But Aunt Fritzi is hotter. 
Haven’t read every single post preceding, but …
The strip was considered silly and “for kiddies only” in the 1960s/1970s but Nancy herself over the years became more iconic than most other cartoon characters and inspired, among other things, fancy-schmancy-nancy Manhattan art gallery exhibits of variations on the theme of “Nancy” (although Art Spiegelman had mined this territory decades earlier).
Fantagraphics has now put out 3 chronological volumes of the strip in trade paperback, and I am getting an immense kick out of the strip.
There were a couple of Columbia animated cartoons starring Nancy, and they are (deservedly, IMO) all but forgotten.
I could never resist wearing a tie like that to any event. But then I am a very good example of Groucho’s “I could never belong to a club that would have me as a member”.
A source that’s far from complete but a good start:
Welp, I guessed wrong. I was thinking it was Little Dot. Once I read it was Nancy I was like all facedesk and I’m not even sitting at a desk.
Thanks. I can appreciate the points in these articles, and now that I see the full comic–realizing that I’ve read it a few times somewhere, somehow–I remember that those points weren’t lost on me then. I would point out, though, that the “problem-solving” sight gag itself was not particularly unique to “Nancy”: It’s one of the defining characteristics of the ever popular Merrie Melodies animated cartoons (and I daresay they might have influenced Bushmiller). He did, however, clearly have a talent for distilling it into three frames. I just always thought that that particular minimalist aesthetic was typical of “old” comics, but I can see now it really wasn’t that typical.
Wait, wait, I just noticed a similarity to another cartoonist!
Nancy’s aunt is named Fritzi. Did Beto name his Fritz character after Fritzi Ritz? I always wondered why she had such a mannish name.
If you don’t know who Beto is, you obviously can’t answer this question.
She is indeed, but without her, that particular comic is funny!
Two thoughts about those comics…
Aunt Fritzi better give me a spanking, too!
I admire the ethnic sensitivity of the strip at the bottom of the page- GORDO. I wonder why I’ve never heard of it.
Scrolling over a little- I wonder if Steve Kovacs has still got that 1936 Harley for sale. $195 is a pretty good price.
"Okay. You sit down and read your paper, and you’re enjoying your entire two-page comics spread. Right? And then there’s the Family fucking Circus, bottom right-hand corner, just waiting to suck. And it’s the last thing you read, so it spoils everything you read before it. "
– Todd Gaines, Go (1999)
Nancy was the funniest of those strips by a mile.
Although more hot women appeared in those cartoons then we see today, along with draftsmanship when it comes to backgrounds.
“Puns of the worst kind” they say. That’s right up my alley. Maybe I should think again about becoming a Nancy boy.
What is the web site that re-captioned the Family Circus?
Thanks!
Remember the Nietzsche Family Circus too!
Random Nietzsche quotes paired with random Family Circus cartoons. With surreal results.
Thank you, Sir.
Thanks. But I suspect it’s not the same, what with a different cartoonist doing it and all. I remember Ernie Bushmiller’s work very well. Even if I haven’t thought of Nancy in years and years, it was one of those strips that give me a little smile once it has been repointed out to me.
Growing up, I’d read every strip, no matter what. Even Mary Worth and Rex Morgan. And I always made a little note of the cartoonists’ names, that was just part of the reading.
GoComics.com has Nancy.