Nancy by Olivia Jaimes for April 17, 2018

“I robot”. Kill to humans.( “I robot” a novel by Issac Asimov)

And we have a winner today.

1. Good colors not interfering with the joke.

2. Simple but clear line art.

3. Text shows thoughtful non automatic computerized spacing—and with multiple font sizes.

I like this one! This is, IMHO, a strip that Ernie would’ve done if he were around today. Olivia must be channeling her inner Bushmiller. :-)

Jaimes is once again on point. She has certainly hit the ground running.

Don’t like negativity? Don’t read the comments, then, Nancy… ;-D

I don’t see this as being anything close to what Bushmiller – or Gilchrist – would have written, or anything close to funny. I think the new artist/writer is terrible at both. And Nancy and Sluggo continue to have the yellowish green skin that makes them appear to have a severe case of jaundice. The syndicate made a bad choice for the new artist/writer and will have to rectify that soon or this comic strip will go down the tubes.

Good strip today!

oh look-there are two birds in the sky in panel 2-and shadows under the kid’s feet-Olivia is discovering backgrounds and gravity-can a sense of humor be far behind???

Nancy is channeling her inner bot. She’s keeping her eyes closed in panels 1 and 2.

Okay, yesterday’s strip was a fluke – this is a good one.

Yeah. It does seem to be getting better, more Bushmiller or Gilchrist style. I guess Olivia has been paying attention to our comments.

Nice strip today.

It is good to see that yesterday was an aberration. Just for the record, I have never seen snap-chat. I have no idea what a snap-chat filter might be. If yesterday’s art was an attempt to parody such a filter, then I didn’t get the joke simply because I have no familiarity with the subject matter.

It’s…getting better, with a fair gag in this one. The art style is still jarring, but at least there’s actual background and a better use of framing.

I just can not get into the new Nancy..just not what I enjoy reading with my breakfast. Bye, I will unfollow this comic

So I guess this is it: every day, a self-conscious trendy reference (to make sure everybody knows that Nancy is modern, of course), combined with substandard art, and a joke that isn’t a joke.

You know, it always bothers me with legacy strips. There are so many fine artists who would love a steady gig. Why can’t the syndicate hire one who can at least draw?

Best one yet, Olivia. Never mind the bollocks.

bots bots everywhere is Westworld right around the corner or the Stepford Wives?? LOOK OUT, Nancy!

This is very “Bushmiller;” the classic Ernie attitude utilizing today’s technology.

Well, this is the end of the line for me! Nancy and Sluggo (haven’t seen how she is going to draw Aunt Fritz) look like Zombies and the comic strip isn’t even funny or make sense anymore. I can’t believe they are actually paying Olivia for this crap!!!

Another good one!

Oh man… this last week has been amazing. Regardless of what you think of the new Nancy by Olivia Jaimes, no one can deny the epic drama going on in the comment section below. Watching from the sidelines, one would have thought either Gilchrist or Jaimes personally insulted or keyed some of your cars.

Everyone does know these are comics, right? They’re supposed to lighten your day, make you think, or make you smile. Why do people come here daily to torture themselves if they don’t like the new Nancy? And why all the endless sniping about Jaimes’ sense of humor? As was pointed out, Guy’s humor was different from Bushmiller’s, which is different from Jaimes’, which was different from Scott’s, etc. Is it really that bad? I mean… come on… all comic gags are a bit sophomoric. I am amazed at how one can burst out laughing at either Guy’s or Olivia’s punchlines, but the other’s is worse than a technical manual. Some of you just need to lighten up.

Even worse are the art critics among us who have pronounced one artist better than the other. As any visit to a modern art museum will prove, there are no objective standards to art. Different art brings joy to different people in different ways. It is entirely possible, without someone being wrong, that Guy’s art pleased some while Jaimes art pleases others. It is only one’s opinion that one is better or worse than the other, whether or not one requires greater skill to draw, or one is technically superior to the other. Is easily arguable that architectural blueprints take greater skill to do than a comic strip, but which one brings you a smile, or joy? No need to answer… it’s a rhetorical question. Everyone take a deep breath.

I know it’s really important to announce daily how much you dislike the way Nancy is drawn, or how much you hate country bands and patriotic tears. It’s also really important and awesome. I have to admit, I do enjoy laughing at the silly sniping.

I still want to know: is Olivia “Jaimes” really Olivia Walch of gocomics.com’s Imogene Quest? I see a lot of commonality, even in the small sample we have. http://www.gocomics.com/imogen-quest/2018/03/28?ct=v&cti=697705

I actually think these comics are pretty good, but they really don’t work with Nancy. I think Olivia Jaimes should drop this and make her own unique comic with original characters.

Why was “own” autocorrected to the Le Lenny face?

Until someone draws Nancy’s head with a compass and her legs with a ruler, there will be no real Bushmiller.

I like where this is and where it’s going. Kudos to Olivia!

The colors in this iteration are awful. Jaimes needs to give Nancy all the points in her hair. When are we going to see Fritzi?

I just saw someone link to this comic, and then I read the last week of strips, and now I’m adding this to my daily follows! Love the new art/joke style—the jokes seem to come half a beat quicker than you expect, and the more subdued palate of the art enhances the deadpan humor. It reminds me of Cul de Sac, which was one of my all-time favorite newspaper strips.

This one’s pretty good. Keep it up, the new style is slowly growing on me.

Excellent strip today, go Miss Olivia!

