Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 02, 2012

I fear Gunther is soon going to have a confrontation that he may not enjoy.

Uh…..Happy Groundhog Day? Gunther it might be your last.

A gentle jab in the throat does wonders, Gunt’.

I bet if Gunth lands one on his nose, he’ll break own and cry like a baby.

You think the fight will last long enough to get in all “Pow – Wham – Boom – Whack”? Maybe the slimeball doesn’t even have to get all the way through “pow” before it is over . . . but the G- man will get cred and the girl !

I don’t think anything else is going to happen. This is a family comic strip

Hmm not a good teacher to see a student grab another student like that and is just told to go to class.

Teacher sees violent act, yells at victim…

This might sound strange coming from me, but Evans has more or less depicted what would actually happen in that situation. Phelps is taking the easy way out by blasting in everyone’s general direction, but that’s what most teachers from my old school would have done in case of a fight without trying to identify victims and aggressors. The question is, where is Knute? Did he just evaporate into thin air? Shouldn’t he have been coming to Gunther’s aid at least as a witness for the prosecution? or did Evans forget him altogether?

I KNOW I shouldn’t be stoking your ego by responding to you, but Evans is not an idiot. He’s at least got the cojones to put his views on the net and invite comment. I think he’s over the hill and should have retired from the comics business years ago, and I’ve told him as much – but he’s not an idiot. He’s past it, but he’s more honest than you.

Rosa sided with Gunther. I hope he sees the significance in that! And Gunther – be ready for Knox. He is not finished.

Dingle Bells, dingle bells, dingle all the way Call them all to class and save Gunther’s hide At least for today…

Gunther just needs to go Mick Belker on him – Growl like a mad dog and go nuts!

First make sure there are no authority figures in sight, then cut loose.

and here’s where we get to see dingle turn into a psychopathic serial-greaseball stomper. all those years of pent up dorkness released in one “columbine moment”.

Storyline: Jerk knocks down Gunther, Rosa smacks him in the face an tells him she doesn’t want to have anything to do with a brute like him, and VEEEERy gently wakes up her hero. ;-)

Gunther rescues Rosa; Rosa repays favor by deflecting the wrath of Phelps; bully makes typical bully-style empty threats. If there is a future confrontation, it will not have the outcome Leslie the Greaser presumably desires….

Where are the Dirk-lovers? We have yet another abusive bully making their appearance. This time it is in the most common location: School. Normally I would suggest that it will only be a year or two before they outgrow school and leave them behind, but Gunther is locked into this gig, forever young.

Gunther, just remember the four N’s of the schoolyard brawl (Knees, Nuts, Nose, Neck) and you’ll do just fine

so, why do you read it?

Gunther’s last name is Dingle?

Oh the endless swirl of Comics… Anyone else having some pretty serious deja vu from Brad and Tony’s love story?

Uh, Rosa Dear?

You just SCREWED-UP.

You should have mentioned to Phelps that Needle Nose made inappropirate advances toward you and wouldn’t leave you alone after you repeatedly told him to stop. That MIGHT have got the Jackass suspended or at least sent to the Principal’s office.

So in protecting Gunther, you’ve also Protected the Slimeball. Hell, you might have even convinced him you DID like his advances because You DIDN’T Rat Him out when you had the chance.

Now the Butterball will be waiting after school with his “boys” to pound the G-Man into pixels.

Women….,

Gunther, you might wanna consider carrying some industrial strength pepper spray with ya, and I will SELL you a slightly used Cattle Prod.

CHEAP!

In pannel 3, why does Greaseball’s face look so familiar?

Bullies don’t change. Needle Nose will always be a greaser and a bully and Gunther will be forced to do something about it. High school is the test track for problem solving. Will it be fight or flight? Brains vs brawn? Right now, Gunther could use a little “back up”.

So… Miss Phelps comes upon an obvious act of one-sided violence in the hallway, and her reaction is to treat everyone like four-year-old girls arguing over a doll? Gee, I’m so glad things haven’t changed since I was in high school. The only thing missing is Gunther being immediately sent to detention because the jerk’s on the football team.

Rosa to the rescue. Tell Miss Phelps EXACTLY what happened, then let Mr. “hands” get arrested.

Gunther had Rosa’s back, now she has his. Very nice.

I think you may have missed he was not just chatting her up but feeling her up. Leaving him alone will result in his thinking he can get away with whatever he wants, and he will be a serious criminal by the time he is 30.

6:30 in the morning and there are 45 comments.good story mister Evans.

I guess another difference between the Luanniverse and the real world is that bullying in Pittsville is not a concern of the administration. As long as no one has ended up in the nurses office, no problem. Or maybe it is all too like the real world. Bullying receives a lot of lip service. Sometimes I wonder if that’s all that’s changed.

I’m waiting to see Rosa’s reaction.

Notice that Rosa stuck up for Gunther. Mr. Attitude is NOT going to forget that!

wonder if Gunther will get a reward for saving the lady in distress

Gunther is Rosa’s man!, 1st the prom, then graduation, then marriage, Rosa will be carrying Gunther’s child, during college.

uh-oh!

I hope the next comic doesn’t have any black panels like in Pearls Before Swine.

