Nancy
April 18, 2018 4:56 PM Subscribe
Olivia Jaimes is the first female artist for venerable comic strip Nancy in 85 years. She's been drawing strips for over a week now, and the early results are good.
It's unknown who Olivia Jaimes really is (The name is admitted to be a pseudonym) but other artists are quick to notice the dramatic increase in quality.
It's unknown who Olivia Jaimes really is (The name is admitted to be a pseudonym) but other artists are quick to notice the dramatic increase in quality.
I was contemplating making a post about this, but I wasn't sure how to go about it so thanks for saving me the effort.
And as always don't read the comments.
posted by ckape at 5:05 PM on April 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
And as always don't read the comments.
posted by ckape at 5:05 PM on April 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
As a mere glance at my profile here will reveal, I FUCKING WORSHIP NANCY. Thanks for posting this!
posted by holborne at 5:07 PM on April 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by holborne at 5:07 PM on April 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
This is great and also a good reminder that I have a GoComics account that I pay for and have forgotten about. Thanks.
posted by Fizz at 5:12 PM on April 18, 2018
posted by Fizz at 5:12 PM on April 18, 2018
Ckape is absolutely right about the comments, unless you really want to see bitter people complain. Also, if you have any doubt as to the improvement of quality, just keep going back until you get to the last few Guy Gilchrist strips. The difference is... remarkable.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:13 PM on April 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:13 PM on April 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
I want a shirt of Nancy thinking SluggoBot.
posted by infinitewindow at 5:14 PM on April 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 5:14 PM on April 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
And yeah, the comments are kinda stupid, but at least they're (mostly) not along the lines of "Ew, a girl drawing Nancy!" (I did see one of those.) It's mostly the same stuff you see every single time there's a major change in anything graphic -- people get all up in the air whenever a website is redesigned, just like they used to whenever a magazine was redesigned, etc.. As usual, I predict the whole thing will die down in about a month and everyone will be running around saying how they all loved it from day one.
posted by holborne at 5:14 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by holborne at 5:14 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Where are the three rocks?
posted by njohnson23 at 5:25 PM on April 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 5:25 PM on April 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
Good lord, the difference between April 14th (Jaimes) and April 15th (Gilchrist, Sunday strips done further in advance, I guess?) is enough to cause whiplash.
posted by Frayed Knot at 5:33 PM on April 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Frayed Knot at 5:33 PM on April 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
I wasn't going to post about this until Olivia Jaimes had more time to settle into wherever she's going... the first three days had unidentified adults (drawn in a not-traditionally-Nancy style) making "That Nancy..." comments, followed by a typical Nancy & Sluggo interaction, a variation on a weather joke that has been made by so many lesser comics (especially this year), one with a new character as Nancy's teacher (reminding me that N&S are the only members of the old cast who we've seen - which is not necessarily a bad thing), then a Sunday rerun of a Guy Gilchrist strip (a dumb gag but more of Nancy smiling than I've seen from Jaimes yet), then three internet/social-media gags (very current) including one that is very meta that I would say "too soon". There has always been a blandness to the Nancy comic, but the new artist seems to be making a point of it. I do want to see some of the new artist's other work just to make comparisons, and I know the "secret identity" won't last forever...
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
And as always don't read the comments.
NO GO READ THE COMMENTS THEY ARE SO BATSHIT INSANE
Comic: Nancy throws Sluggo's worms to the fish
Commenter: "Earthworms are invasive species in much of Canada and nothern United States. State environmental departments ask us to avoid releasing unused bait."
That said, that one was a Gilchrist strip. And what was with Gilchrist drawing women? He took his life models from 1940 underwear catalogs?
But back to the comments. The comments on the new strips are basically all variants of:
COMMENTER A: hate
COMMENTER B: y u got 2 hate?
but it's entertaining to see how many variants of "hate" people can concoct.
posted by GuyZero at 5:39 PM on April 18, 2018 [6 favorites]
NO GO READ THE COMMENTS THEY ARE SO BATSHIT INSANE
Comic: Nancy throws Sluggo's worms to the fish
Commenter: "Earthworms are invasive species in much of Canada and nothern United States. State environmental departments ask us to avoid releasing unused bait."
