Nancy (comic strip) - Definition and Overview

Nancy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller. The character of Nancy, a precocious, pre-pubescent little girl, originated in the strip Fritzi Ritz, about the air-headed flapper title character. This strip was started in 1922 by Larry Whittington, and taken over by Bushmiller three years later. In 1933, Bushmiller introduced her niece, Nancy, who took over the strip, which was renamed Nancy in 1938.

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 strip. Despite the small size of the reproduction, both the art and the gag are clear.

Bushmiller won the Reuben Award for Best Cartoonist of the Year in 1976.

Although Bushmiller passed away in 1982, his strip continues to the present day, done by different writers and artists. Since 1995, the strip has been written and drawn by Guy Gilchrist and Brad Gilchrist.

Nancy also appeared in comic books, and in three animated shorts made by the Terrytoons studio in 1942-43: "School Daze," "Nancy's Little Theater," and "Doing Their Bit."

At its peak in the 1970s, the strip ran in over 880 newspapers.

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

Characters

• Nancy
• Fritzi Ritz, Nancy's aunt, with whom she lives.
• Sluggo, Nancy's best friend. Sluggo is Nancy's age and is a poor child from the wrong side of the tracks.
• Rollo, the rich kid
• Irma, Nancy's friend

There were also a bevy of various other children who made semi-regular 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:
  • If Nancy Was an Ashtray (http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_an_Ashtray.htm), 1972
  • If Nancy Was a Boy (http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_a_Boy.htm), 1972
  • If Nancy Was a da Vinci Sketch (http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_a_da_Vinci_Sketch.htm), 1972
  • Nancy Diptych (http://www.joebrainard.org/Nancy_Diptych.htm), 1974
  • If Nancy Was a Painting by de Kooning (http://www.joebrainard.org/If_Nancy_Was_a_Painting_by_de_Kooning.htm), 1975

• Cartoonist Bill Griffith has used the characters and emulated Bushmiller's drawing style frequently in his own Zippy the Pinhead 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

External links

• Toonopedia entry (http://www.toonopedia.com/nancy.htm)
• Nancy comic strip (http://www.comics.com/comics/nancy/index.html)