Funny Pages

I’ve been on a bit of a Nancy kick lately. Nancy was a comic strip from when I was a kid. It’s been years since I’ve read the strip. It didn’t appear in our local newspaper - at least, not in the one we subscribed to, but it was in the newspaper that Nona and Eleanore used to get. I remember reading it, or at least seeing it, back when I was little, when we used to spend the better part of our summers staying with them.

This revival, if you can call it that, started back in October. Rachael was debating about a Halloween costume and one of her possibilities was that she might be Eleven, from Stranger Things. I can’t remember if the original idea was to be Eleven from season two, with the short, yet slightly grown out hair, or the much more identifiable Eleven from season one, with the shaved head. For the purposes of this story, I’m going to say that the original idea (hers) was to be the Eleven from season two, with the slightly grown out hair - but the much better idea (mine... well, possibly both of ours) was also discussed.

The idea for the shaved head Eleven was that instead of Rachael shaving her actual head (which obviously had ramifications beyond Halloween night), she could wear a rubber bathing cap (the more ill-fitting, the better) and, with a marker, mark the bathing cap with fake hair stubble.

As a helpful guide for her costume, I later emailed Rachael, telling her about the comic strip, Nancy (remember her?) and how there was a secondary character in the strip named “Sluggo." Sluggo also had a shaved head and she might find a picture of Sluggo helpful for her potential costume. As a visual aid, I attached a strip showing a hat-less Sluggo for reference. (As I’m writing this, I’m wondering why I didn’t just send her a photo of the shaved head Eleven, but I guess this, unfortunately, is just how my mind works.)

Even though my excellent costume idea was not used (some might say, "rejected"), Nancy was now on the radar.

This past Christmas, Rachael gave me the above old comics, which I have been reading and handling gingerly. These comics have further sparked my interest in Nancy, so I’ve also been reading some reprints, along with some strips I've found on the internet. Here, for example, is one panel I came across...

Not used by permission. Please don't sue me.

I later found out that this was the second to last panel of a four panel strip - but I like it all by itself. It's something I can relate to.

If this were fifty years ago, I might suggest that dressing up as Nancy would be a pretty good idea for a Halloween costume, but it would definitely be too out of context now. Then again, if this were fifty years ago, there wouldn't have been anyone around worth suggesting this to.