History ComicStrip / Nancy

** Olivia Jaimes takes the trope UpToEleven in her strips. Apart from Bushmiller's MediumAwareness, she's specifically used fourth wall breaks and leans to poke at critics, including the [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/04/16 change in]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/05/27 art style]], [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/04/28 commenters]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/04/17 trolls]], as well as [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/04/30 the strip being rebooted]] in the first place.

* NiceHat: Sluggo regularly wears a newsboy hat, although in the late 80s and early 90s when Jerry Scott took over the strip, it was replaced with a backwards baseball cap.

* OperationJealousy: [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/09/18 Here]], Nancy wants her other friends to "laugh like I just said something devastating and hilarious," just to make Sluggo jealous.

-->'''Nancy:''' [[ConversationalTroping Nothing's worse than when characters act out of character]] [[RuleOfFunny just so the writer can make a joke]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Nancy. She's selfish, greedy and self-centered, but she's got a good heart. The Gilchrist run heavily emphasize the "heart of gold" part, while the Bushmiller and Jaimes runs, and to some extent the Jerry Scott run, emphasize the "jerk" part.

* LimitedSocialCircle: Jaimes' run specifically {{Lampshades}} the fact that Nancy and Sluggo don't seem to have any friends aside from each other, and goes on to expand Nancy's social circle with Esther, Lucy and Agnes.

%%** Classic Nancy is the absolute master of this trope. Whatever rule or order you throw at her, she’ll always find a clever way to disobey it while respecting the strict letter of it. Examples [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/06/61/f0/0661f056da4d775724b11ef452e5a3ae.jpg here]] and [[https://scontent.fyhu2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/131970634_3541573079212313_6019220717131021404_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=UerVlDmsNi8AX-egfE2&_nc_ht=scontent.fyhu2-1.fna&oh=b7075e62f3f18445da00f5385fca9206&oe=600D930C here]] and [[https://scontent.fyhu2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/131334205_10159169951339744_3231090409641531131_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=-O_DrfegwmEAX-eBp4k&_nc_ht=scontent.fyhu2-1.fna&oh=3b46f657492beccb9e5828d0db5db717&oe=600D5AF3 here]] and [[https://scontent.fyhu2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/127880411_10159129561864744_4001712673537287619_o.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=2&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=55Oge6gbUIMAX_z4jyh&_nc_oc=AQnfHXAOp3nOZRVDgLhrqmz0lYupuwClnRK7Sg8jKHwPJ_pajj46lS__v5kRvnJl8Zg&_nc_ht=scontent.fyhu2-1.fna&oh=8fff2e5735f737a77187c624f942d503&oe=600D6025 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2018/12/08 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2019/02/06 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2019/08/13 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2019/12/03 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2019/05/22 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2019/10/23 here]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy-classics/2020/02/10 here]].

* {{Nephewism}}: Nancy lives with Fritzi Ritz, who's her aunt--it's never been explained what happened to Nancy's parents (although they are confirmed to be dead, making Nancy an orphan). Nancy's also been confirmed (and shown) to have relatives outside of Fritzi--this includes other aunts as well as grandparents and various uncles and cousins.
** Sluggo's confirmed to be an orphan like Nancy is and is also in a similar living situation--he's technically under the guardianship of two uncles, but Sluggo's uncles (who work as a truckers) have to travel a lot for work, so they're not always with him. Sluggo spends a lot of time at Nancy's house and, at least in the OJ-run, stays with Nancy and Fritzi--Sluggo's also been shown to have relatives outside of his two uncles, which includes other uncles as well as various aunts and cousins.
* NewSeasonNewName: The strip was originally called ''Fritzi Ritz''--but once Nancy came along, she ended up becoming so popular that she ultimately took over as the lead character and the comic was retitled to "Nancy" in 1938.

** [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/10/22 Nancy asks Aunt Fritzi to make her stay home and study.]] Nancy's hatred of schoolwork is well-established by this point, so Fritzi is baffled and frightened by the request.

* OutOfFocus: Fritzi was originally the lead character (the strip itself was originally called "Fritzi Ritz"), but after Nancy was introduced, she became so popular that she eventually became the new lead character and the strip was renamed to "Nancy." Though Fritzi is still a major character, she's a secondary character.

