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‘Nancy,’ the iconic comic strip, is 85 years old. For the first time, it will be drawn by a woman.

Olivia Jaimes will be the voice of Nancy

By
April 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Michael Cavna.

The popular comic strip, “Nancy,” has been iconic for more than eight decades. But the bushy-haired, red-bowed comic main character has always been rendered by a man.

Finally, that’s changing.

On Monday, Andrews McMeel Syndication announced that the cartoonist Olivia Jaimes has inherited the iconic strip and will provide a “21st-century female perspective,” says John Glynn, Andrews McMeel’s president and editorial director.

History of “Nancy”

• Nancy debuted on the comics page in 1933 in the United Feature strip “Fritzi Ritz,” which was launched in 1922 by creator Larry Whittington.

• After Nancy appeared as Fritzi Ritz’s niece, the girl’s popularity increased until by 1938, the strip’s title was changed to “Nancy.”

Iconic status

“Nancy” is syndicated to about 75 newspaper clients and enjoys a unique fandom with some professional cartoonists, who uphold examples of the strip at midcentury as a pinnacle of formal minimalism.

The strip’s cult artistic status is celebrated in the recent book, "How to Draw Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels,” by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden.

Jaimes brings a love for the vintage Bushmiller work to her “Nancy,” Glynn says, but with a voice that he hopes will resonate today.