That said, that one was a Gilchrist strip. And what was with Gilchrist drawing women? He took his life models from 1940 underwear catalogs?
But back to the comments. The comments on the new strips are basically all variants of:
COMMENTER A: hate
COMMENTER B: y u got 2 hate?
but it's entertaining to see how many variants of "hate" people can concoct.
posted by GuyZero at 5:39 PM on April 18, 2018 [6 favorites]
here's an RSS feed for Nancy since GoComics loves money more than letting people easily read their comics for free.
And again, anyone who questions wether the new Nancy is really that good is encouraged to compare it to older Nancy.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:46 PM on April 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
And again, anyone who questions wether the new Nancy is really that good is encouraged to compare it to older Nancy.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:46 PM on April 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
Wow, this is brilliant. The new Nancy is touchstone relevant and gives zero fucks, swinging effortlessly from social commentary to an almost dadaescque obsevationism. I haven’t seen such versatility in so few panels in years. Almost reminds me of Windsor MacKay. I’d seen the robot panel on tumblr but he rest of them are great too.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:56 PM on April 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:56 PM on April 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I like this one.
Weird to see these not set in some weird timeless basically-the-40s place.
posted by Artw at 5:58 PM on April 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
Weird to see these not set in some weird timeless basically-the-40s place.
posted by Artw at 5:58 PM on April 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
Needs more Aunt Fritzi.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:08 PM on April 18, 2018
posted by Chrysostom at 6:08 PM on April 18, 2018
I love the new Nancy, so much so that I was moved to join the site so I could leave positive comments. I hope it continues in this vein.
posted by taterpie at 6:16 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by taterpie at 6:16 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
God, what of it turns out to be Scott Adams?
* it will probably not turn out to be Scott Adams.
posted by Artw at 6:17 PM on April 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
* it will probably not turn out to be Scott Adams.
posted by Artw at 6:17 PM on April 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
I am startled by having a humor reaction to a Nancy strip. They have often been forgettable pablum. This feels more like the start of a new webcomic or something.
(I love the pulling back of the camera for "She is going IN on that cornbread," leaving the cornbready massacre to the imagination.)
posted by Scattercat at 6:19 PM on April 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
(I love the pulling back of the camera for "She is going IN on that cornbread," leaving the cornbready massacre to the imagination.)
posted by Scattercat at 6:19 PM on April 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
Wow, these are great!
posted by Secretariat at 6:21 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Secretariat at 6:21 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Aww, Pope Guilty was going to post these.
posted by JHarris at 6:22 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 6:22 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
With newspaper comic lead times the bots comic is probably not a response to all the haters in the gocomics comments, but I'm still going to assume they're all bots.
posted by ckape at 6:38 PM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by ckape at 6:38 PM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I too am genuinely curious to see Aunt Fritzi's new incarnation. I doubt highly that she'll be the boobastic 40's pinup she was under Guy Gilchrist. It seems that any of the "That Nancy..." ladies that onefellswoop pointed out could have just as easily been Fritzi (but clearly is not). Perhaps we'll see her in Olivia Jaimes' first Sunday comic, whenever that turns out to be.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:41 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:41 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
The gaming teacher one particularly made me laugh. These all seem a touch ostentatiously yoof with their "how do you do, fellow kids" contemporary references though. Guess the target audience for a newspaper comic is probably people my and other Mefites ages.
I do have to wonder if OJ is an established webcomic artist, seems like that might make sense. Not a recognisable name like Kate Beaton, but someone who has quietly plugged away developing a similar-toned body of work to these new strips.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 6:45 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
I do have to wonder if OJ is an established webcomic artist, seems like that might make sense. Not a recognisable name like Kate Beaton, but someone who has quietly plugged away developing a similar-toned body of work to these new strips.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 6:45 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Is funny Nancy canon?
