, she’s basically made out to be a psychopathic, cruel monster within two strips. She can’t even PRETEND to be nice.

They will have to sell a huge amount of lingerie to cover even a $400 rental fee. I don’t see how Ann (and Les) will make money on this scheme.

A psychopath like Ann is actually a Sith lord! An insidious manipulator. Since she’s turned off all her empathy toward others, that makes her far more powerful in using the dark side.

And that’s also how she keeps herself appearing so young and beautiful. She may actually be 80.

But if Pru and the Fuse gang discover the truth, Ann the Witch may turn old and ugly, just like in Oz the Great and Powerful.

Let’s just hope that she doesn’t seduce Pru to the dark side first!

Another weird thing I noticed about Pru’s face… she has no eyebrows! Between that and her underbite, she’s an odd-looking character.

Ann and Pru look enough alike to be mother and daughter. If Les and Pru were both raised in foster homes, perhaps they were twins given up to the system at the same time.

How can Pru be so freaking stupid?

Pru, remember, you don’t own the Fuse, that sort of decision isn’t yours to make. You work for the DeGroots, they set the prices. You keep this sort of stuff up and you’re going to be out of a job. The DeGroots won’t be able to afford to keep you on.

Have contracts been signed? Will something intervene before that happens? Will Pru have a “What have I done?” moment? Will that be just in time or too late? We don’t know. We shall see. Sometimes I think I should just post "Give it a moment, all shall be revealed, " and post it every day. That’s what I said yesterday when there was heated certitude on opposite sides of the question of whether Pru was being taken in by Ann. Some on both sides expressed a high level of certainty about their particular point of view. It wasn’t a great insight to say, someone’s gonna be right here, someone’s gonna be wrong. And just twenty four hours later, we have the answer to that question at least. And today, as every other day, some still express certainty on issues that are unclear. Wait, wait. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Many claims are made with very little evidence… or even zero evidence. It’s good to speculate when conclusive evidence is lacking, to advance ideas and possibilitie, but even better to do so with a bit of tentativeness, a little less finality.

It’s still early in the week. Given Greg & Karen’s penchant for either happy or suspended conclusions, often with surprises, this situation will ease up. Prudence will either catch on, or Ann Eiffle will have a genuine true story.

Prudence is a beautiful Cinnamon Roll. Too good for this World, too Pure!

She’s a good con artist

Sure, it’s likely the truth (all of what Ann is saying). and she could be sincere in saying it affected them negatively. And sure, she could be able to cry tears… but… it doesn’t mean that she isn’t using this to “get a deal”…

And Ann and Leslie aside, Pru is the one who is doing these “discounts”. The “Fuse Theatre Box” isn’t making money, and tied in with last week’s portion of the story, this may not bode well for her, being so sympathetic as to doing this for the woman that hurt Frank and Nancy’c son ….

And Jonah Daytona also had it bad (losing his parents in a car crash), and so did Toni. But Jonah takes advantage of people, and Toni doesn’t. So, it’s possible that (even as the character Bio in “Luannfan.com” suggests) Ann is continuing in her evil ways….

Sure, it’s likely the truth (all of what Ann is saying). and she could be sincere in saying it affected them negatively. And sure, she could be able to cry tears… but… it doesn’t mean that she isn’t using this to “get a deal”…

And Ann and Leslie aside, Pru is the one who is doing these “discounts”. The “Fuse Theatre Box” isn’t making money, and tied in with last week’s portion of the story, this may not bode well for her, being so sympathetic as to doing this for the woman that hurt Frank and Nancy’s son ….

And Jonah Daytona also had it bad (losing his parents in a car crash), and so did Toni. But Jonah takes advantage of people, and Toni doesn’t. So, it’s possible that (even as the character Bio in “Luannfan.com” suggests) Ann is continuing in her evil ways….

I can’t take too many more days of this! Unlike many of you, I would’ve been happy to never see Ann again. Pru is believing every word and is going to feel terrible when her past with our characters is revealed, which by the way, where are they all? Somebody stop this!