It’s interesting that some here are sneering at Gunther as a nerd and a wimp, and even openly admiring the meat-for-brains approach to dealing with life..I wonder whether you yourselves were meat-for-brains bullies in school — and probably still are as adults. (You don’t grow out of being a sociopath, or ever learn to feel that there’s anything wrong with it.) Or else you were the bullies’ victims, who only wished that you could be just like them..Either way: pathetic.

I say nerds with packpacks need to be taught a lesson!!! I say Dingle goes down!!!!

what a coincidence, my prediction yesterday predated yours by 3 hours…

At least the teacher DID show up. When I was a kid, there were too many times when the teachers did NOTHING to stop a bully until someone ACTUALLY got hurt, and even then, you LITERALLY had to drag them over to save the kid being bullied.

hmmmm almost sounds like a repeat when Bran and Toni’s old boyfriend were at each other…

I can see it coming…“A duel! Behind the gymnasium at 4 o’clock. You choose weapons…” “Backpacks!” Gunth says…

Is Gunther’s last name “Dingle”?

He might be hanging in the back, giving Gunt moral support.

Gunther could easily do what I did when it came to bullies. No need to outfight them if you can outsmart them.

dollars to donuts Dirk is the new Security Guard and he’s no longer fond of bullies…

Dynamite comes in small packages!

gunther will be fine Brad will save him!

If he comes in your face Gunther, knee him in the groin.

That dude is nothing more than a thug, of course miss phelps yells at Gunther, all he was doing was defending the young lady, she never got the whole picture. Gunth should just stand up to this thug, and prove that the thig is nothing more than a coward.

I went to 19 different grade schools…my parents worked in the oil fields and when the well was ‘spudded in’ it was off to another town and school…being the new kid who liked to read could get tough…when I got started on learning how to fight I never stopped. Forty years of martial arts now…still practicing. Baddest old man you’re likely to meet…not dangerous. You, your wife, daughter, pocketbook are safe with me…but I can be lethal. No more bullies in MY life. Maybe I should thank them all…take that…

I could go on a rant about the public school system, but I’ll stop with saying my generation was the last to have a positive experience getting an education. And I graduated from high school in 1957 and from nursing school in 1960.

wanna borrow my backpack Dave? or can I have the honor…?

So, Dave — what are your thoughts on Bill the B’s suggestion that Greg quit this paying gig, his income, his livelihood? I mean, it’s a reasonable request, isn’t it? To spare us all from imperfect wrap-ups, inconsistencies with previous arcs and other unspeakable horrors? Most syndicated cartoonists who have an eye to the future are working much harder than ever. The age of the accessible and interactive cartoonist is here. The creators who nurture their following, who can create hard core passionate followers will survive the continuing demise of newsprint. And that takes work, way more than just writing, drawing and submitting your creation to the syndicates. With all of his readers having access to Greg’s archives online, it’s only fair to crucify the guy whenever possible. “Used to be a fan”???? Hardly, Bill.

… and I’m thinking the grease ball is going to find out the hard way that Gunther doesn’t want to fight .. can and will, maybe even trained for it .. but doesn’t want to fight. (said the geek that had to educate a few bullies)

I agree with Mordock and others – Rosa is being way too nice here. There are some things that a person should speak up to the authorities about, and this is one of them; I am not sure who she thinks she is protecting by remaining a silent about that creep’s behavior. Gunther’s defense of her will not get him into very much trouble with the teachers, at least. (Although the revenge may be more serious if our antagonist got into trouble with the principal, and Rosa might be worried about that escalation.)

What is a “Troll?”

Where was teacher when I was being bullied.. oh hat is right.. Right after I and the bully were already slugging it out.. A different time…

I think Gunter is probably the type to have taken karate lessons or something. Goatee boy may have the hurt put on him . . .

Good storyline Mr. Evans, a lot of posts.

I wonder if Rosa has any brothers, older brothers.

Gunther has to do this fight, but perhaps they can make sure no one else gets involved.

Can’t to see where you’re taking us, thoroughly enjoy your work.

Anyone claiming you’re past your prime in creating story lines is wrong, they’re still very good..

one word….knees.

I once knew a man who went to the principal of his son’s school and told him that if his son was bullied or hurt one more time, he was going to lay charges. That may have been a little too much, but the authorities are supposed to be there to protect all the students. I’m not sure what happened then but I know that his son was not harassed again.

I think a lot of people have forgotten that Rosa is the child of a professional diplomat.

This is when the Aussie steps it up…New irritant boy is in for a rude awakening.

Gunther will always have to face bullies.. Some might consider “the economy” a bully that has to be struggled against. Advanced math & chemistry were bullies that beat the crap out of me. Real people don’t give up, bullies end up on an assembly line by day and a bar stool by night.

And now,a big juicy comicline ahead of us…ME GUSTA.

Okay, thank you. Yes, I’ve noticed some of those types of comments here.

I have been bullied in grade school too. I was slightly smaller than usual at that time for my age. Eventtually in High school, in which I was average height but overweigh and knew how to throw my weight around, took care of one verbal bully in gym class when the gym teacher was teaching us how to do college wrestling. Thats a good ending story.

No means NO! And the jerk (whose name I prefer not to remember) needs to get squashed! Whether by Gunther or Rosa or . . .