posted by little onion at 6:59 PM on April 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by little onion at 6:59 PM on April 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
Legendary film critic Manny Farber writing about Nancy, c. 1944:
"It is probable that Nancy is the best comic today, principally because it combines a very strong, independent imagination with a simplification of best tradition of comic drawing. Nancy is daily concerned with making a pictorial gag either about or on the affairs of a group of bright, unsentimental children who have identical fire-plug shapes, two-foot heights, inch-long names (Sluggo, Winky, Tilly, Nancy) and genial self-powered temperaments. This comic has a remarkable, brave, vital energy that its artist, Ernie Bushmiller, gets partly from seeing landscape in large clear forms and then walking his kids, whom he sees in the same way, with great strength and well being, through them. Bushmiller’s kids have wonderfully integrated personalities combining smart sociability with tough independence. They also have wonderful heads of hair – Sluggo hasn’t any and calls his a “baldy bean,” Nancy’s is a round black cap with prickles, Tilly has an upsweep tied around the middle like a shock of wheat."posted by Atom Eyes at 7:13 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Boy, having the first new strip be the cornbread one is like a glass of ice water in Hell. Suddenly, Nancy is a webcomic that just happens to be published in newspapers, and it is very good indeed.
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:16 PM on April 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:16 PM on April 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I really want to see a Snapchat filter called "Olivia James" now.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:28 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tobascodagama at 7:28 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I had no idea Nancy was still a going concern until these strips showed up with approving commentary in my Twitter feed this morning. And yeah, that cornbread gag is a delight. Even without any context from the Gilchrist run, the structure feels like a pitch-perfect sendup of the first Peanuts strip.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:39 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:39 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Thanks for posting! Those were fun; the cornbread one made me laugh out loud.
I really hope the artist gets to remain gets to remain pseudonymous for as long as she wants.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 7:40 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I really hope the artist gets to remain gets to remain pseudonymous for as long as she wants.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 7:40 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I like the new, but it has yet to produce a single panel as great as this one.
posted by sourwookie at 7:48 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by sourwookie at 7:48 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Is funny Nancy canon?
Bushmiller's Nancy was funny, surreal, endearing, and stylistically innovative. Olivia James' are so, so much closer to the original humor than that Gilchrist guy.
Ivan Brunetti had a really good try at it--perhaps too close of an imitation. I'm glad he went on to better things.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:58 PM on April 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
Bushmiller's Nancy was funny, surreal, endearing, and stylistically innovative. Olivia James' are so, so much closer to the original humor than that Gilchrist guy.
Ivan Brunetti had a really good try at it--perhaps too close of an imitation. I'm glad he went on to better things.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:58 PM on April 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
The new artist’s drawing style immediately reminded me of webcomics artist Olivia Walch. I think I had that impression before I saw the name Olivia, but I’m not sure!
posted by moonmilk at 8:07 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 8:07 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
OK, the current Nancy is better than whoever followed St. Ernie Bushmiller. But why couldn't the strip just be retired, like Pogo and Calvin and Hobbes? It would be possible to replicate the old Nancy, I guess, but updating it just looks...wrong. Nancy (and Sluggo) are immortal. Placing them into our present reality is like all of those dystopian robots-replace-humans nightmares. It cannot work. It is not meant to be. Of course, I'm an old guy who grew up with Nancy, and whose interest in the strip was only amplified by all of the counter-cultural icons who loved the original strip, so those of you who think I'm an old crank...well, you're right, I guess. Now Dagwood and Beetle Bailey they can reproduce infinitely, and even introduce contemporaneous elements, and I'm fine. But Nancy and her surrealist world ought to be left alone. (I had no idea they had kept her--well, her fake replacement--alive, so to speak, so thanks for the update.)
posted by kozad at 8:24 PM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by kozad at 8:24 PM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I just hit the “previous” button a few times until I got to a Gilchrist strip. Holy crap. Aunt Fritzi’s boobs are frighteningly pneumatic. And I have been a professional pornographic cartoonist. Those titties feel like the most lovingly rendered thing in the entire strip.
I’ve been seeing these strips pop up and I keep on wanting to see Jaimes’ earlier attempts at models for Nancy and Sluggo; they really feel like the result of a long process of compromise between her and the Owners Of The Brand.
posted by egypturnash at 8:29 PM on April 18, 2018 [20 favorites]
I’ve been seeing these strips pop up and I keep on wanting to see Jaimes’ earlier attempts at models for Nancy and Sluggo; they really feel like the result of a long process of compromise between her and the Owners Of The Brand.
posted by egypturnash at 8:29 PM on April 18, 2018 [20 favorites]
Good? if you’ve never seen a funny comic strip before, maybe.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:42 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 8:42 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Aww, Pope Guilty was going to post these.
