He just loves airplanes. He loves them so much
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Gil Thorp, 6/23/26
I love the abrupt emotional turn Gil takes in panel three: he lowers his sunglasses over his eyes to hide the flash of anger, but we can still see the bitter scowl on his face. Jet fuel is a miracle, making it possible for machines to hurtle through the air at hundreds of miles an hour and bringing the world within reach of ordinary people in just a few hours. Major geopolitical actors have been unable to resolve their disputes peacefully and have disrupted the flow of this amazing substance, raising the price of air travel beyond many people’s ability to pay, and frankly, it makes Gil sick just to think about it.
Archie, 6/23/26
Cell phones may have destroyed human attention spans, filled public spaces with inescapable, annoying noise, and even sabotaged our species’s ability to reproduce itself, but at least we no longer have to suffer the indignity of missing a phone call as depicted in this 1990s Archie rerun, so who’s to say if they’re good or bad?
Luann, 6/23/26
Look, I dunno man, Brad and Toni are still having sex in the shower, right here in the funny pages in front of the children, so what am I supposed to do, not tell you about it? I do kind of like how prominent Brad’s wedding ring is in panel one. They’re married so this series of erotic drawings is tasteful and wholesome, actually.
72 replies to “He just loves airplanes. He loves them so much”
It makes Gil so angry that he briefly turns into the Max Headroom signal pirate from 1987 with a dye job!
I guess being a sports coach upset about the price of jet fuel is pretty 80s. About one step down from gushing about business cards.
GT: I feel like the final panel is meant to be a CSI: Miami reference, but they forgot to include a pun. Or coherence. CSI: David Lynch, maybe.
“Don’t get me started on the cost of… (Gil puts on sunglasses) …jet fuel.” (guitar power chord, Roger Daltrey screams)
JP: We’re never seeing these two again after this week, at least until we need some DRAMA!! to ejection seat out of whatever corner Ces has written himself into.
RMMD: Anyone else hearing the Doobie Brothers?
RMMD 2: Everyone yesterday made note of the apparent time warp that hit RootsCountry-Stadt and aged up Sarah, and I just had a horrifying thought. What do her *brothers* look like now??
Phantom: I’m imagining that under that stupid mask everything Schmelon Schmusk says is muffled to the point of near-incomprehensibility.
MW: Wow, the narration box is doing some heavy ellipsis-ing today. How much Dawommy boinking do you think it’s covering up?
Luann: Okay, I’ll grant I did not see this escalating that quickly, or at all to be perfectly honest. Then again, this just makes me a different kind of frustrated seeing this and then looking at my own partner-less existence (six years and counting!!) and resisting the urge to go over to GoComics and comment and succumb to TruFann-ity
Gil Thorp:
Hey, the art looks a lot better than it usually does! It’s always good to see an artist improvi—oh.
Luann: Not that I need a reason to be angry at “Luann,” but the fact that it now has me trying to figure out what kind of contortions Brad and Toni would have to go through to have sex in that confined space really has me steamed (and not in a good way).
GT I know its been a while since CSI:Miami but usually those David Caruso gags require a bit of wordplay, Gil.
Luann Oh no, turns out that Brad and Toni were sugar-based and are circling down the drain! Well I for one will definitely
missnote the absence of these characters in future Luann adventures.Gil Thorp:
“It’s great to look like normal people again, isn’t it, Coach? I mean, we don’t look anything like we used to look way back when in the strip, but at least we look human!”
Luann: Yeah, it’s gonna be a Easter Baby, but that’s not how you do it in the shower. Try Vertical and Up Against the Tiles. Sheesh, Have the Evansii never seen Skinemax Noir?
Archie:
“No caller I.D. on this phone, so I can’t tell who just rang! — this phone belongs in a museum!”
Luann:
Brad and Toni, standing in the spray
They are both deshabille
MW: (ALTERNATE SCENE: Mary is underneath her treasured Jaguar XKE in her white mechanics overalls, tools and parts surrounding her. Top caption reads SEVERAL WEEKS LATER.)
