I've always envisioned LUANN as more than just a gag-a-day strip. I'd be missing a real opportunity, even a responsibility, if I didn't take on some of the more serious issues that teens face every day.
I was about two and a half years into my strip, doing gags about hair, boyfriends, school, parents and icky brothers, when I had this urge to do something deeper. My characters were well-established and I decided they could handle an "issue."
At this time, First Lady Nancy Reagan was promoting a huge "Just Say No"anti-drug campaign. This seemed like the perfect topic for my first "serious" story.
But who'd be the drug user? Should I corrupt one of my regular characters? Hook Luann on uppers? I decided I had to introduce a new character, Derek, to carry the message of the dangers of drug use.
This story ran for 5 weeks, the longest series I'd done to that point. The strips were reprinted in a booklet for distribution to schools and clinics. And I was proud that the booklet's introduction was written by Nancy Reagan.
I enjoyed reading the Luann comic strip and was encouraged to know that such a valuable message about the dangers of drug abuse may be shared with your readers. Young people are very vunerable to the power of suggestion and the media, through all its various forms, can have a positive influence on our youth or it can have a negative influence. The Luann series is a fine example of the positive powerthat cartoons can have on the young. I hope that youngsters and parents alike will have an oppurtunity to see this comic strip and talk with each other about the danger and consequences of drug use.
-Nancy Reagan
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