Bah, I care only that the excellence be shared! Olivia Jaimes' work is already better than nearly anything else on the comics page and I am super excited about it!
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:42 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Bah, I care only that the excellence be shared! Olivia Jaimes' work is already better than nearly anything else on the comics page and I am super excited about it!
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:42 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
I haven't laughed at, or even looked at Nancy in years. That's about to change.
The "Snapchat Filter" strip was geeenious.
(There was a Nancy and Sluggo jigsaw puzzle at my grandmother's cabin on the lake. It was always the last thing to get pulled out on rainy days.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:44 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
The "Snapchat Filter" strip was geeenious.
(There was a Nancy and Sluggo jigsaw puzzle at my grandmother's cabin on the lake. It was always the last thing to get pulled out on rainy days.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:44 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
The new artist’s drawing style immediately reminded me of webcomics artist Olivia Walch. I think I had that impression before I saw the name Olivia, but I’m not sure!
You say that, but I think we all know who is behind the new Nancy.
posted by ckape at 9:22 PM on April 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
You say that, but I think we all know who is behind the new Nancy.
posted by ckape at 9:22 PM on April 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
I just hit the “previous” button a few times until I got to a Gilchrist strip. Holy crap. Aunt Fritzi’s boobs are frighteningly pneumatic. And I have been a professional pornographic cartoonist. Those titties feel like the most lovingly rendered thing in the entire strip.
Gilchrist has been an aspiring country musician and songwriter for a while (note Fritzi's T-shirt), and sometimes his Fritzi came off as a professional country groupie.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:40 PM on April 18, 2018
Gilchrist has been an aspiring country musician and songwriter for a while (note Fritzi's T-shirt), and sometimes his Fritzi came off as a professional country groupie.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:40 PM on April 18, 2018
Are we sure Bill Griffith isn't involved in some way?
posted by gideonswann at 10:09 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by gideonswann at 10:09 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Those were pretty funny. Unfortunately, due to the prior caliber, that's not much of a bar to reach.
posted by Samizdata at 10:16 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Samizdata at 10:16 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
For those who loved the Bushmiller age, this venerable How to Read Nancy pamphlette is the best thing ever.
posted by tapir-whorf at 10:22 PM on April 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by tapir-whorf at 10:22 PM on April 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
I like the one where the teacher has also been playing video games on spring break. You can't do that forever, indeed.
Gilchrist did a lot of boobs.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:44 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Gilchrist did a lot of boobs.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:44 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Gilchrist did a lot of boobs.
A lot of those legacy artists are perpetually horny on main, probably because they're not allowed to do anything interesting with their strips but there's always room for inappropriate cheesecake.
including one that is very meta that I would say "too soon".
No way, that one made me snort out loud at work.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:27 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
A lot of those legacy artists are perpetually horny on main, probably because they're not allowed to do anything interesting with their strips but there's always room for inappropriate cheesecake.
including one that is very meta that I would say "too soon".
No way, that one made me snort out loud at work.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:27 PM on April 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
The part of this I enjoyed the most was the delighted squeal that my twitter timeline made. Nice surprises are nice.
posted by bleep at 11:28 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 11:28 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
And as always don't read the comments.
WRONG
"I think the new Nancy and Sluggo look like they have Yellow fever. I do not like it."
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:30 PM on April 18, 2018
WRONG
"I think the new Nancy and Sluggo look like they have Yellow fever. I do not like it."