DAWN: Hi Mary – working on the car, huh? Can I help you out?
MARY: Sure can, Dawn! Can you hand me the 3/8″ ratchet with a 16mm socket?
DAWN: What? Sockets and wrenches? Jesus, Mary, I asked what can I do to help, not be your intern for foreign car repair. I was thinking more like watering the plants … oh wait, I don’t have a green thumb, either. Well …. damn …
Dustin: Two whole nostrils! That up-nose shot proves Dustin isn’t in the Family Circus bloodline.
Luann: While I have no experience in such matters, I had always thought that shower sex occurred while standing up. Was I mistaken?
GT: Does Gil fly? Does he fly jets? Or is he mad because the honeymoon has to be within driving distance, where they’ll run into annoying people that they know?
ARCHIE: The people who wouldn’t get this will never see it.
RMMD: Can we stop asking what they’re up to? They have an incredibly detailed sign.
MW: I do have a green thumb, and those zucchinis are mutants.
Archie:
From Betty’s blush in the last panel I assume she was being called for some pre-arranged phone sex, so no wonder she was desperate for them not to hang up. Don’t worry though, back in the ’90s when this strip took place there were plenty of 1-900 numbers for her to fall back on to relieve her frustration.
MW: Remember our mockery of the usefulness of that tiny garden as a “supplemental food supply”? Well, it’s been deftly countered. Mary has planted zucchini. Every Charterstone resident already has twenty pounds of squash on their kitchen counter, and Dawn’s task will undoubtedly be to leave bags of them on random doorsteps throughout Santa Royale.
GT: What’s the point of owning a nice pair of aviators if you can’t do any aviation.
GT, the missing panel 4: “Someone is making a killing.” “YEHHHHHH!l”
GT, alternative panel 4: “And that’s why I’m leaving for the Strait of Hormuz today.”
Luann: Oh, that wedding ring is very, very intentional. Only married people are allowed to make love, and for procreation purposes only! That’s what the TrueFans love to see!
Luann “Careful, careful… angle that soap awkwardly over to the other shoulder – it’s not enough for Brad to show his ring, you must *both* show our wedding rings to demonstrate this is Pure And Wholesome and not some tawdry affair!”
RMMD Well, they’re standing in a parking lot holding a sign asking for donations. You drew that. Oh, you meant in the larger scheme of things?
So when did McEldowney take over writing Luann?
@Ken: this is reminding me of the summer my parents planted zucchini and as usual my mother had us kids at the lake cottage for months while my dad came up for weekends and a couple of vacation weeks. So my dad was in charge of keeping the garden going and he had *no* idea that zucchini are best small and tender, they were growing great! We get back and we’re eating bland gigantic zucchini for *ages*. I even got tired of zucchini chocolate cake.
Archie: Does Betty have super hearing? Does she leave all the windows open every time she goes into the yard in case the phone rings? Or does the phone have roughly the same volume as a tornado siren?
Luann: Comic Strip Censor says; “It’s missionary style so I’ll allow it.”
Luann: Even though the days when comic strips couldn’t portray two people in bed unless each one had a foot on the floor are long behind us they do at least still keep both arms visible so we know there’s no hand stuff going on.
Luann:
Greg Evans: You know, I’ve been doing this strip for 41 years, and there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to do but never have
Karen Evans: Oh? What’s that, Dad?
Greg: Well, it’s kind of naughty
Karen: Go for it
Greg: I’ve…I’ve [whispers] always wanted to draw Irish Spring
Karen: Oh God
Luann: The way the shower spray is drawn, it looks as if loose hair is raining down on them. And somehow, that’s the least disgusting part of this.
@The Quiet Man: MW: Wow, the narration box is doing some heavy ellipsis-ing today. How much Dawommy boinking do you think it’s covering up?
I have the uneasy feeling the answer is none, but Dawn has begun to get those feelings, so (as any normal 20-something does) has turned to a septuagenarian for romantic advice.