Way to go Ann. You don’t even have to ask for the discounts. Pru is giving them. ALSO – I’m wondering about this party. Are we all assuming it is the SELLING of lingerie? Perhaps it is something more risque?

And why is Pru the one negotiating? Shouldn’t the owners be the ones negotiating the rental, since Mr. Gray, the manager, has an obvious conflict of interest?

Hopefully Frank will fire Prudence. So far she produced one one night show and we’ve seen her tend bar. Now she’s giving away the store.

I thought Pru was from New York. AN dyed-in-the-wool NY-er would see right through this act.

seriously, she can´t be that she to con?

I say again: “Pru is from New York?” She’s demonstrating the BS-detecting skills of a senile great-grandmother from Peoria. She’s not very smart. Kind of like this strip.

I knew the sob story would continue … as would the grifting. Truly, I felt that a New York gal like Pru would NOT be so gullible, but it looks like she’s buying into all this BS.

Prudence is a sap.

7

Oh no, the drama continues unabashed….. as it is time for my pipe and coffee break this morning, I offer all of you these thoughts to contemplate:

1. I feel more convinced now than ever that Ann is NOT Les’s real mother. Her fake tears and especially the line about “I hope this lingerie party will be a turning point….” just ring so horribly fake, that I am sure that Ann is just pretending to be his mother to forward the big scam they are trying to pull. Ann’s age is, IMO, immaterial…. she could be a younger aged mother for Les…. but I think the whole thing is just a scam.

2. Prudence….. she is DEFINITELY NOT living up to the definition of her name these days. She is a) falling for a pretty obvious scam, b) she is making monetary decisions for The Fuse without any thought or approval from the DeGroots, and c) remember this is coming on the heels of her poorly planned and executed drama camp. She is really setting herself up to be fired (and perhaps have her character exit Pittsville). I wish this were not so, but it sure as hell looks like it to me.

Now, some postulating:

A) IF by some really unlikely chance Ann IS Les’s mother… she would assuredly be aware of Mr. Gray’s role in The Fuse. It seems preposterous for her to try this scam without taking into account Mr. Gray. If she is a real relative or in-law of Mr. Gray… it leads me to thing that Mr. Gray would also have to be a part of this scam! Thus far, Mr. Gray has been “nice” but very nebulous. If he is in on the scam…. what would the big picture gain be from his end?

B) I cannot believe that Ann Eiffel and Les would attempt a scam of this sort under the nose of Mr. Gray unless he were in on it too. Les alone may be foolish enough to try the scam even if Mr. Gray is not involved, but Ann…. she would not be that foolish…. unless she were not a real relative and was unaware of Mr. Gray’s efforts.

Uh oh we’re getting into stupid story lines with stupid people again. Like they’d let Pru do the financial negotiating??? Gimme a break!

… also…..

C) What is really going on with Pru? She has become rather flaky (bordering on Jonah flakey, albeit in an empathetic way). She should know that she cannot just willy-nilly wave fees and deposits. In her empathetic state, the best she should do is say… “Well, Ms. Eiffel, I really feel for you. Let me talk to my bosses, and see if there is a way for me to help have the fees, etc. lowered for you. I cannot promise anything, but I will try to figure it out.”

D) Les…. I had hopes that Les was becoming more respectable and more kind. But, the goings-on since Saturday have shredded that hope. But, WHAT will Les gain from a Lingerie Party? I do not see a whole lot of ways for him to personally gain from bilking The Fuse out of deposit and rental fees. But, in the same way, I cannot imagine him raking in the dough on a scheme involving ladies buying underwear either! So, what might his plan be? Some have suggested he may be seeking revenge for Prudence dismissing his affections…. but that seems unlikely to draw Ann in on the scheme. There must be some sort of big monetary payoff they both are banking on…. but… how will a Lingerie Party make them end up having bags and bags of loot?

Coffee and pipe are finished…. back to work for me.