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:30 PM on April 18, 2018
Let it go. Run a new cartoon.
posted by Segundus at 1:12 AM on April 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 1:12 AM on April 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Guess we're entering into the final strip from Scott Kurtz's take on legacy comics, The Ombudsmen.
posted by PenDevil at 1:44 AM on April 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 1:44 AM on April 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
If Nancy's new artist is Dorothy Gambrell, I'm gonna squee.
posted by ardgedee at 2:27 AM on April 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 2:27 AM on April 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
It seems... way too accessible, not nearly opaque enough for Gambrell, is my gut feeling? Not that she couldn't shift gears for this project, I suppose.
posted by ominous_paws at 3:07 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ominous_paws at 3:07 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Guys
Guys
What if Elena Ferrante is behind the new Nancy
posted by pxe2000 at 3:12 AM on April 19, 2018 [25 favorites]
Guys
What if Elena Ferrante is behind the new Nancy
posted by pxe2000 at 3:12 AM on April 19, 2018 [25 favorites]
In the scope of newspaper cartoon strips, yes, these are above the rest.
posted by slogger at 5:54 AM on April 19, 2018
posted by slogger at 5:54 AM on April 19, 2018
I read this one earlier this morning and I just can't get it out of my head. It's just comedy gold. It shouldn't work but it does.
posted by slimepuppy at 6:01 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by slimepuppy at 6:01 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Ohoho. I''ve just constructed an ad hoc theory about why, despite the strip now being modernly webcomicky, Nancy and Sluggy are still drawn simply (and admit it, that pictorial thought bubble gag is downright Bushmillerian).
According to my theory, the children are drawn in the classic Nancy style because their lives are simpler and they tend to see things in simpler ways. Adults are drawn in a style more befitting a webcomic because their lives are more complicated. But what children do see, they see as they really are, while adults are blinded by their preconceptions. The artist may be using the simplicity and conciseness of Nancy's classic visual style as a metaphor for this by contrasting it with a more modern style.
posted by BiggerJ at 6:20 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
According to my theory, the children are drawn in the classic Nancy style because their lives are simpler and they tend to see things in simpler ways. Adults are drawn in a style more befitting a webcomic because their lives are more complicated. But what children do see, they see as they really are, while adults are blinded by their preconceptions. The artist may be using the simplicity and conciseness of Nancy's classic visual style as a metaphor for this by contrasting it with a more modern style.
posted by BiggerJ at 6:20 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Actually, you know what? Unlike with Gilchrist's tenure, you might even be able to get away with using at least some of her panels in a Five Card Nancy deck, given that she gets Bushmiller's style and philosophy more than Gilchrist ever did.
posted by BiggerJ at 6:28 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by BiggerJ at 6:28 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
God, what of it turns out to be Scott Adams?
* it will probably not turn out to be Scott Adams.
When I first read this comment, I thought, Oh, God, what if. But then I thought about his output.
I will posit that there was a time, early on, when Scott Adams might have been capable of this. He's too far up his own ass now. This strip is funny and doesn't appear to have a Point That Only The Enlightened Will Understand.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:30 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
* it will probably not turn out to be Scott Adams.
When I first read this comment, I thought, Oh, God, what if. But then I thought about his output.
I will posit that there was a time, early on, when Scott Adams might have been capable of this. He's too far up his own ass now. This strip is funny and doesn't appear to have a Point That Only The Enlightened Will Understand.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:30 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was theorizing that it's Alex Norris of Dorris McComics and Webcomic Name fame, but apparently not.
posted by SansPoint at 6:50 AM on April 19, 2018
posted by SansPoint at 6:50 AM on April 19, 2018
The comments are delightful. The tears, they are delicious.
The strip is mostly much better. No anatomically-distracting adult women yet, so that's a huge plus, but the humor and tone, while not perfect, are already a big step up, IMO. The Sunday strips seem like a step backward already.
posted by pwinn at 7:29 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
The strip is mostly much better. No anatomically-distracting adult women yet, so that's a huge plus, but the humor and tone, while not perfect, are already a big step up, IMO. The Sunday strips seem like a step backward already.
posted by pwinn at 7:29 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh holy fuck if it’s Scott Adams I am going to tear my power cord out of the wall and go on a rampage
posted by holborne at 7:32 AM on April 19, 2018
posted by holborne at 7:32 AM on April 19, 2018
God, what of it turns out to be Scott Adams?
* it will probably not turn out to be Scott Adams.
posted by Artw
I haven't sat down and done a close formal analysis, but my second reaction (after "holy shit, these are SO MUCH BETTER!") was that the lettering looked distressingly like Adams'. I don't think it actually is, but the thought did exist in my head for a second.
