Written by Paul Karasik, Mark Newgarden
Published by Fantagraphics Books
I wish the current Nancy artist would familiarize herself with this book.
Nancy has long been a controversial newspaper strip, mainly because it isn’t at all controversial. Many readers never found it funny at all while others appreciate its squeaky-clean art or its surreal gags.
There’s been very little common ground over the years. In an amazing joke that also works as a massively educational treatise, authors Mark Newgarden and my Facebook friend (in the interest of full disclosure) Paul Karasik essentially take one random three-panel Nancy strip and analyze it to the Nth (for Nancy) degree for nearly 300 pages!
It could have gone horribly wrong but instead it leaves the reader with a greater appreciation of all aspects of the comic strip art form and its place in the overall concept of art.
Oh, and a much greater appreciation for Nancy creator Ernie Bushmiller, too!
Again, somebody please send a copy to Olivia Jaimes, who seems to have largely missed the point of what makes Nancy unique.
Booksteve recommends highly!
