Nancy (comics)

"Nancy" is an American daily and Sunday comic strip that was originally written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller.

History

The character of Nancy, a precocious little girl (8 years old, according to an October 2005 strip), first appeared in the strip "Fritzi Ritz", about the air-headed flapper title character. The Fritzi Ritz strip was begun in 1922 by Larry Whittington and was taken over by Bushmiller three years later. In 1933, Bushmiller introduced Fritzi's niece, Nancy, who soon came to dominate the strip, which was renamed "Nancy" in 1938 (although "Fritzi Ritz" also continued, as a Sunday feature, into the 1960s). At its peak in the 1970s, the strip ran in more than 880 newspapers.

Bushmiller refined and simplified his drawing style over the years to create a uniquely stylized comic world. The American Heritage Dictionary illustrates its entry on "comic strip" with a "Nancy" cartoon. Despite the small size of the reproduction, both the art and the gag are clear.

Bushmiller won the National Cartoonist Society Humor Comic Strip Award for 1961 and the society's Reuben Award for Best Cartoonist of the Year in 1976.

Although Bushmiller died in 1982, the strip continues to the present day, done by different writers and artists. These have included Al Plastino (1983), Mark Lasky (1983), Jerry Scott (1984–1994), Guy Gilchrist (1995— ), and Brad Gilchrist (1995— ).

Nancy also appeared in comic books—initially in a 1940s comic-strip reprint title from St. John Publications, and later in a Dell comic written by the author of "Little Lulu", John Stanley. Nancy was also featured in three animated shorts made by the Terrytoons studio in 1942–43: "School Daze", "Nancy's Little Theater", and "Doing Their Bit."

In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the "Comic Strip Classics" series of commemorative U.S. postage stamps.

Nancy was also re-used in the UK Comic, "The Topper" during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Characters

*Nancy, the titular and wily young lady who is constantly in the state of a daydream or confused plot.
*Fritzi Ritz, Nancy's aunt, with whom she lives.
*Sluggo Smith [http://www.comics.com/comics/nancy/archive/nancy-20080610.html, Retrieved on 2008/06/10.] , Nancy's best friend. Sluggo is Nancy's age and is a poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks. There are strips that appear to place Sluggo as Nancy's boyfriend. He is portrayed as lazy, and his favorite pastime seems to be napping.
*Rollo, the stereotypical but nonetheless friendly rich kid. At least in the early 1940s, the rich kid was known as Marmaduke (it is possible that the name was changed to avoid confusion with "Marmaduke", an unrelated comic strip by Brad Anderson that debuted in 1954).
*Irma, Nancy's friend.
*Spike, the bully of town who frequently knocks out Sluggo. Sluggo occasionally gets one over on Spike, however.
*Oona Goosepimple, the spooky looking child who lived in a haunted house down the road from Nancy's. She appeared in the comic book version of the strip, during John Stanley's tenure in the late 1950s and early 60s.
*Marigold, Sluggo's tomboy cousin.

There are also a bevy of various other children who make occasional appearances.

Cultural references

Bushmiller's art work has inspired other artists.

*Nancy was the subject of Andy Warhol's 1961 painting, "Nancy".

*Nancy was the subject of several pop art works by Joe Brainard:
**" [http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_an_Ashtray.htm If Nancy Was an Ashtray] ", 1972
**" [http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_a_Boy.htm If Nancy Was a Boy] ", 1972
**" [http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_a_da_Vinci_Sketch.htm If Nancy Was a da Vinci Sketch] ", 1972
**" [http://www.joebrainard.org/Nancy_Diptych.htm Nancy Diptych] ", 1974
**" [http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_a_Painting_by_de_Kooning.htm If Nancy Was a Painting by de Kooning] ", 1975

*Cartoonist Bill Griffith has used the characters and emulated Bushmiller's drawing style frequently in his own "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip.

*Cartoonist Scott McCloud developed a card game, " [http://www.scottmccloud.com/inventions/nancy/nancy.html 5-card Nancy] ", in which players use random panels of "Nancy" to create their own stories.
**McCloud also included a Nancy cameo in his book, "Understanding Comics". When describing the "non-sequiter" transition type, several unrelated images appear between panels. One is an upside-down picture of Nancy being struck by lighting with the caption "DANGER."

*Cartoonist Mark Newgarden has included Nancy in his work.

*"Mad Magazine" has run several parodies, including “Nansy”, in which Nancy is transformed into the main character of several other comic scrips, including Donald Duck, Dick Tracy, Li'l Abner, and so on — and all with that same hyphen-nose and frizzy hairdo.

*Quino's Mafalda bears a strong resemblance to the earlier Nancy strip, which Quino mocks in one strip.

*Cartoonist Max Cannon often includes Stubbo, a boy drawn in allusion to Bushmiller's style, in his Red Meat comic strip.

Collections

*"Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Nancy: The Enduring Wisdom of Ernie Bushmiller" (1993)
*"Nancy's Pets" (1991)
*"Bums, Beatniks and Hippies, Artists and Con Artists" (1990)
*"Nancy Dreams and Schemes" (1990)
*"How Sluggo Survives" (1989)
*"Nancy Eats Food" (1989)
*"The Best of Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy" (1988) by Brian Walker

References

* Strickler, Dave. "Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index." Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1

External links

* [http://www.toonopedia.com/nancy.htm Toonopedia entry on Nancy]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/oona.htm Toonopedia entry on Oona Goosepimple]
* [http://www.comics.com/comics/nancy/index.html Nancy comic strip]
* [http://www.reuben.org/ncs/awards.asp NCS Awards]