Also, for people saying, "let Nancy die!" I feel you, but this *is* a good chance to look at the depressing realities of the comics world. Bushmiller never owned Nancy; the syndicate did, and he was always just an employee. So when he died, the syndicate shrugged and found a replacement. And again. And again. Nancy's an IP they're going to keep exploiting, in the words of Troy McClure, as long as it remains profitable.
So the syndicate's not going to let the strip die while there's still money they can wring out of it. On the cartoonist's side, whoeves Jaimes actually is, if she came out of webcomics this would represent that rarest of things in comics, a steady paycheck with something resembling a safety net and some stability. It's easy to sniff about how it's better to do your own shit than to be an employee of a cartooning syndicate (and I've done some of that sniffing myself, in other cases), but if Olivia Jaimes is getting a steady paycheck while doing really, really good work here, I say more power to her.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 7:34 AM on April 19, 2018 [14 favorites]
* it will probably not turn out to be Scott Adams.
posted by Artw
I haven't sat down and done a close formal analysis, but my second reaction (after "holy shit, these are SO MUCH BETTER!") was that the lettering looked distressingly like Adams'. I don't think it actually is, but the thought did exist in my head for a second.
Also, for people saying, "let Nancy die!" I feel you, but this *is* a good chance to look at the depressing realities of the comics world. Bushmiller never owned Nancy; the syndicate did, and he was always just an employee. So when he died, the syndicate shrugged and found a replacement. And again. And again. Nancy's an IP they're going to keep exploiting, in the words of Troy McClure, as long as it remains profitable.
So the syndicate's not going to let the strip die while there's still money they can wring out of it. On the cartoonist's side, whoeves Jaimes actually is, if she came out of webcomics this would represent that rarest of things in comics, a steady paycheck with something resembling a safety net and some stability. It's easy to sniff about how it's better to do your own shit than to be an employee of a cartooning syndicate (and I've done some of that sniffing myself, in other cases), but if Olivia Jaimes is getting a steady paycheck while doing really, really good work here, I say more power to her.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 7:34 AM on April 19, 2018 [14 favorites]
Also, if Olivia's work drives renewed interest in the strip, that's probably going to lead to more sales of older collections, which of course the syndicate's going to be happy about.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:40 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:40 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also, for people saying, "let Nancy die!" I feel you, but this *is* a good chance to look at the depressing realities of the comics world.
I'm a comics fan and the husband of a journalist, so the glacial pace of change on the comics page is kind of a hobby horse hold-forth topic of mine. It's a frustrating and damn near intractable problem. Your average age of daily subscriber to a paper is fairly advanced, and everyone, I don't care what their age is, likes their comfort food. So half the comics page is stuff that hasn't been culturally relevant for decades.
If the paper messes with the comics page too much, or makes an error in a puzzle, they get more angry calls than if they are guilty of major journalistic lapses of judgment. I've seen two different newspapers do reader polling to see if they should shake things up on the comics page. Both of them began their report with the phrase "We don't know what we were thinking, but..."
I agree that it's best to let the old stuff go and new blood and new ideas come in. The Family Circus should be a part of comics history. Car Talk should have gone off the air the moment the Magliozzi brothers retired.
But that's excruciatingly hard for papers to do, and if they push too hard, they lose subscribers while in the midst of a reality where they're struggling with revenue as it is. Doing this kind of thing, reinventing old stuff for a new generation, is kind of a weird half measure, but one that potentially can work and even be artistically interesting. Outside of the papers, Archie comics has had pretty good success modernizing and allowing "what if" stories that breathed new life into those characters and proved they're still relevant. I'm okay with that happening with Nancy too, because it's way more likely to get done than just killing the strip entirely. And, when people get angry, they'll blame the people who own the strip, not the paper. Meantime, you might pick up new fans along the way.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:34 AM on April 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm a comics fan and the husband of a journalist, so the glacial pace of change on the comics page is kind of a hobby horse hold-forth topic of mine. It's a frustrating and damn near intractable problem. Your average age of daily subscriber to a paper is fairly advanced, and everyone, I don't care what their age is, likes their comfort food. So half the comics page is stuff that hasn't been culturally relevant for decades.