On the positive side, with weeks having passed I think we can finally stop wondering if Brandy is coming back.
Ugh, I clear my cache and forget to save my details, and then all my comments are anonymous.
@Ken: I was just thinking of a story from the Simpsons comic book where Krusty attempts to found his own micro-nation, Krustonia, as a tax dodge. Most of Springfield moves in to take advantage of Krusty’s claimed utopia. The gambit falls apart because their planned food supply of zucchini (or some zucchini-like substitute) didn’t grow on the timescale Krusty said it would.
The story ends with everyone going back to their normal homes while Krusty stares bitterly out over acres of zucchini (which finally blossomed into a bountiful harvest) that he now has no need for and no way to get rid of.
Semi-serious note on Luann: at Vanya’s suggestion, I went to look at the TruFans melting down over Brad and Toni, and it is truly a sh*tshow of trainwreck proportions. Some people are thrilled, some people are horny, some people wonder why no one will think of the children, and they’re all very, very angry at one another. If you’ve ever wanted to see a bunch of people being not okay together and displaying the worst in online commentary, now’s your chance.
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV: That’s why I like it here. We keep that from happening.
MW: [guest commentary by Joel Robinson of MST3K]
Mary: “Would you like to water the zucchini, dear?”
Joel: “Oh woooooooooooow”
Archie-Damnit. That could have been an obscene caller.
RMMD-And so day three of asking who these girls are continues.
MW-“Would you like to water the zucchini plants?” Is that a euphemism?
Gil Thorp: It’s all fun and games until you realize Gil’s talking about lunch at Taco Bell, not the stuff that makes planes go vroooooommm…
GT – So…Gil is a rich douche’. Well…it’s not like Judge Parker has a monopoly on it….
Archie – The modern equivalent is Archie called, but it’s buried under crap in my room and she can’t find it. Now that would be gold, baby….
Luann – In a family paper…just to snare voyeurs. Have our moral standards slipped, or what….
Adios Amigos, DJ.
Gil Thorp – This is your occasional reminder that Gil Thorp – a high school sportsball coach – and his Fiancée – a bartender – are both pilots. Transphobia and kidnapping of immigrants, he can take in stride, but making the civilian aviation hobby more expensive? Now you’ve made him mad!
@Tom: It is, they’re just melting.
So… okay, Brad’s using his left hand to wash Toni’s right shoulder. That makes sense. And Toni’s using her left hand to… wash Brad’s left shoulder. With a second bar of exactly-the-same-size soap that’s in there for some reason. Picture this (I’m sorry). Really picture this (I’m so sorry). Imagine (I’M SORRY OKAY) reaching all the way across your body to wash what is almost certainly the least dirty place on your partner’s body and then transitioning, somehow, into making out. Toni almost certainly elbowed Brad in the chin before she– okay, you know what, I’m gonna stop right there; no no, don’t get up, I’ll arrest myself.
Luann – It’s Tuesday – which has to mean that either Shannon and/or TJ is going to walk in on this and “interruptus” the whole thing. Unless we do a jump cut to blissed out, post-coital, robed Brad and Toni, and I don’t know that they can afford robes on their meager salaries.
I assume that their salaries are meager because they live in a small house with a roommate – although, that may just be because they live in California.
Have I given too much thought to this? Yeah. I have.
Gil Thorp – I can’t believe it but I’m actually going to be an apologist for this strip. Some prop planes are turbo props. Yes, they have propellors but aren’t always piston engines like one think of in World War II propeller fighters and bombers. Rather they have turbines just like the jet engine systems without propellers. They use the same fuel type. We’ve seen Gil with a twin engine fancy turbo prop plane in the past – just enough plane to kill an overconfident pilot (athletes and doctors especially surgeons have the highest risk – overconfidence in their skills, underestimating risks) See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboprop.
Dick Tracy – Does this elevate Soly Tare to the rare Dick Tracy baddie that “got away”?He has a bruised shoulder but he got away with the loot.