The questions are:

1) Is this a ‘long con’ cooked up by both Ann and Les to make a load of cash, quick??

2) Is Les initially in on the con, but will back out at the end and betray his mother (yes, they are mother and son) – and sever ties with his mom once and for all?? OR…

3) Is this a situation where Les knows this is all bad news from the get-go – BUT wanted to help his new found friend, Pru, and thought this was the ONLY way – risks and all? How long have Les and Ann NOT been talking to each other?

I have my thoughts – but in any event – this ‘Fuse’ is LIT!!!!

NEW COMPETITION! WHACKAZOID HYPOTHESES!

Earlier today Jimm mentioned that there have been multiple whackazoid hypotheses about what is secretly going on in the strip, so let’s see how many varieties of weird (or not so weird as to be impossible) hypotheses we can come up with.

I will start it off with my whackazoid contribution: about eighteen or nineteen years ago Al Grey and Ann Eiffel (pre-rhinoplasty) were a sibling mini-gang which ripped off Tiffany’s family in a huge heist! They planned to wall in most of their treasure in some repair work being done at a local warehouse to wait till the search cooled down, and escape in a purloined car, but during the carjack, which Ann orchestrated, the victim died, so he was walled in with the jewels, art works, and some of the money. Who was the victim? Gunther’s father! Now Al has reappeared, making sure that the renovations did not reveal the cache, and Ann needs a loud excuse to break into the hiding place. The music of a fake lingerie party will work just fine. Les knows that a haul is hidden in a wall there, but not where, and not that remains are there, too, and this is the real “You know why” from a previous strip.

Okay, go whackazoid for a few minutes and make your own contribution.

PIPE:

Something new: although i suspect your work focus already at times takes into account other misfolded proteins and plaques, this one is new enough that it will need a decent bit of independent variation and investigation. Very exciting if verified, and otherwise it still raises intraorganism questions about possible misfolded protein migration, and possible variations in aspects of misfolded proteins in (or possibly in) types of plaques in different categories of patients.

http://jem.rupress.org/content/early/2017/07/31/jem.20161134?PR=

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/spread-misfolded-proteins-could-trigger-type-2-diabetes

Since when does Pru have the authority to discount the rate and forego the deposit?

Aaaand.. this following on the heels of a poorly executed “drama camp” in any normal toonverse it would be cause for firing.

I wonder how this will end?

I have a feeling we are being set up more than we think Pru is being set up. I have a feeling that Pru will whack the con and just might crush the heart of bad Ms. Eiffel. I know it sounds dumb, but this con is too easy.

@JIMMJONZZ: I am one of the posters who has said that I find it hard to believe that Ann Eiffel is the mother of Les, and it isn’t because of the age she appears to be. To me, it is just too much of a convenient coincidence that a person previously known to take advantage of others shows up as the mother of someone working in a job where his uncle put him so he could pay some kind of debt owed to that same mother, which he apparently has to do to satisfy parole conditions.

So far – looks like it might be an acting contest between AE & Pru. If a scam is brewing, it would be interesting if AE, Pru and Les are all in on it. TJ might save the day (takes one to know one).

Ann: the opposite of Deus ex machina. I didn’t miss her. Pru is a disaster – she should not be making any monetary decisions because it isn’t her job, and the theatre camp failed brilliantly. Ugh.

Where the heck are the owners of this place?

Oh, yeah, they’re AT HOME (did Frank quit his day job?) looking over their scrapbook “budget” (yet we’ve seen all the DeGroots using laptops) instead of being more hands-on with their investment (which from all outside views has a second floor, perfect for an office).

Meanwhile, where the @#$% are the other employees of this place?

How is Kafe Kablooie such a success when it’s bartender and one of the servers are off elsewhere?

Since I am really ascribing to the notion that Ann IS NOT Les’s real mother…. the presumption I make is that somewhere in their respective nefarious pasts, Ann and Les ended up meeting…. and given their mutual interests in deception, they have cooked up this scam. For what reason, I still have no clue.

