# Nancy (comic strip)
**Nancy** is an American comic strip about a mischievous eight-year-old girl with a red hair bow, her aunt Fritzi, and her best friend Sluggo, running in newspapers under Andrews McMeel Syndication since 1922, first under the title *Fritzi Ritz* and, from 1938, under its present name.[1](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/) Aside from a brief pause in the early 1930s, the strip has run in print since 1922 and appears daily on GoComics.com.[1](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Started in 1922 by Larry Whittington for United Feature Syndicate as *Fritzi Ritz*; Ernie Bushmiller took over in 1925[1](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/) |
| Title change | Nancy, Fritzi's niece, first appeared in 1933; by 1938 her popularity made her the strip's focus and the title changed to *Nancy*[1](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/) |
| Bushmiller era | May 1925 to August 1982, initially still titled *Fritzi Ritz*; client list grew to nearly 900 papers[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/) |
| Reach | More than 100 newspapers and a daily appearance on GoComics.com[3](https://www.saic.edu/magazine/spring26/caroline-cash) |
| Jaimes effect | Daily page views on GoComics rose from about 5,000 before the handover to 133,000, then 390,000, within days in April 2018[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/) |
| Longevity | One of a handful of strips whose origins go back over a hundred years, alongside *Gasoline Alley*, *Ripley's Believe It or Not*, *Barney Google and Snuffy Smith*, and *Popeye*[4](https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2025/12/24/a-nancy-update/) |
## Origins as Fritzi Ritz
The strip began under the name *Fritzi Ritz*, drawn and written by Larry Whittington for United Feature Syndicate; it followed a young, affluent actress.[1](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/) • [5](https://www.si.edu/object/camera-ready-comic-art-drawing-nancy%3Anmah_797257) [Whittington](https://www.edgepedia.org/whittington) left in 1925 and asked [Ernie Bushmiller](https://www.edgepedia.org/ernie-bushmiller), who had started out as a copyboy for the *New York World*, to take over. Bushmiller introduced Fritzi's niece, Nancy, whose popularity grew until, by 1938, the strip was retitled *Nancy* and the focus shifted to the girl and her friend Sluggo.[5](https://www.si.edu/object/camera-ready-comic-art-drawing-nancy%3Anmah_797257) Brian Walker, a comics historian who compiled *The Best of Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy*, described the 1938 rename as "a mere formality," because the girl had already emerged as the comic's central character.[6](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvbj7g79)
Over time the cast expanded around the two children: Sluggo's irritable neighbor Mr. McOnion, and Oona Goosepimple, a girl who lived in a haunted house.[5](https://www.si.edu/object/camera-ready-comic-art-drawing-nancy%3Anmah_797257) Bushmiller also worked on a spin-off cartoon called *Phil Fumble*, about Fritzi's boyfriend.[5](https://www.si.edu/object/camera-ready-comic-art-drawing-nancy%3Anmah_797257)
## The Bushmiller style
Bushmiller drew the strip from 1925 until his death in 1982 (he lived from 1905 to 1982), and his version became the reference point for everything after.[5](https://www.si.edu/object/camera-ready-comic-art-drawing-nancy%3Anmah_797257) His approach relied on concise drawing and simple four-panel gags, which established *Nancy* as one of the most popular comics of its era.[3](https://www.saic.edu/magazine/spring26/caroline-cash) The Washington Post has called the strip a "masterpiece of formal minimalism," a bare-bones visual enterprise that could have been set nearly any time in the twentieth century.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/) A cult following formed among top comics professionals, and the strip's cultural footprint shows in small ways: the artist [Andy Warhol](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-warhol) once painted Nancy's portrait, and the entry for "comic strip" in *The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language* shows a Bushmiller *Nancy* panel.[7](https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/nancy-for-all-seasons)
In 2024 the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at [Ohio State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/ohio-state-university) mounted *The Nancy Show: Bushmiller and Beyond*, an exhibition of original art, color Sunday pages, and memorabilia; the show ran from May 22 to November 3, 2024.[8](https://library.osu.edu/news/the-nancy-show-bushmiller-and-beyond-presented-by-the-billy-ireland-cartoon-library-museum) Fantagraphics Books has reprinted Bushmiller's run in book form, including the *Nancy for All Seasons* collection of 1951–1952 strips, and the underground cartoonist Bill Griffith, creator of *Zippy the Pinhead*, published a graphic biography of Bushmiller, *Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy* (Abrams ComicArts, 2023).[9](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20230710/92717-weird-at-the-con-pw-talks-with-bill-griffith.html)
