# Do you know this comic strip character? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449 "2014-12-16T23:18:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/121 "2014-12-22T20:24:58Z")
[Nancy is a harsh taskmaster.](http://boingboing.net/2014/12/22/my-failed-attempt-to-draw-the.html) A professional cartoonist reflects on trying and failing to fill Bushmiller’s shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/122 "2014-12-23T04:01:13Z")
Well I sure know who Beto is, but I think Bushmiller’s influence is better seen in brother Xaime, especially those “Li’l Ray” and “Roy Cowboy” strips. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/123 "2014-12-23T15:15:37Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Well I sure know who Beto is, but I think Bushmiller’s influence is better seen in brother Xaime, especially those “Li’l Ray” and “Roy Cowboy” strips. Got a link for those strips? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/124 "2014-12-23T15:32:55Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I don’t need to look at the link. Bushmiller created “Nancy”, one of the lamest comic strips ever. I think you meant “one of the most surreal”. It wasn’t always good but it usually good. Frankly speaking, after reading most comics today any comic that’s funny more than 10% of the time should be considered a classic. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/125 "2014-12-24T14:28:24Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Well I sure know who Beto is, but I think Bushmiller’s influence is better seen in brother Xaime, especially those “Li’l Ray” and “Roy Cowboy” strips. Well, your name is **Horatio Hellpop** , so, not to be rude, but you kind of _should_ know. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/126 "2014-12-24T14:35:56Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I recognize her, but I couldn’t put a name to her. I’m 34. +1 but I’m 51. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/127 "2014-12-24T18:50:14Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I think you meant “one of the most surreal”. It wasn’t always good but it usually good. Frankly speaking, after reading most comics today any comic that’s funny more than 10% of the time should be considered a classic. I don’t know. When I look at old comics from the 70s and earlier, they don’t seem to have a higher “success” rate, in my book. But humor is so individualized–there’s no accounting for it. As I hinted at above, I don’t even think the loyal readership of the comics page is necessarily looking for wit and wisdom, but more a kind of assurance that at least something is constant in the world. It’s the intellectual equivalent of comfort food. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/128 "2014-12-26T06:39:32Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I admire the ethnic sensitivity of the strip at the bottom of the page- GORDO. I wonder why I’ve never heard of it. GORDO! If this is the first you’ve heard of that, you’ve been missing something. Wiki article on [Gordo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordo_%28comic_strip%29) and on cartoonist [Gus Arriola](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Arriola). Some other [discussion and samples](http://www.zompist.com/bob36.html) (scroll down half way) and also [here](http://momscancer.blogspot.com/2008/02/gus-arriola-and-language-of-lines.html). Now, who here still remembers [Stan Lynde](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lynde)’s [Rick O’Shay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_O%27Shay)? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/129 "2014-12-28T11:20:25Z")
I recognized her as an old comics character I could never name. As in, even when I actually still looked at newspaper comics, she was never actually in them. But I’d seen some documentary about her being important or something. I’d expect anyone under 25 at this point probably to not be too familiar with newspaper comics in general. The ones they’d know would be the ones that are popular online or had TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/130 "2014-12-29T18:00:34Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I vaguely recognized the character, not by name, just as the “girl with the mustache.” But now that it’s been described, it made me wonder this, as well:There are many comic strips that seem to continue running not because they’re particularly clever or amusing. I think they just collect some kind of sentimental attachment with the readership after so many years, so they don’t _have_ to funny anymore.Okay. I’m willing to be convinced. Can you provide link that will back up this claim? You just have to watch how the Letters to the Editor page gets swamped by outraged, older readers when they announce that they’re discontinuing some old, beloved strip in favor of something new. Fear of lost subscriptions keeps a lot of old comic strips going (and cockblocks a lot of potentially good, new strips). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/131 "2015-01-08T00:46:25Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > You just have to watch how the Letters to the Editor page gets swamped by outraged, older readers when they announce that they’re discontinuing some old, beloved strip in favor of something new. > > Fear of lost subscriptions keeps a lot of old comic strips going (and cockblocks a lot of potentially good, new strips). Tell me about it. A few years ago, the _Bangkok Post_ dropped _Andy Capp_. Scathing letters poured in, so many that the _Post_ relented after only a couple of weeks and reinstated it. The strip is still running here today. However, the suspicion among many is that only a handful of retirees in Pattaya were responsible for the vast majority of the letters. One writer signed his name Bud Weiser, the humor of which may have escaped the non-American letters editor at the newspaper. Speaking of beloved old comic strips, I see [Fred\_Basset](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Basset) is still running. That gives me a warm feeling. Always liked Fred. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/132 "2015-01-08T01:39:58Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Speaking of beloved old comic strips, I see [Fred\_Basset](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Basset) is still running. That gives me a warm feeling. Always liked Fred. The wife, I note, has an Aunt Flo. Andy Capp’s wife is named Flo. Coincidence? You decide. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/133 "2015-01-08T01:51:27Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The wife, I note, has an Aunt Flo. Andy Capp’s wife is named Flo. > Coincidence? You decide. :dubious: Hmm. From what I recall of the strip, the wife seems to have had a little too good upbringing to have Andy and Flo as relations. But you never know. Maybe she just done well. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/134 "2015-01-08T02:02:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Hmm. From what I recall of the strip, the wife seems to have had a little too good upbringing to have Andy and Flo as relations. But you never know. Maybe she just done well. Flo may have associated with the wrong people. I don’t know how to say that in Australian. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449/135 "2015-01-08T14:13:17Z")
But it is probably a generational thing. I wouldn’t expect anyone under 30 to know that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-comic-strip-character/707449.md?page=6)