Have you read the comic strip Nancy lately? Well, if you haven’t, you should. What? Read a newspaper comic strip that’s older than your grandparents? Have I lost my mind? Well, the answer is yes, you should read it because it’s interesting now and no, I haven’t lost my mind. Well, not yet anyway.
The eight year old Nancy started out as a supporting character in the comic strip, Fritzi Ritz, in 1933. The strip, Fritzi Ritz, started in 1922 and was created by Larry Whittington. Like the comic strip, Blondie, Fritzi was also a free-spirited flapper and a girl of her times. Ernie Bushmiller took over the strip in 1925 and was responsible for creating the character Nancy (Fritzi’s niece) and ultimately having the Fritzi Ritz strip retitled as Nancy in 1938.
Bushmiller continued to draw the strip until his death in 1982, by which time he had established Nancy on the comic pages as a rather pedestrian strip. It was never a groundbreaking nor really thought provoking comic during Bushmiller’s tenure. The strip had different writers and authors after Bushmiller’s death including Jerry Scott, who currently draws the comic strip, Zits. In 1995, the strip was taken over by Brad and Guy Gilchrist and has slowly found its footing as it develops a story arc and continues to round out its adult characters.
The Gilchrist’s brothers reestablished Nancy’s aunt, Fritzi Ritz, as a more central character and parental figure in the strip. The current Ritz’ storyline, by Guy Gilchrist, has also reestablished Fritzi’s boyfriend from the 1920’s, Phil Fumble. Fumble started out as a central character within the Fritzi Ritz strip, but disappeared from the strip completely in 1968. The character reappeared in late 2012 and he and Fritzi seem to have resumed their relationship. The strip still does the gag-a-day, but now it also has an overarching storyline and that has made the strip’s adult characters more interesting. Bushmiller would be proud.
If the strip Nancy is not in your local newspaper, then I’d recommend you visit Nancy at Gocomics.com. It’s a visit you won’t regret.
Interesting. Almost looks like two distinct art styles on the characters. I can’t decide if Fritzi’s giving off a Veronica or a Dick Tracy-style vibe.
Sluggo still in it?
Sluggo is still in the strip and in fact, Phil Fumble is acting as his role model. There is some nice male bonding occurring between the two. Here is an example.
Where the strip used to be the female version of Henry, it is now a pleasure to read.
And as always, thanks for reading…