I hadn’t read the new version of Nancy in at least a year, sticking to Nancy Classic. Gilchrist is an excellent cartoonist but I never felt like he captured the essence of Nancy. I thought I’d give the new Nancy another try today. Am I glad I did! Fifty years ago Nancy was up on current trends…so is this Nancy. I think her personality fits how Nancy thinks. The way Nancy and Sluggo look together captures how Bushmiller drew them. I believe Jaimes is doing a great job (but I wish the skin tones were more like Classic Nancy; they really do look jaundiced).
Panels 2 and 3 shows one of Bushmiller’s genius talents. He uses the exact same drawing in different panels, but changes something about them somehow so they still give the feeling of the passing of time. Here he just narrowed in the panel, but he frequently changes the horizontal elements. It’s such a delight to see how he accomplishes that in so many of his strips.
Mort Walker didn’t invent them, but he wrote a text explaining and naming them. It is quoted extensively in the fine book, “American Cornball, a Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny” by Christopher Miller.
I hadn’t read the new version of Nancy in at least a year, sticking to Nancy Classic. Gilchrist is an excellent cartoonist but I never felt like he captured the essence of Nancy. I thought I’d give the new Nancy another try today. Am I glad I did! Fifty years ago Nancy was up on current trends…so is this Nancy. I think her personality fits how Nancy thinks. The way Nancy and Sluggo look together captures how Bushmiller drew them. I believe Jaimes is doing a great job (but I wish the skin tones were more like Classic Nancy; they really do look jaundiced).