JP – Now here comes the twist. This strip has been the battleground of two different personas. One wants a thriller / crime / espionage strip. The other wants an angsty young adult emotional melodrama. It looks like the latter currently has control – and the strip will now veer and follow Reena and Aksel and their new lives in Oslo! At the end of the summer the other personality will seize control and we’ll switch back to Charlotte who stumbles upon a drug smuggling ring using horse shows and other equestrian events as their distribution network. She goes all Scooby Doo on the bad guys with Neddy and Ann acting as her helpers.
Mary Worth – I guess being a student / layabout / whatever gives Dawn plenty of free time for the beach, and randomly helping out.
Phantom – Ah, a classic battle of two ancient notions: (1) “The enemy of my enemy is my ally” versus (2) “Keep your eyes on the prize, set aside our differences until we have eliminated our common foe”. Please let the big reveal be that Invicta is actually a failed Jungle Patrol recruit who after years of simmering resentment has finally gathered resources to take revenge.
Also – the time in captivity has helped lean out the Python’s face! Or did he have buccal fat suction?
RMMD – Wow, Sarah has really shot up! Now is that music, roots country fiddling? Or is this the first phase of a flash mob concert?
MW: Another missed opportunity. Asking Tommy to “water the zucchini” would provide much needed comic relief.
Chix (sic): I feel like I’ve failed some kind of IQ test trying to parse this.
A woman wearing a sleeping bag wets herself while standing on a tribble. Another woman approaches with the David Bowie album Heroes.
@Gil Bates: BWAHAHAHAHAA!
Archie : Betty heard her own phone ringing from across town? Does she have “Archie is calling me on my home telephone” superpowers?
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Crankshaft : Wait, so, am I supposed to infer that Larry Dinkle died of a heart attack SECONDS before he was going to play what would have been his career-making breakout hit?
…At least Eugene isn’t there to hear that, and have his one precious memory of Lucy tainted with “BTW, the guy playing the music died suddenly, leaving his kid fatherless”.
***********
Gil Thorp : “Circumstances have led to my already expensive hobby to become EVEN MORE expensive, highlighting how frivolous it is” isn’t a moment where you dramatically put on your glasses punctuated by a giant “YEEEEAAAAAAHHHH” from The Who.
I don’t know what musical cue would be more appropriate, but the opening of Won’t get fooled again isn’t it.
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Luann :
1. I don’t think it’s necessary for Brad and Toni to have a kid. I don’t like that the story is treating that it *IS* necessary for them to have a kid.
2. I don’t think Bwad and Toni would make good parents. Like, the “What if Shannon was actually the IDEAL kid?” fantasies they had last year(? Or was it even before that?) convinced me even more that they wouldn’t make good parents.
3. I think it’s a betrayal of Toni’s characterisation to shoehorn her into a traditional housewife/mother role.
(Bonus : I like how that (relatively) discreet tattoo that’s only visible in panel one has been the only indication that Toni is a firefighter too we’ve had in quite a while)
I’m hoping tomorrow is them being interrupt by an urgent call from their Hook & Ladder; “There’s been a horrible disaster at Camp Skye, every firefighter unit in the area is being dispatched there”GT: Today, Gil will be played in Panel 3 by Robert Mitchum…..
Archie: Poor Betty Cooper! She lost her naval in the Smooth Skin Crisis of aught-five.
Gil Thorp was heavily invested in Spirit Airlines, and now he’s out for revenge.
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OMG, Archie is just agemaxxing now, mogging actual teenagers who might stumble upon the comic! There’s only a 6-7% chance any of them would get it! ROFL!
***
Fuck it, the Luann team thought, even Slylock Fox’s youngest readers are pestering their kids for grandchildren now, so let’s just go with straight-up smut.
“Don’t get me started on the price of jet fuel. Seriously, don’t. Because I don’t know anything about it. I think I use my credit card to pump tiny dinosaurs into my plane and then I burn the dinosaurs to make the propeller spin. It’s cool.”
Luanne: I was gonna leave a message about Brad and Toni moving to Chickweed Lane, but then I saw @Tabby_Lavalamp’s comment and there’s just no way to top that.
