The Return of Oona Goosepimple and (maybe) Phil Fumble
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Ten months ago Caroline Cash took on the Nancy comic strip and she has been inspired by creator Ernie Bushmiller. Cash’s has been the most Bushmilleresque Nancy since Bushmiller’s assistants, who recycled old gags, were replaced with new cartoonists. Jerry Scott‘s Nancy was not our Nancy while Guy Gilchrist‘s Nancy certainly looked the part but didn’t play the part. Olivia Jaimes‘ Nancy did neither portraying a different character than those that preceded her.
Caroline Cash has redesigned the character to fit her sensibilities but with a great deal of inspiration from the original. Now she seems to be including the John Stanley comic book Nancy flavor and characters.
With the help of the Stanley created otherworldly Oona Goosepimple* Nancy has a plan to bring back, in one form or another, the Bushmiller created Phil Fumble back into the strip in time for Halloween.
Hoping the story lasts longer than this weekend.
Read the John Stanley-Dan Gormley story from 1959 that introduced Oona to the Nancy universe.
From Frank M. Young about Oona in that 2008 blog post:
“Stanley invented some inspired supporting characters for Nancy–the borderline-psycho Mr. McOnion, the much-perturbed passive-aggressive neighbor to Sluggo, and his smart-ass, long-suffering wife. Best of all is the other-worldly Oona Goosepimple, who rates as one of Stanley’s most enigmatic creations.
“Here is Oona’s debut story. It was the first of many Oona-borne mind-fudges for poor Nancy. Oona appears benign, but inhabits a world of sorcery and fourth-dimensional shenanigans. She forces Nancy to be her playmate, usually by paralyzing her or taking control of her body.
“Oona’s house and its contents batter Nancy’s psyche with their wigged-out, pixilated doings. Nancy endures a waking nightmare any time she encounters Oona and her clan. Yet, Oona likes Nancy, and though their playdates are terror-thons for the prickly-headed, dash-nosed lass, their friendship endures.”
From nine months ago that same Frank M. Young on the new Cash Nancy:
“While there’s not enough to base a critical thesis upon quite yet, Cash looks like the strongest personality to enter newspaper comics in years. Her Nancy teeters between crowd-pleasing and shocking, a vibrant imbalance that has the reader in a state of constant suspense. Each new strip is a surprise. She draws with vigorous, thick lines; her lettering is defiant in its lack of professional poise. I don’t envy her the graphic challenge of drawing the strip’s three main characters. Their iconic look is tricky; get one thing too small (or large) and it’s off.
“Cash’s figures feel human and hands-on; drawn rather than engineered. Head sizes change from panel to panel; some drawings dazzle, as in the final frame of 8th January’s strip (which one imagines as a canvas painting in a gallery), where an angry Nancy shouts ‘CLOSE ENOUGH!’ as Sluggo, tense and frustrated, exudes a bead of sweat on his forehead. (This panel could serve as the official image for 2026.)”
*Yes I know Oona appeared in the Guy Gilchrist Nancy strips.
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