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Ernest Paul Bushmiller Jr. (August 23, 1905 – August 15, 1982) was an American cartoonist, best known for creating the comic strip character Nancy in 1933, now in print for 90 years. His work is noted for its simple graphic style. In 1976, he received the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society for his work on Nancy.
Once he began to move away from Whittington's depiction of Fritzi, Bushmiller began to model her after his fiance, Abby Bohnet, the daughter of a train conductor. The couple, who married July 9, 1930, had no children. In 1931, they headed for Hollywood, where Bushmiller wrote gags for Harold Lloyd's Movie Crazy, Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers: 1945 - 1980, by Moira Davison Reynolds; published 2003, by McFarland & Company (via Google Books) continuing to draw Fritzi Ritz at the same time. A year later, they returned to the Bronx. Markstein, Don. Toonopedia: Fritzi Ritz
Bushmiller claimed in 1948 that "All my characters are conceived in desperation." He introduced Nancy, Fritzi's niece, to the strip on January 2, 1933. The character proved popular, so she appeared more often. As Aunt Fritzi was seen less frequently, the strip was eventually retitled Nancy in 1938. The popular strip was translated into various languages, including Italian, German, Swedish and Norwegian. Phil Fumble is a Bushmiller strip which ran from 1932 through 1938.
Bushmiller started working each day about 2pm, and he often sat at his drawing table well into the early morning hours of the next day. He usually began a strip with the last panel and then worked back toward the first panel. In 1960 he told a reporter:
The simplicity of his style brought praise from Art Spiegelman and other artists. Tom Smucker, writing in The Village Voice, observed:
As Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden noted in their essay, "How to Read Nancy":
Comics theorist Scott McCloud described the essence of Bushmiller and his creation:
In 1979, Bushmiller was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but he continued to produce the strip with the help of assistants Will Johnson and Al Plastino. He lived in Stamford, Connecticut, where he died in 1982.
The 1973 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary uses a Bushmiller Nancy strip to illustrate its entry for "comic strip".
Commissions
Art-book publisher Harry N. Abrams commissioned twenty newspaper cartoonists, including Bushmiller, to create a museum-quality lithograph. The 1978 publication was limited to a set of 100 signed and numbered sets. The price was $250 per print or $6000 for the full set.
Awards
Bushmiller, one of the founding members of the National Cartoonists Society, received its Humor Comic Strip Award and its Reuben Award in 1976 for his work on Nancy. NCS Awards In 2011, Bushmiller was listed as a Judges' Choice for The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. The 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees . Accessed December 12, 2011.
Legacy
Nancy remains a recognised and popular character, drawn by other artists since Bushmiller's death, most recently by the pseudonymous 'Olivia Jaimes'. Bushmiller's work has been repeatedly addressed by other artists: Andy Warhol made a 1961 painting based on Nancy, and Joe Brainard made numerous works based on Nancy. Many cartoonists have produced work directly inspired by or commenting on Bushmiller's art, including Art Spiegelman, Mark Newgarden, Chris Ware and Zippy cartoonist Bill Griffith, who has also written an essay on Bushmiller. Griffith revealed in the August 19, 2020 Zippy strip that he was writing and drawing a graphic biography of Bushmiller; it was published in August 2023.
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1905 Births, 1982 Deaths, American People Of German Descent, American People Of Northern Ireland Descent, American Comic Strip Cartoonists, American Comics Writers, American Humorists, Artists From The Bronx, Deaths From Parkinson's Disease In Connecticut, Reuben Award Winners, Will Eisner Award Hall Of Fame Inductees
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