Dear Reader,

Like any long-running franchise, LUANN has changed over time — Luann herself is now about 19 and worried less about pimples and more about progress. In an effort to find her way, she's taking a Career Paths class at community college. Her teacher? None other than Mrs. Fogarty, who longtime fans will remember as Miss Phelps, the high school counselor and star of this month's Featured Collection.

We've been thinking a lot about our fans and have opened up a chance for you to ask us questions and tell us what kinds of fan experiences you'd love to see. We're eager for your input! And we're thrilled to share a sneak peek at a really fun conversation we had with fellow cartoonist, Paul Gilligan of Pooch Cafe.

Enjoy!

~Karen and Greg

This Month's Featured Collection

The Counselor Is In Miss Phelps, now Mrs. Fogarty, tries her best to help young people navigate life. She's not always effective, but she's often funny without meaning to be, wise without realizing it, and usually the source of some fun visual wordplay like "count sailor is inn." Read the collection HERE!​

Tell Us Something, Ask Us Anything!

We're headed to San Diego Comic-Con this summer and thinking a lot about how we can connect with fans in meaningful ways throughout the year. We'd love your input! We've put together a short form where you can submit a question for us to answer in a future newsletter, share feedback on the kinds of fan experiences you'd be most excited about, or both. It should take you less than 90 seconds and your input will shape our ideas.

😑🤔🙂🤩

Cartoonist to Cartoonist

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Paul Gilligan, the creator of Pooch Cafe, for a conversation hosted by our syndicate, Andrews McMeel Universal. It was such a fun chance to talk shop with a fellow cartoonist — we covered everything from creative process to life in the funny pages. Head over to GoComics to read the full interview. We'd love to hear what you think!

Excerpt:

ON GAGS VS. STORYLINES

Greg: What's your balance of gag-a-day versus storyline?

Paul: I've gone through different phases. When I started I was very influenced by alternative comics: Peter Bagge, Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes. A lot of talking, big expressions. Then at some point I developed a real respect for the beautiful set-up/punchline strip, like early “Nancy.” I went into that phase for a while. Now I kind of have a clockwork setup: usually it's a one-week storyline, then a week of standalone strips, and back and forth. I think some people like the storylines and some people like the one-off gags.

Greg: I did just the opposite. When “Luann” started it was gag-a-day for a long time. Then I started introducing theme weeks and little stories as the characters evolved and got more complex. Now it's nothing but storylines. We don't do single gags except on Sunday. Some ways that's easier, some ways it's harder. It makes it more difficult for new readers to get into the strip because, boy, pick up “Luann” any given day, you don't have a clue what's going on or who these people are.

Karen: I like telling long, nuanced, complex stories. And there's only so far you can go with that in the comics world. Dad will say things got complicated when I joined—in a good way, I think overall. But he forgets how many complicated, emotionally sensitive, dramatic, complex stories he was already doing before I rolled in. Our fans now expect this strip to be believable. The humor can't be so cartoony and over-the-top.

There was a storyline that ran in the fall where Dad said, “I have this idea—it's quick, I'll do it.” It was just sort of an out-there dream sequence. I think he really enjoyed just being able to draw all over the place and not worry about some logical storyline. And what was interesting was how fans responded. Some of them were really uncomfortable with the strip getting out of what they expected. “Why? What is this weirdness?” And others played along and had fun with it.

Greg: I always say I've done my career backward: When I was young and vigorous, that's when I should have been doing complicated stories with difficult artwork, instead of now.

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