Artwork Spiegelman, luminary cartoonist and writer of Maus (1986), as soon as wrote that Peanuts “had the simplicity and depth cost of a haiku.” If the haiku had been written by Groucho Marx, the identical might be mentioned about Nancy, the Ernie Bushmiller caricature that ran from 1938 to 1982 in papers throughout the US. It stays, for me, probably the most constantly rewarding and creative gag comedian within the historical past of American newspaper funnies. Its rhythms and jokes epitomize the artwork of the brief strip, and its economic system of line and speech needs to be absorbed, studied, and revisited repeatedly by all cartoonists.
Bushmiller and his Nancy have not too long ago been the topic of a biography by Invoice Griffith, an exegesis of a three-panel strip by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden, a reboot by Olivia Jaimes, and a pageant on the Billy Eire Cartoon Library and Museum earlier this yr. Earlier than this renaissance, the strip impressed a card sport designed by Scott McCloud; numerous toys, tchotchkes, and ephemera; quite a few works by artist Joe Brainard; and a portray by Andy Warhol.
Lengthy dwell Nancy! However the place is Nancy?
Regardless of all of the deserved adulation, it may be tough to get a guide stuffed with the strips in your palms. Used copies of Nancy books are too costly. In Los Angeles, the place I dwell, the huge public library system retains their collections stashed completely within the central department, accessible for reference solely.
However this yr, alongside got here Nancy & Sluggo’s Information to Life, a group divided into sections of comics about cash, meals, and sleep, with an introduction by cartoonist Denis Kitchen. In these pages, Nancy, alongside her sometimes-boyfriend Sluggo, takes her revenge on a poor restaurant expertise by hilariously amending their signage, places herself to sleep by dreaming of her college exploding, and laments how a lot Russian dressing she placed on her midnight snack.
I proceed to hope for volumes of Nancy which can be organized chronologically, not thematically. Studying 20 pages of food-themed jokes in a row can get a little bit tiring. However that does nothing to dampen my appreciation of Bushmiller’s visible language made accessible on this new assortment, and his mastery of the wordless closing panel. The most effective Nancy strips, those with the best depth cost, are ones during which the ultimate joke just isn’t a spoken punchline however moderately a wordless, stunning picture.
Wait, a child who places Russian dressing on her snacks? Sure: One of many nice issues about Nancy is what a lovable weirdo Bushmiller has taken as his topic. She wears her hair ribbon when she sleeps. Quite a few gags about her consuming jam indicate that she primarily shoves her face into the jar for a candy snack. Nancy’s radical idiosyncrasy contrasts with Bushmiller’s readability of favor, and the juxtaposition pays off remarkably nicely, again and again. The title Nancy & Sluggo’s Information to Life is, on its face, playful hyperbole. However as a cartoonist and lover of comics, the teachings I take from Bushmiller’s pristine panels, comedian timing, and unabashed strangeness are indispensable. I can’t consider a extra rewarding guide of instruction than this one.
Nancy and Sluggo’s Information to Life: Comics about Cash, Meals, and Different Necessities (2024) by Ernie Bushmiller is printed by New York Evaluate Comics and is offered on-line and thru impartial booksellers.