** The [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2020/10/18 2020-10-18]] strip is about Agnes introducing Nancy to [[{{Manga}} "Japanese comics"]], and employs many JapaneseVisualArtsTropes that are not normally part of the strip. These include BlankFaceOfShame, CrossPoppingVeins, SweatDrop, etc. Oh, and the strip must be read from right to left.
* PenName: "Olivia Jaimes" is one for a webcomic artist who has managed to keep her identity secret.

* {{Retcon}}: The Guy Gilchrist run changed Sluggo's previously established history and family situation, revealing that while he ''did'' live alone in a badly-maintained house, he actually had two adoptive uncles who stayed with him whenever they could, and the entire neighborhood was secretly helping him out (such as paying for his bills). Might count as a CerebusRetcon, as it viewed Sluggo's poverty and living situation through a much more serious lens.

-->'''Ms. Bangles:''' Just because you like something doesn't mean you should make it your job. You like cake, but imagine if you had to eat it every day for your job, even if you weren't hungry.

* SelfDeprecation: Bushmiller and Jaimes' runs make frequent cracks at the expense of the LazyArtist. One Bushmiller strip has Sluggo attempting to buy celebrity autographs from Nancy only to find that they're all fairly expensive; when he asks her if she has any for "about a nickel," she cuts Bushmiller's signature out of the bottom of the panel.

* CompetitionFreak: Everybody at the Magnet School, best exemplified by Mildred. Esther, who transferred to Nancy's school, is relieved she no longer has to deal with people being "pretty competitive over weird things," flashing back to this conversation:

-->'''Boy:''' Why do you hang out with Nancy so much?

* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: When a reader of Nancy's blog complains that the comments are all just bots responding to each other, he and Nancy argue over whether anyone wants to read "what two fake people caught in a loop are saying."

* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: When a reader of Nancy's blog complains that the comments are all just bots responding to each other, the two get into an argument over whether anyone wants to read "what two fake people caught in a loop are saying."

-->'''Boy:''' Your blog has a lot of comments on it, but it's all just bots responding to each other. Who wants to read what two fake people caught in a loop are saying?
-->'''Nancy:''' Lots of people.
-->'''Boy:''' No they don't.
-->'''Nancy:''' Yes they do.
-->'''Boy:''' [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs No they don't]].

** When Nancy [[https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2019/07/12 asks]] Mildred's cohorts from the Magnet School why they showed up to challenge her at basketball when Mildred couldn't make it, one tells her that they don't need an ulterior motive for helping out a friend: that is, a '''F'''uture '''R'''esource '''I'''n '''E'''ventual '''N'''etworking and Professional '''D'''evelopment.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[ConversationalTroping Agnes points out that the common plot twist of "a kind, supportive character turning out to be a bad guy" is not as common in real life]] and says she won't use it in her graphic novel as a result. When Lucy says she'll support her no matter what she does, Agnes is immediately suspicious.

** When Nancy asks Mildred's cohorts from the Magnet School why they showed up to challenge her at basketball when Mildred couldn't make it, one tells her that they don't need an ulterior motive for helping out a friend: that is, a '''F'''uture '''R'''esource '''I'''n '''E'''ventual '''N'''etworking and Professional '''D'''evelopment.
** Nancy appears to turn her ItsAllAboutMe attitude around when she gives the credit to "Team '''N'''ancy, '''A'''gnes ''''N'''' Lucy, '''S'''luggo and '''E'''specially '''E'''sther": "Team N.A.N.S.E.E." for short.

* FunWithAcronyms: When Nancy asks Mildred's cohorts from the Magnet School why they showed up to challenge her at basketball when Mildred couldn't make it, one tells her that they don't need an ulterior motive for helping out a friend: that is, a '''F'''uture '''R'''esource '''I'''n '''E'''ventual '''N'''etworking and Professional '''D'''evelopment.

-->'''Nancy:''' [[ConversationalTroping Nothing's worse than when characters act out of character just so the writer can make a joke]].

-->'''Nancy:''' [[DiscussedTrope Nothing's worse than when characters act out of character just so the writer can make a joke]].