Nancy by Olivia Jaimes for April 09, 2018

Wow…have we got a new artist???

Ernie Bushmiller style.

Why is Nancy putting salt on a piece of pie in the second panel??

Wow…careful what you wish for with the new artist thing, huh? Come back, Guy! For that matter, come back Jerry Scott!

Well…nice to see how many have chimed in already, at this early hour. Really shows what an enduring fan base there is for the strip.

Who’s the strange woman?

Is this permanent?If it is I may have to drop Nancy

Day 1 of the new Nancy artist replacing Guy Gilchrist.

Well, let’s see where this goes…

Yeah, I’m with Rankin. This is only the first day. Let’s give it a chance. It’s hard to get used to something new sometimes. I’m hoping it’s that shock, rather than how bad it seems to be. And I sure hope that’s not the new Fritzi!

Remember Guy’s first efforts? And it turned out OK.

Don’t like it, looks like a third grader drew it.

I have followed Nancy for several years and t is refreshing to see a return to its original style and humor. Gilchrist took the strip in the wrong direction too far and for too long.

Wait, what? A new artist? Nancy lives?

Much better! Way to go, Olivia!

Wow! What an upgrade. Though to be honest, anything would have been better than the creepy Gilchrist version. I wouldn’t let that guy near my kids.

Looks great, Congrats Olivia Jaimes.

A triumph! A tip of the hat to Bushmiller and a fare thee well please don’t come back to Guy Gilchrist who promoted himself as much as he wrote the comic. I am getting a kick out of all the naysayers who can make ultimate judgments on a comic based on a single release. And for the buffoon who said this doesn’t look like Nancy may I say, “I am delighted that I am not you, for I should not like to be such a buffoon.”

I like it!

Hate the artwork, too simplistic. Story is not in line with Nancy. Hope this is a one time event.

I think that’s Fritzi, but I hope not.

And the joke hardly seems to be a joke at all. Just the two meanings of the word “sweet.”

April Fool’s was last week, guys!

Hm…new creator, huh? Can’t say I care for the art style, but I’ll wait to see what the writing turns out like. Jerry Scott made the strip funny for the first time since I started reading it, and I was really disappointed to see Guy and Brad Gilchrist take over. After a while, though, I grew to appreciate their sweet, gentle approach.

Maybe Nancy will become an actual gag strip again and not just a vehicle for goofy messages and old music nostalgia

I don’t like the “new” one I like the old Nancy!

Having been the new artist on an established strip myself, I experienced the ‘quick to judge and judge harshly’ syndrome. It’s not fun being under attack from know-it-alls. Let the new version run awhile. Editors do not judge based on one single strip, and neither should the readers.

I hate to be the one cartoon and make a judgement, but I vastly prefer this to the old folksy dumbed down version.

Ah, the comments section. Full of experts who’ve never produced a single creative thing in their lives. Let’s give her a chance before we bury her. I like it a lot.

This is permanent? Say it ain’t so.

Much better! Mazel tov, Ms. James!

Way to go, Olivia. Girl power!

As I know nothing about the new artist taking over for Ernie and his heirs, I am Reserving comment until I see her Fritzi Ritz artwork. If Fritzi still looks terrific in a swimsuit and Wonder-woman costume, I’m in Olivia.

I wonder what precipitated this change.

I’ll give Jaime a chance – hard to base anything on one strip, but, boy, it sure doesn’t look promising from the first one. I sure hope that’s not Jaime’s version of Fritzi Ritz… With all the talented people out there, couldn’t they find someone who could draw like Bushmiller and carry on his vision? At least she isn’t Gilchrist – blech…

Yay, Olivia!

Too bad they couldn’t get Ivan Brunetti. His Nancy blows all others out of the water, save Bushmiller himself.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/08/for-the-first-time-in-her-85-years-nancy-will-be-drawn-by-a-woman/?utm_term=.654ecf9c6da8

I like that this looks much more like Bushmiller - who I loved — than Jerry Scot’s.

Given that the new artist needs a certain number of strips (I believe the requirement is 20) on the spike before going to print, I will give Ms Jaimes a couple weeks to hit her stride. But I will say I do not care for her style on her premiere. Lack of perspective, background, and other details make the person in the foreground look like a graffiti sketch, and the constantly increasing number of mysteriously appearing items on Nancy’s table is distracting to say the least.

If this is the best artist Gilchrist could come up with as a replacement ick ick ick – Guy, please keep looking! I’m not an artist but I can draw better than this

Wow! First time I’ve enjoyed a Nancy in a nano-age! Don’t listen to the know-nothings Olivia!

I’ll give it few days, hope it gets better.

There seems to be some confusion regarding the woman in today’s strip. She is clearly NOT Aunt Fritzi and I suspect when Aunt Fritzi does appear she will look striking similar to the original created by EB. I also suspect she will not look anything like the Dog Patch resident appropriated by Gilchrist. This is definitely a turn for the better.

A promising start.

Geez, at the rate this is going , Nancy will probably get more comments than Luann on a good day…

An intriguing approach. I’ll give Ms. Jaimes a chance.