## After Bushmiller
By the time of the 2018 handover, the strip's client list had fallen to about 75 newspapers from its Bushmiller-era high of nearly 900.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/)
**The Jaimes revival.** On April 9, 2018, the pseudonymous cartoonist Olivia Jaimes, the first woman to create the strip since its debut, took over and updated it with bots, apps, video games, and social-media jokes while keeping Bushmiller's clean compositions.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/) The relaunch divided readers sharply and drew heavy online attention: daily GoComics page views, about 5,000 before the change, reached 133,000 one Wednesday and 390,000 the next day.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/) Jaimes's run lasted seven years, until her retirement announced in September 2025; her last daily strip appeared December 31, 2025.[10](https://stage.syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/news/caroline-cash-takes-over-nancy/)
## Caroline Cash's tenure
On September 15, 2025, Andrews McMeel Syndication announced [Caroline Cash](https://www.edgepedia.org/caroline-cash), an Ignatz and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist, as the next *Nancy* artist, with Bushmiller-era *Nancy Classics* reprints running until her strips debuted on January 1, 2026.[10](https://stage.syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/news/caroline-cash-takes-over-nancy/) Cash, a graduate of the School of the [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-institute-of-chicago) (BFA 2019) and a [MacDowell](https://www.edgepedia.org/macdowell) fellow, is known for her autobiographical series *PeePeePooPoo* and has published work with Silver Sprocket, *The New Yorker*, and others; she had gotten a *Nancy* tattoo in 2018, years before being hired to draw the strip.[3](https://www.saic.edu/magazine/spring26/caroline-cash) She calls *Nancy* one of the best newspaper comic strips of all time and her favorite.[3](https://www.saic.edu/magazine/spring26/caroline-cash)
## Characters
The syndicate's cast page describes three principals. **Nancy** is a girl with strong opinions who wants to be a famous artist, loves video games and ice cream, and keeps finding ways to make her laziness work for her. **Aunt Fritzi** is Nancy's caretaker, a responsible adult staying ahead of her niece's schemes. **Sluggo** is Nancy's best friend, a thoughtful companion who tries to be supportive and is often tricked by Nancy.[1](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/)
## References
1. [Nancy, Andrews McMeel Syndication feature page](https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/nancy/)
2. [Michael Cavna (2018). How the new 'Nancy' creator is handling divided fans and sudden fame. The Washington Post.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/04/23/how-the-new-nancy-creator-is-handling-divided-fans-and-sudden-fame/)
3. [Caroline Cash is the Hottest Thing in Comics, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Magazine (Spring 2026)](https://www.saic.edu/magazine/spring26/caroline-cash)
4. [A Nancy Update, The Daily Cartoonist (December 24, 2025)](https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2025/12/24/a-nancy-update/)
5. [Camera-ready comic art drawing for Nancy, Smithsonian National Museum of American History](https://www.si.edu/object/camera-ready-comic-art-drawing-nancy%3Anmah_797257)
6. [Funny Girls: Guffaws, Guts, and Gender in Classic American Comics, JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvbj7g79)
7. [Nancy For All Seasons, Fantagraphics](https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/nancy-for-all-seasons)
8. [The Nancy Show: Bushmiller and Beyond, The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Ohio State University Libraries](https://library.osu.edu/news/the-nancy-show-bushmiller-and-beyond-presented-by-the-billy-ireland-cartoon-library-museum)
9. [What We Talk About When We Talk About 'Nancy': PW Talks with Bill Griffith, Publishers Weekly (2023)](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20230710/92717-weird-at-the-con-pw-talks-with-bill-griffith.html)
10. [Caroline Cash takes over Nancy, Andrews McMeel Syndication (September 15, 2025)](https://stage.syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/news/caroline-cash-takes-over-nancy/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Illustration and illustrators › Comic books and characters › Comic book series and storylines*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license