Luann: It would be great if the shower is a camouflaged secret entrance (like the phone booth in Get Smart), and Brad and Toni have just triggered the trap door to their sex dungeon.
Some may wonder about the logistics of how Brad and Toni are doing this on the floor of a 48×36″ shower stall, but one must remember that, to the average Luann reader, this so-called ‘secks(?)’ is an enigmatic closed-doors ritual to which they will never be privy, probably due in part to the fact they read Luann, so the realism of the situation doesn’t actually matter much.
Luann: 9 CWL files a formal complaint: Hey, quit horning in on our thing
Entwined in passion, Brad and Toni didn’t realize the shower had shifted from water to ants.
FC: “Know what I like about summer? You can hear the phone ringing outside!”
Sorry, Jeff. Archie beat you to it. —Ed. King Features Synd.
MW: “No, Karen. You can’t use that imagery. See if you can repurpose it.”—Ed. King Features Synd.
“How’s this?:” Mary on her knees, leaning in, while gently grasping an eight-inch zucchini.
GT – I can’t read “Got any plans for the summer?” without thinking of this.
Luann: My reaction to these past couple of strips, just imagine a vomit emoji, puking up a stream of green…forever.
9CL: Oh, this strip is having a couple of their unbearable characters engaged in “sexy times” in the bathroom, though in a tub, and manages to be just as off-putting. What filth they’re allowing in the comics pages these days.
The juxtaposition of Archie and Luann gives us a pretty clear idea of what Toni’s sex life with Brad is like.
GT: Sheesh Don’t get me started. How am I supposed to use my; “Hi, I’m Gil Thorp. Fly me!” line now?!
@Anonymous: “Wait, so, am I supposed to infer that Larry Dinkle died of a heart attack SECONDS before he was going to play what would have been his career-making breakout hit?”
Of course not. He was killed offstage by Butter Brickle’s murder chimp. It’s called WRITING!
Don Abundio, translated:
“I just have a general feeling of malaise, Doctor”
“Is there anything you can do for me?”
“Yes”
“This is what I do for my wealthiest patients”
Luann: the way things are escalating, tomorrow’s strip will either be pressed hams squashed against the shower door or Shannon coming into the bathroom with a cop.
Have we talked about the tattoo switching bodies from yesterday??
The only reason I know anything about some comic strips is because of this blog, and more specifically, the comments. I’m so uninvested in GT that it took me until today to learn he’s a hobbyist pilot. The last panel made no sense until reading through the comments and I assumed it was just ham-fisted political commentary. Does it make me more invested in the strip? Absolutely not.
@mike: they have matching tattoos. I can’t recall if it was Brad copying her when he joined (wasn’t she with the firefighters first?) or if they did it together.
ARCHIE: Betty’s running around in a crop top, but has no belly button? Are you sure this is a ’90s comic, and not a ’60s one when there was still a Comics Code Authority?
LUANN: Isn’t one 9 Chickweed Lane enough for this world?
BLONDIE: The missing fourth panel has Blondie wordlessly stand up, close the laptop and leave with an angry flourish.
Gil Thorp: I’m still not going to follow Gil Thorp. The likelihood that the primary artist returns is too great. Such ugly. So grody.
@66 Rover Berkeley: on Archie: Maybe Betty wasn’t born. Maybe she budded off her mother?
@55 Hibbleton: on Mary Worth: [looks at strip again] Wow, I totally missed Mary jacking off the long tubular veggie.
Luann: Now, now. Yes, they’re kissing in panel two, but they’re leaning in to do it. Their torsos remain at a Comics Code Approved separation.
Luann: See, I didn’t think the couple was inching down out of frame; I assumed the “camera” was discreetly tilting upward. I realize that means I also think Brad has a shower head that’s about nine or ten feet high, but I mean the shower also spits a drizzle of coarse black effluent, so there’s a lot about this plumbing installation that’s nonstandard.
@Tom: 14- Brad must’ve dropped the soap.