If the paper messes with the comics page too much, or makes an error in a puzzle, they get more angry calls than if they are guilty of major journalistic lapses of judgment. I've seen two different newspapers do reader polling to see if they should shake things up on the comics page. Both of them began their report with the phrase "We don't know what we were thinking, but..."
I agree that it's best to let the old stuff go and new blood and new ideas come in. The Family Circus should be a part of comics history. Car Talk should have gone off the air the moment the Magliozzi brothers retired.
But that's excruciatingly hard for papers to do, and if they push too hard, they lose subscribers while in the midst of a reality where they're struggling with revenue as it is. Doing this kind of thing, reinventing old stuff for a new generation, is kind of a weird half measure, but one that potentially can work and even be artistically interesting. Outside of the papers, Archie comics has had pretty good success modernizing and allowing "what if" stories that breathed new life into those characters and proved they're still relevant. I'm okay with that happening with Nancy too, because it's way more likely to get done than just killing the strip entirely. And, when people get angry, they'll blame the people who own the strip, not the paper. Meantime, you might pick up new fans along the way.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:34 AM on April 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Surreal is a great way to describe the Bushmiller-era Nancy strip. I would often just isolate the most absurd (usually with no words) panel as the thing that would make me laugh. The whole strip was otherwise too boring for words - to me.
posted by dbmcd at 8:43 AM on April 19, 2018
posted by dbmcd at 8:43 AM on April 19, 2018
Maybe, with the libertarian-to-reactionary pipeline being what it is, Scott Adams will eventually end up replacing Johnny Hart when he retires, creationism and all.
posted by acb at 9:23 AM on April 19, 2018
posted by acb at 9:23 AM on April 19, 2018
I went back a little bit just out of curiosity, to find a Gilchrist comic complaining on March 31, 2018 about Honey Boo Boo, a show whose last episode aired in 2014. Not that there aren't still similar terrible shows airing, but like--there's no way to possibly describe it as a joke, at this point. It's just a thing people say. This isn't a comic, this is just a picture of a lady saying something one of my older coworkers would say while waiting for the rest of the team to show up for a meeting.
Fun fact: Eight is Enough's last episode aired almost 37 years ago.
posted by Sequence at 10:00 AM on April 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
Fun fact: Eight is Enough's last episode aired almost 37 years ago.
posted by Sequence at 10:00 AM on April 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
This isn't a comic, this is just a picture of a lady saying something one of my older coworkers would say while waiting for the rest of the team to show up for a meeting.
I can't believe he missed the chance for a What's Happening reference in that last panel.
posted by mittens at 10:09 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I can't believe he missed the chance for a What's Happening reference in that last panel.
posted by mittens at 10:09 AM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I can't believe he missed the chance for a What's Happening reference in that last panel.
posted by mittens
Honestly, that whole strip could be relettered to do the "10 years ago we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs" joke in two panels and it would fit perfectly
posted by the phlegmatic king at 10:23 AM on April 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by mittens
Honestly, that whole strip could be relettered to do the "10 years ago we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs" joke in two panels and it would fit perfectly
posted by the phlegmatic king at 10:23 AM on April 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
holborne: "Johnny Hart died some time ago, no?"
April 2007.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:23 AM on April 19, 2018
April 2007.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:23 AM on April 19, 2018
Here, I used MS Paint to evolve that Gilchrist strip into its inevitable final form.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 10:31 AM on April 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by the phlegmatic king at 10:31 AM on April 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Today's fourth wall breaking strip is pretty great.
posted by plastic_animals at 10:41 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by plastic_animals at 10:41 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's ultimately not a question of No Nancy vs New Nancy, because Nancy will never get the opportunity to die. It can only be More Bad Nancy vs New Nancy, and I will gladly take New Nancy.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:43 AM on April 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:43 AM on April 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Today's fourth wall breaking strip is pretty great.
"Anything -- can happen -- in a -- comic strip."
posted by MrJM at 11:11 AM on April 19, 2018 [16 favorites]
"Anything -- can happen -- in a -- comic strip."
posted by MrJM at 11:11 AM on April 19, 2018 [16 favorites]
Honestly, that whole strip could be relettered to do the "10 years ago we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs" joke in two panels and it would fit perfectly
Yours is actually funny. The rewrite should have a final panel that says "I blame the illegals" or something.