As far as first impressions go, this is a pretty great one. Looking forward to seeing more.

excellent beginnings, Ms. Jaimes

Good riddance to Gropey Guy and his gallons of glurge.

???

I love this! So glad Guy Gilchrist is gone, replaced by someone with a more Bushmiller-esque art style and a very weird sense of humor. I’ve signed up to follow this version, can’t wait for more!

This is a good gag! I think Bushmiller would be very proud! I look forward to more!

I, for one, am really looking forward to this.

Looks a bit like the old Bushmiller-era Nancy, with a touch of the same absurdism. I’ll give it a chance before forming an opinion.

Three Rocks Elementary’s first child nutrition specialist meets her greatest challenge…

Glass House Graphics has over 200 artists on our professional roster, and any one of them could do better than this. :(

First woman writing Nancy in 85 years, and the last panel caught me so off guard I nearly spit my coffee. Immediate follow, I’m psyched! Hello, Olivia!!! More, please!

Well, this is a shock! What happened to the beautiful artwork? Is this a spoof? Why the emphasis on salt & butter? Is this somebody new drawing the series? There is no beautiful background, detail or perspective in today’s strip. Why is Nancy sitting so far back? What is with the odd skin tones and basic line drawing? Who is the adult? If this is somebody new drawing the strip, are we going to get the old Nancy reruns to choose? Not a good first impression if somebody new is doing the strip.

I still miss Mark Lasky’s work, which was almost like Ernie’s himself.

It’s the first strip, so things could change, but this is fantastic. I haven’t laughed this hard at a Nancy strip in YEARS. I’m really looking forward to see what’s coming next!

This is clearly ironic.

Dear Lord, what fresh Hell is This?

Okay, I am in agreement of those who say, “Give it a chance”. Yes, the artwork is different, that is fine, of course it is going to take a little getting used too. That is always the way with change. With the comics shrinking in today’s paper, simplicity is key. I will admit, I did not find today’s comic funny, even a little strange, but hey, it’s the first day. I am hoping that there are better written stories to come. If the stories are better than this, it will trump over any drawing style. I say welcome, Olivia, hoping this works out.

http://mleddy.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/a-new-nancy.html

Could be worse. If you read Funky Winkerbean, then you know.

I’m sorry, since this is the first strip, I would hope it would be the best, or really good at least.

The art is bizarre, with yellow skin tones (which I noted in the samples) the joke is something unintelligible about Nancy being a glutton, and the comments are frequently rude and political. This strip drew 10-15 times the comments the old one did, mostly unknown.

So I think I’ll save the few minutes I used to take to read and comment here, and leave you all to insult me. Have a nice day.

I have seen the whole gamut of comments here: positive, negative, angry, happy, bitter, excited.

But I think I’m the only one to say this: “I don’t get it.”

Maybe I’m dense, but I need an explanation about what is so funny about some off-panel cornbread.

But I will keep following the comic. As many have said, “Give her a chance.”

All I can say is I sure hope that’s not Aunt Fritzi talking.

Lousy artwork.

I hope every future strip is like this one, with Nancy doing something banal off in the distance while some anonymous character talks about her. I’m torn between thinking it should be the same one every day, or never the same one twice.

As of this moment, 52 readers “love” this comic, but new artist aside, I don’t get the joke. It is a CIDU for sure. What am I missing?

Good luck Olivia! Looking forward to seeing where you take these iconic characters!!!!!

Interesting. This comic is NEVER funny. I like the new “humor” direction, at least so far.

Indeed, quite a big day for “Nancy”. I’ll give the new artist a week or so before I make any judgments, but we’re off to an interesting start.

This looks like it could be lots of fun. Welcome.

Starting with a fat joke? Inauspicious.

I’ll give it six weeks before making a judgement.

Meanwhile… this feels like one of the fake comic strips in “Tom the Dancing Bug”.

I’ve had enough, see you at the other end. Bye bye…

Hysterical. The first time this series has genuinely made me grin.

This is pretty funny. The style is minimalist & looks like an homage to the older eras. & everyone upset about a new artist just makes this even more hilarious. The person watching Nancy eat has assumptions about her and Nancy doesn’t follow that archetype exactly, she’s just having fun. Go in on that cornbread Nancy.

This is fantastic! After decades of ignoring it, I can finally start reading this comic again!

I love this. The slowly growing pile of food in front of Nancy cracks me up.

This is very funny, I enjoyed this.

Bring back Nancy and lose her substitute.

I absolutely love the new style

I didn’t get this strip when I first found out about the new Nancy some months ago (knowing very little about the old Nancy), but an idea just struck me after I came back to read more and remembered it. Came here to see who else realized/got confused.

My mistake was assuming the gag was [descriptor that could refer to her demeanor or a flavor] → [just literal flavors] → [offbeat final panel]. But it’s all one metaphor for the imminent shift in character focus. Jaimes is saying here that while Gilchrist showed old readers that Nancy was sweet, she’s bringing out Nancy’s other flavors, and she is going IN on those in particular.

I feel like Jaimes made this first strip intentionally jarring and far away from the norm, even for later Nancy strips she would draw, to really shake up the readership and announce the new era of strips that are actually funny.