Luann creator Greg Evans is turning over the writing of his comic strip to his daughter, Karen. Karen holds a degree in writing and literature and is the dean of students at a charter middle school – a good combination for a comic strip about a teen girl.

For several years, Evans said he had wondered what would happen to “Luann” when he eventually retires. He considered ending the strip as Charles M. Schulz did with “Peanuts,” or contracting an illustrator/writer to take over. He also considered having his children carry on the legacy, but Karen said she and her siblings – sister Rhonda, 44, of Texas, and brother Gary, 37, of Ventura – didn’t inherit their father’s artistic talent.

“I can do some pretty good stick figures, but the artist gene skipped a generation in our family,” she said.

Then one day in June 2012, father and daughter hit on the idea of separating the writing and drawing of “Luann” and a partnership was born. Karen, who holds a degree in writing and literature, agreed to take an active hand in helping her father create the plots and character arcs in the story and he would carry on drawing the strip. On Sunday afternoons, they meet for story sessions, and, with Betty, they critique the drawn panels that Evans produces after each session.