Teenage Life and Growing Up: The Trials and Tribulations of Luann and Her Friends
Luann Comic Strip
Created by Greg Evans in 1985, Luann follows the life of a typical 13-year-old girl. She has crushes, her big brother picks on her, and her parents try to get her to clean up her room.
She has a sibling rivalry with Tiffany and best friends Delta and Bernice. One notable aspect of the strip is how it avoids revealing how old the characters are.
Luann DeGroot
Luann DeGroot, the heroine of this strip, is a typical teenage girl with a typical family and her typical trials and tribulations. She’s best friends with nerdy Bernice and Delta, and she’s the victim of a torrid rivalry with cheerleader Tiffany. She’s also the target of adolescent male attention, particularly from Gunther and heartthrob Aaron Hill.
The strip has dealt with some potentially touchy subjects, such as drug use (Luann’s accidental ingesting of marijuana) and homosexuality (the death of a gay classmate). It also reflects the timeless process of growing up.
Brad DeGroot
The name of Luann’s brother has become a running gag for its rhyming with various other entities, including Cafe TJ and Moony Uni. This has only been prevalent since 2014, though.
Flat Character: Until recently, Brad was seen only through Luann’s eyes. When he started getting his own storylines, however, he exploded in popularity. Also flat characters include Ann Eiffel and Stef, although the latter at least got some character development.
Tiffany DeGroot
After her debut, Tiffany became a major character in the strip. She was the first female character to go through normal adolescent development, including her period.
She’s a deadpan snarker, often responding to Stef with a zinger. She has also developed into a covert pervert, discussing naked yoga meditation with Bernice.
Her age is a bit blurry. She’s been in college since 2014, but Comic-Book Time hasn’t made it clear how long she’ll be there.
Bernice DeGroot
Although she’s a friend to Luann, Bernice can be very critical of her. Almost anything that Luann does or says is met with a snide comment or passive-aggressive putdown from Bernice.
She rents a room in the DeGroot house and works at Kafe Kablooie and at the Fuse’s theater. She’s also a dancer. She’s a replacement for Pru (who got retconned in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it strip).
Gunther DeGroot
Luann seems to be incapable of not obsessing over some boy – usually a lifeguard, but sometimes a college student or exchange student. Quill, an Australian transfer student, came close to being her Aaron Hill replacement, but was promptly put on a plane back to Australia when he started kissing her.
He’s used for a bit of Character Development (such as helping her understand math), but he’s also used to tease her. For example, she thanks him for helping her study and he misinterprets that as a love confession and almost kisses her.
Piro DeGroot
The strip debuted in 1985 and was originally distributed by News America Syndicate (which also handled such luminaries as John Darling and Sally Forth). It’s currently distributed by United Media, which was formed from the merger of several companies including King Features Syndicate (Li’l Abner, Gordo) and Universal Press.
Evans uses a cartoonish art style, with characters having huge heads and tiny bodies that are simplistically-shaped. Despite this, the strip has dealt with a number of possibly touchy subjects.
Crystal DeGroot
She’s a Perky Goth with serious gloomy tendencies, but she can be bitchy and sardonic too. She’s a classmate of Luann’s and her roommate (along with Knute) for a long time.
She and Tiffany become best buds, but also are rivals. Tiffany is a cruel Alpha Bitch, while Crystal is oblivious to most of her insults and adores Tiffany’s matching frocks. They also accessorize each other’s outfits well.
Knute DeGroot
In the strip, Knute is a lovable lug who is Luann’s best friend and roommate. She spends her time gossiping and being boy crazy.
Unlike other characters, she’s never really been shown with any kind of boyfriend, despite being a girly-girl.
Knute hasn’t appeared much since she was demoted to Extra in 2014. She and Bernice have a bit of a rivalry.
Delta DeGroot
Delta is a character who appears in Luann’s comic strip. She is the co-captain of the Flag team and a member of the Booster Club.
She is very busy and tries to work as much as possible while still maintaining good grades. As a result, she is often irritable and tired.
She has a crush on Aaron Hill, whom she thinks doesn’t know about her. In one strip, she throws a study party and invites Bernice, Gunther, and Tiffany.
Luann Comic Strip Created by Greg Evans in 1985, Luann follows the life of a typical 13-year-old girl. She has crushes, her big brother picks on her, and her parents try to get her to clean up her room. She has a sibling rivalry with Tiffany and best friends Delta and Bernice. One notable aspect…
