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Greg Evans -

The Man Behind Luann

By Heather Petrek, Arts & Education Editor

Photography by Dan Clement

For more of Dan’s photos visit his website www.clearfocusphotography.com

Imagine making a living constructing stories based on the inner workings of a teenager’s mind. For cartoonist Greg Evans, portraying the joy and trials of adolescence through his character, Luann, the star of the comic strip of the same name, is an everyday event. With creative insight that has attracted fans of the cartoon for over two decades, Evans scripts and sketches Luann, her brother, Brad, and their entourage of friends finding their way through teenage life via the funny pages to the amusement of readers young and old.

At the beginning of his career, Evans tried selling single panel jokes --magazine cartoons. “I never sold anything. I have plenty of rejection letters. It’s a hard business to get into. I knew that doing a comic strip was a steady paycheck. When I created Luann it came from my heart instead of my head. I submitted to numerous syndicates and three different syndicates became interested in Luann, so I chose one,” says Evans. Luann became a reality in 1985 and was syndicated by King Features until 1996. United Feature Syndicate now carries Luann, running in more than 300 newspapers nationwide. “At the beginning I kept my day job, but now Luann is full time,” says Evans. “I have a contract which comes up every four years for renewal, and because I have a good client list I can request more money each time, which I do.”

When developing the main character for the strip, why did Evans choose a girl? “Girls wear their feelings on their sleeve. They’re so demonstrative, so I decided to zero in on a teen girl,” says Evans. “My daughter provided material for me before she grew up and moved away, but the strip was influenced by my kids who were teenagers at the time.” Evans’ insight and humor shines through as he pictures issues his teen characters face. “Adolescence is such a funny time, not funny when you are going through it. I mean, what part of your life is more dramatic and traumatic than the teen years?” says Evans. “My goal with Luann is to enlighten and entertain, while celebrating life within a family.”

One of Evans’ objectives is to cover serious themes about adolescence. “It’s hard not to want to talk about serious issues when you’re dealing with teenagers. Because newspapers are considered family oriented publications, even though the kids are not the only ones who read it, I have approached some issues from careful, oblique angles, and those have been some of the most challenging and satisfying storylines,” says Evans. “As a comic strip writer, I think of myself as a storyteller first and foremost and that’s what’s enjoyable about my job, but also challenging. You don’t even have to be that good of an artist to do a comic strip. Readers aren’t as interested in how well the strip is drawn as they are in the humor, or the drama, so I like to think that I develop a storyteller’s angle.”

Greg says his characters dictate the storylines, and they speak to him as he writes. “When I sit down to narrate the next part of Luann’s saga, I put the characters in situations and they lead the story based on their personalities and individual quirks, so it’s a very simple job,” laughs Evans. “I listen to their voices and I write it down. I generally know where I want the storylines to go, but on occasion the characters will surprise me and they end up going in a different direction. Comic strips aren’t like novels that have an endpoint. They’re ongoing, and the open-endedness of it is really challenging. The characters don’t age, I just keep resetting the clock and events happen in big looping circles.”

Evans’ strip addresses the social and personal relationships that are a big chunk of a teenager’s life. “Readers say they love seeing relationships start, because it is all new, then after the couple is together there is nothing interesting anymore,” says Greg. “I am currently experiencing that with Brad and Toni, so people email me, saying they want to see them together, and it might go that way, but then what?”

Evans has lived in San Marcos since 1980 with his wife, Betty, and their three children, who are now grown. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art and a minor in English from Cal State Northridge. “Although a degree doesn’t carry a lot of weight in the comic strip industry, any experience in education that you can accumulate helps with writing,” says Evans. “I have been drawing as long as I can remember.” SMM

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