The fragile Achilles heel that I suspect Greg will use to have things work out in the end will be that Les is somewhat less than a high wattage bulb as far as seeing the big picture at times. This is why he is scamming The Fuse with Ann even though his Uncle, Mr. Gray is intimately associated with the establishment. That will be source of the downfall of this plan.

Ann is all aboard for the con, but she has no clue about Uncle Al. When Uncle Al and Ann meet and neither recognizes each other…. that is when the plan will unravel.

Les & Ann as son & mother remind me of Kenny & Sante Kimes, well before they started killing people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sante_Kimes

I personally think that some people are being excessively analytical in pointing out myriad reasons that Pru should be fired. This is a comic strip, to be amusing, and a certain amount of license is taken.

For example, a few weeks ago Pru sloshed a glass of beverage in Les’s face, while on the job, in trying to dramatize a fake “breakup”. A few immediately said she would be fired for that, but she was never even chastised. It was just a joke.

The current joke is how vulnerable Pru is being to Ann’s scam. But sooner or later, Pru will catch on or be informed by others, and so will get things straightened out with no more harm than a little personal embarrassment.

My best guess is that Pru is not on her way out, any time soon. She’s still too useful a character for interesting drama, and I think that more readers like her than not.

Have I been missing this…. or did the “GC Insider” logo suddenly get obnoxiously large and even more noticeable than before? I have liked being “Pro” for the convenience…. but, man, the “GC Insider” logo…. its like a lighthouse beacon.

Les is stepping up in the world, along with Eiffel, as scam artists.

There are some people here who have bemoaned not being able to find links to certain old songs that illustrate their points in the comments section. So, here is something to help you:

https://archive.org/details/georgeblood

Boy- some of you are out for blood. One or two arguments can be fun- but at some point, just please stop taking the bait!

Uh-oh, Pru’s getting taken to the cleaners, on a one-way express ticket.

This wicked witch is giving acting lessons to Pru, at $400.00 per pop, so far!

$800 rental? WHAT was the $500 deposit check that Pru ripped up for Why is Pru now charging her $400??

There are things about all this that don’t make sense. Like, Ann being old enough to be the mother of Les is a real reach. But I can handle that. All I want is, Greg Evans, don’t draw women in underwear! I BEG you! You won’t get it right and besides it’s kind of creepy! PLEASE don’t illustrate that! Thank you.

Pru, you’re fired.

Shannon and TJ we need you!!!.. Shannon so you can bite her and TJ to straighten Pru out on this woman.

Off-topic:

It was knowing that his door was always open, and his path was free to walk…

R.I.P. Glen Campbell, who passed away today at 81, after battling Alzheimer’s.

My, my, isn’t Ann the consummate actress. She’d make a great addition to the theater.

“The Price Is Wrong”

“Don’t Discount Your Chicks,  Before The Catch”

“One Pru, Over The Coupon’s Behest”

“Captain Of The Rebate Team”

“Don’t Cry Over Skilled Bilk”

“See Ya Later, Negotiator!”

“Cost And Effect”

“Charity Begins At This Table”

“A Monumental Amount? Rush More!”

“Weep Built This ‘Kitty’!… " (♪)

“Fee,  Fallin’” (♬)

“A Knockdown,  in Round 2”

“The Whizzer Of Odds”

or

“So… Who’s Up For A Promotion?”

It’s hard to believe Prudence is really falling for this tale of woe. But I guess she doesn’t yet know Annie Awful as well as we do….

So is this all a prelude to a story line for when The Fuse….BLOWS UP? er….burns out…burns down and blows up?….whatever….it sounded funny when it popped into my little head.

Well, I think we can see where Les get his scheming streak from.

She’s working for the Russians.

Not interested in crime drama. I’ll be back when the humor returns.

Bolluxs!

Isn’t it bullocks? Bollix it is.

Sorry Pru but P.T. Barnum said it best: There’s one born every minute.

“The Grifters”

Les wants his $350 necklace back that he bought Pru with money he stole from charity.