When you get used to a certain style in a comic strip (which can span years in a short time nowadays), new artwork and humor takes awhile to get used to. But my first impression with the “new” Nancy is not positive. The facial colors just aren’t right. If there’s an obvious reason for that change, I can’t see it. And talking about the Internet or modern stuff? Too radical, too fast. Radical style change in he comics may be necessary but it’s hard to take. Verdict: let’s see if I change my mind over the next thirty days.

Man the new Nancy is the best. Don’t listen to all the grumps on here, they can go read Funky Winkerbean or something equally filled his existential despair. Loving this.

A very funny comic. I look forward to more of the artist’s work.

Change is tough. Olivia had big shoes to fill when she took over for Guy. I’m getting used to the new style, but things look OK at this point. Though the comic is different now, I’m eager to see how it progresses. Keep doing your thing, Olivia.

I hadn’t read the new version of Nancy in at least a year, sticking to Nancy Classic. Gilchrist is an excellent cartoonist but I never felt like he captured the essence of Nancy. I thought I’d give the new Nancy another try today. Am I glad I did! Fifty years ago Nancy was up on current trends…so is this Nancy. I think her personality fits how Nancy thinks. The way Nancy and Sluggo look together captures how Bushmiller drew them. I believe Jaimes is doing a great job (but I wish the skin tones were more like Classic Nancy; they really do look jaundiced).

I am a lieutenant of the dreaded Millennial Army. I look up from where I’m busy murdering the napkin industry to check my smartphone. I scroll through my Twitter feed and narrow my eyes. A syndicated newspaper comic that didn’t originate online? Nancy? What the hell is this doing on my feed?

I peruse the strip. It at first seems like a parody—there’s no possible way Nancy, of all things, could be so in tune with the times. But as I click (excuse me, tap) the link, I see that it’s…official. What on earth is this new reality? A syndicated newspaper comic strip that actually resonates with something deep in my blackened, born-in-1989 heart?

You win this round, syndicated comics. I won’t come for your industry…yet.

(In all seriousness, this is excellent and I’m really proud of Olivia Jaimes. I’ll be excited to see what you come up with next!)

I think it’s possible to like all the versions of Nancy without denigrating any of them. And I think this is an excellent Nancy that is right on the money for today’s comics sensibilities. Further, as someone who has been known to harbor an affection for the comic strips of yore, I daresay that if one does not care for this version of Nancy that there are a number of excellent books currently out that not only do a beautiful job of collecting Bushmiller’s Nancy, but also of celebrating Bushmiller’s craftsmanship (I’m looking at you “How To Read Nancy”!) Plus, there’s a Sluggo robot in today’s strip. I’m in.

this is SO funny, and it’s funny in a way that’s in line with a lot of internet humor. not just the “bot” joke, but something about the pacing, the final image, nancy’s expression—this is peak modern, gen z humor. this is how we get the teens reading the newspaper again. it starts with olivia.

I signed into this website for the first time just to say this comic strip is amazing.

This is my second favorite of all the new ones! ’She’s really going to town on that cornbread’ is the best, though.

I’ve ignored Nancy for years, what an amazing update by a ghost cartoonist. I wonder why she doesn’t let us know who she is?

I love this one. That last panel is classic.

A brilliant example in that it talks about the negativity of the internet, the strip exists on the internet, comments on this internet regarding Nancy is negative, and then we see Nancy’s reaction to Sluggo’s observation, which of course she takes as negative criticism… Very meta, very genius, and interestingly, very golden age.

These are hilarious! I didn’t even know that Nancy got new writers – kudos! Am reading the backlog and am looking forward to reading the new ones!

Aside from the coloring (which is usually done on the dailies by GoComics staffers), I found today’s strip to be “Ernie-esque”.

Every Steward of a classic strip puts their own unique take on it.

Let’s enjoy the ride…

This comic is GREAT!! I don’t care if it is or isn’t like the classic Nancy. Keep it up, you are rescuing this comic from irrelevance.

I’m so glad I followed a link to this. I now have another strip to follow daily! What a great way to make the archaic and outdated characters pop for today’s world!

Signed up just to follow this comic! This new artist’s stuff is SO funny!!! I was never a big fan of Nancy before, but I’ll definitely follow her now :)

Updated? Modern?https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10160268673530501&set=a.123802975500.217153.897570500&type=3

Fascinating. Nancy has never been one of my favorite comics, but all this controversy has me reading it. I could care less if the cartoonist is male, female, or other. It makes no difference as to a comic being funny or not. And in my opinion, the “new” Nancy is not. I like how the strip is drawn similar to the original style, but I suggest Olivia Jaimes hire a gag writer. Such collaborations are very common in the comic strip business.

me too Nancy, me too

These are hilarious!

I signed up for an account just to spite this featured comment. Haha. Love this direction now. Keep up the good work!

Agreed

1 Nancy just said she doesn’t like negativity on the Internet. Yet here you are!2 Olivia saved this comic. It’s now thriving again. My local newspaper dropped it years ago. Now it’s back!3 ALL of the artists who followed Bushmiller until were terrible — except for the very first guy who inherited the strip who died almost as soon as he got the job. It is fair to say that NONE of them ever approximated Bushmiller’s sense of humor and design. But that’s OK. They still offer Classic Nancy here at GoComics. You have DECADES of Bushmiller strips to look at. Whether you love or hate Jaimes (and there are plenty of people who do both), she is by far the best writer-artist to take on the strip since Bushmiller’s death.

I also think this new nancy comic is not as enjoyable to read as the previous Nancy comics. I quit reading the new author’s version a couple of months ago. I tried to like the new version but it just didn’t happen. Every day I read 3 to 4 random Nancy’s and this particular comic was one of today’s random choice so I thought that I would express my opinion.