LUANN: 25 YEARS

Luann: 25 Years, By Greg Evans (276 8.5x11-inch pages, b/w mostly, some color; sold only at TheCartoonistStudio.com/Greg, $39.95)

This is another of those rare reprise tomes in which the reprinted strips are accompanied by the cartoonist’s commentary. A selection of highlights from Luann’s quarter century appears at the rate of three strips to a page, a design that permits ample display of the artifacts with room left over for Evans’ insights whenever he is disposed to offer them, which is often. And every strip is dated, a boon to historians and other compulsives. Reuben winner Evans showcases fragments of narrative sequences, milestones in his heroine’s young life, some of which are legendary: Luann getting her period, for instance.

Evans does not shy away from potentially controversial subjects as he explores the lives of his characters, and as a result, the strip resonates authenticity. And humor. For a conspicuous instance of comedy and reality, there’s the time a condom drops out of Luann’s brother Brad’s wallet when he is buying tickets for himself and his date to go to a movie. And she sees it!

For most of the strip’s run, if we are to judge from the examples herein — and as a regular reader of the strip, I can vouch for their being faithfully representative — Evans reveals the sure touch of a master storyteller: he can couple comedy to genuine emotion with great skill, producing both chuckles and empathy in his readers. While there are ample instances of his talent at this kind of thing throughout this collection, my favorites are those sequences depicting the increasingly serious romance between the now-mature but still nerdy Brad and beauteous Toni Daytona.

In the book’s introductory section (printing the only color in the book), Evans waxes autobiographical and includes numerous photographs (among them, one of Maxwell the Robot, an R2D2-clone that Evans inhabited at one stage in his pre-cartoonist career) and samples of his earlier attempts at comic strips. He’s also included a tantalizingly brief sample of his superior ability at watercolor painting — exquisite.

For fans of Luann, this is a must-have book, but anyone who enjoys cartooning should add this volume to his/her library: with Evans’ running commentary paralleling his expert performance as a cartoonist, this book is without quibble one of the best books about syndicated comic stripping around. And in a time when the brittle comedy of Pearls Before Swine and Dilbert seem to reign supreme in the funnies, it’s profoundly gratifying to encounter a strip that humane and caring as well as unfailingly funny.