Tag / Nancy

by zbicyclist

Fourth Wall Fun

By one definition, “4th wall comic refers to a comic book where characters become aware of their own fictional existence and address the audience directly. This concept, known as the Fourth Wall, separates the characters from the readers, allowing them to comment on the narrative and its limitations.” By that definition, not all of these fit. In some of these, it’s that the cartoonist lets us acknowledge the cartoonist’s existence, while the characters remain unaware. Is there a separate term that should be used for that?

by zbicyclist

A Novelty

Jack Applin sends this in: “Why would Nancy find a get-well card in a novelty store? I would expect a novelty store to contain joy buzzers, exploding cigarettes, and the like. Has the meaning of “novelty” changed since the time of King Arthur, when this strip was first published?”

It’s not a CIDU, since the intended joke is clear. But I remember dime stores, 5 and 10 cent stores (vaguely), variety stores, but I’m not sure I ever saw a Novelty Store.

by zbicyclist

Typo

Mitch4 send this in: “Momentary CIDU / then OY after you get it.”

I’ll order the Bombe from Acme bakeries.

In other news, Olivia Jaimes has announced her retirement from the Nancy strip after 7 years. (This doesn’t surprise me; in the past months she seemed to have hit a stretch where she was running out of ideas.)

The strip will be taken over on January 1, 2026 by Caroline Cash, who did a few Nancy strips during Jaimes’s 2024 sabbatical (July 22 through August 11, 2024).

This one’s a clear nod to classic Bushmiller gags, one of which I posted a few days ago.

More here and here.

Dan Piraro had this curious take on Nancy a couple of days ago, although it’s not clear this was at all related to the authorship transition.

by zbicyclist

Labor Day: Do Cartoonists Work?

Some examples of cartoonists taking it easy on Labor Day. That’s not accurate, of course, because these comics would have been drawn some days ago.

Nancy steals from the future.

Arlo and Janis hearken back to an older Nancy comic:

Tank McNamara could just put new dialogue into the radio show form he often uses.

Gasoline Alley often just closes down.