Bill Griffith

A most fitting biography of cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller told in graphic novel form by a passionate fan who supplements his insights into Bushmiller's life and significance with generous portions of Bushmiller's original Nancy comic strips.

I might have preferred a smidge more history and analysis perhaps, as opposed to the many digressions and indulgences Bill Griffith allows himself, but it's all in service to his love of the material, so it's hard to complain.

I'm not a big fan of Nancy Ritz myself, but find her easy enough to enjoy in small doses. And as the many samples of Bushmiller's work show, the man would go to some bizarre lengths to get a daily chuckle from his readers. Nancy is not really comparable to Peanuts as the book suggests at one point, but you gotta respect the workmanship and polish -- and that applies to the strip and this biography, both.… (mais)

graphic memoir
It's pretty rare for me to abandon a graphic novel, but even though I only had 70 pages left and was probably less than an hour away from notching another summer reading book in my log, I just couldn't bring myself to read any more. This wasn't interesting (no discernible plot or conflicts), and it wasn't informative (unless you really care about the history of cartooning, but even then I doubt you'd care about these guys). This is just scattered thoughts about a cartoonist you've never heard of, written by another cartoonist you've never heard of. Plus the cover illustration looks like a drawing of an open-eyed lady lazily edited and colored in to make one eye winking, but it doesn't look right at all. If you are a professional artist and you're going to make this your cover image, take the time to redraw it properly, or choose a different image.

I regret giving this book a chance despite the terrible cover. Hard pass.… (mais)