I like new Nancy.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:55 PM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yours is actually funny. The rewrite should have a final panel that says "I blame the illegals" or something.
I like new Nancy.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:55 PM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I went back a little bit just out of curiosity, to find a Gilchrist comic complaining on March 31, 2018 about Honey Boo Boo, a show whose last episode aired in 2014.
Not to defend Gilchrist, but he stopped drawing Nancy in February and that was a repeat from 2013.
posted by ckape at 1:47 PM on April 19, 2018
Not to defend Gilchrist, but he stopped drawing Nancy in February and that was a repeat from 2013.
posted by ckape at 1:47 PM on April 19, 2018
I agree that it's best to let the old stuff go and new blood and new ideas come in. The Family Circus should be a part of comics history.
Don't EVEN GET ME STARTED on For Better Or For Worse and the "newruns." And the shittastic plot machinations to (a) ruin Anthony and (b) force him and Elizabeth to get back together no matter what.
But seriously, it seems like only one audience reads the comics usually and I have totally stopped because there's literally nothing ever new. And nothing funny.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:48 PM on April 19, 2018
Don't EVEN GET ME STARTED on For Better Or For Worse and the "newruns." And the shittastic plot machinations to (a) ruin Anthony and (b) force him and Elizabeth to get back together no matter what.
But seriously, it seems like only one audience reads the comics usually and I have totally stopped because there's literally nothing ever new. And nothing funny.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:48 PM on April 19, 2018
Reminder: the greatest paper dolls ever created are real.
(Attention esp. njohnson23)
posted by holborne at 10:01 PM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
(Attention esp. njohnson23)
posted by holborne at 10:01 PM on April 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Don't EVEN GET ME STARTED on For Better Or For Worse and the "newruns."
I am grateful for the tropes link because it introduced me to Death by Newbery Medal and now I can't stop giggling. TRUST ME, THAT DOG IS GOING DOWN.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:46 AM on April 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I am grateful for the tropes link because it introduced me to Death by Newbery Medal and now I can't stop giggling. TRUST ME, THAT DOG IS GOING DOWN.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:46 AM on April 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
NYT story with an advance strip from next month! And it's really funny!
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:06 PM on April 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:06 PM on April 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
I am very excited to see Ms. Jaimes' take on Aunt Fritzi, and for Guy Gilchrist Sunday comics to stop. This is by far the most interested I have ever been in a newspaper comic strip since Calvin and Hobbes ended, and it's for fuckin' Nancy of all things.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:42 PM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:42 PM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
"You hooligans! Be earnest, dang it!"
"Nah"
posted by JHarris at 6:42 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Nah"
posted by JHarris at 6:42 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I threw that last panel in a company Slack channel today when asking for updates and getting lulz back. It appears to be functionally useful as well as hilarious.
Also, it is delightfully weird to think "oh, fuck, I forgot to put NANCY in my RSS feeds"
posted by middleclasstool at 7:05 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, it is delightfully weird to think "oh, fuck, I forgot to put NANCY in my RSS feeds"
posted by middleclasstool at 7:05 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Making the "get off my lawn" guy a beatnik was genius.
posted by plastic_animals at 7:21 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by plastic_animals at 7:21 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, today's was excellent.
Ha! I love it! Reminds me of this old Simpsons bit:
Ha! I love it! Reminds me of this old Simpsons bit:
Bart: Nothing you say can upset us. We're the MTV generation.posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:32 AM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Lisa: We feel neither highs or lows.
Homer: Really? What's it like?
Lisa: Meh.
I wish this Olivia Jaimes would stop shoehorning in newfangled technology. Correction fluid wasn't even invented until decades after Nancy's debut.
posted by ckape at 3:02 PM on May 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by ckape at 3:02 PM on May 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
What's with new teachers buttons? Every day she has three buttons then BOOM, on the 11th she has five! Then back to three again from the 12th onwards. No explanation, nothing, just a different number of buttons on one day. Don't think I won't be keeping an eye on this.
posted by unliteral at 10:12 PM on May 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by unliteral at 10:12 PM on May 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by duffell at 5:02 PM on April 18, 2018 [4 favorites]