Comic strips hold a special kind of power. Whether in the Sunday newspaper or in a graphic online, they can make us laugh or stir up emotions in the span of just a few panels and speech bubbles.
I know I, personally, wouldn’t have fallen down the rabbit hole of comics as a medium if not for reading those Sunday strips as a kid. In recent years, the modern run of Nancy has kept that spirit alive for me, delivering gloriously relatable non sequiturs week after week. And in 2026, the strip will officially be entering a new era.
This week, it was announced that award-winning cartoonist Caroline Cash will be taking over the helm of Nancy beginning on January 1, 2026. This is the first major creative change to the strip, which chronicles the everyday adventures of Nancy, her best friend Sluggo, and her older cousin Fritzi, in almost a decade. In 2018, the cartoonist under the pseudonym of Olivia Jaimes first gave Nancy a modern update, helping the title reach a new generation of fans in the process.
Cash is best known for her Eisner-winning work on the anthology series PeePee PooPoo, as well as cover work on Adventure Time and Godzilla vs. Chicago. She previously served as one of Nancy‘s guest artists during Jaimes’ sabbatical from the strip in 2024, with her work running from July 22th through August 11th of that year.
“As a lifelong Nancy fan, I’m honored to be given the opportunity to draw my favorite comic strip,” Cash said in a statement. “This is a real dream come true, and I look forward to sharing what I’ve been working on with everyone.”
New era, same Nancy
If you’ve read this far and are completely unfamiliar with Nancy, all you need to know is that the strip is… wonderfully weird. Originally created by Ernie Bushmiller in 1938 as a spinoff of Fritzi Ritz, its aesthetic and zany approach to humor were revolutionary at the time. (I highly recommend reading Bill Griffith’s 2023 biography about Bushmiller, Three Rocks, if you want to know more about that story.) It is cited as an inspiration for Peanuts, The Far Side, and the comedic timing of sitcoms… and as you start reading more of the comic, you can easily see why.
Classic Nancy strips have changed the way I look at hot dogs, beatnik culture, and breaking the fourth wall. The strip where Nancy compares herself to John Dillinger and Al Capone practically lives rent-free in my head. There are so many individual panels that basically functioned as memes, before memes were even a glimmer of a concept.
Jaimes’ run on Nancy beautifully carried that spirit into the Internet age, playing with format and a growing supporting cast of characters along the way. The adventures of Nancy and Sluggo also reflected the times, whether addressing Twitter bots, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the struggle of finding the right reaction image. And of course, there was the 2018 panel-turned-meme “Sluggo is Lit”, taking Nancy’s modernization to the point of her brandishing a cell phone, a selfie stick, AirPods, and riding a hoverboard.
In recent months, Nancy readers have noticed that archival strips have replaced new work from Jaimes, which led some to wonder if a new cartoonist would join the book sooner than later. Those reprints, as well as a farewell strip from Jaimes, will continue to run on the title until Cash takes over in the new year.
“Caroline is a brilliant cartoonist, and I’m thrilled to follow her take on this character we both love so much,” Jaimes echoed. “I’m stepping down with a heart full of gratitude for my readers and warmth for anyone who discovered Ernie Bushmiller’s work through the new Nancy. It’s been an honor, but it’s time to move on to the next season of my life. Like rebooting Mafalda. Or maybe Little Lulu.”
(featured image: Andrews McMeel Publishing)
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