Caroline Cash, the Eisner and Ignatz Award winning creator of PeePee PooPoo, will take over the comic strip Nancy from Olivia Jaimes next year.
Andrews McMeel Syndication and GoComics announced today that Olivia James, who turned heads when she took over Nancy in 2018, is retiring from the strip. Cash, who filled in for Jaimes on several guest strips last year, will take over in January.
“As a lifelong ‘Nancy’ fan, I’m honored to be given the opportunity to draw my favorite comic strip,” Cash said. “This is a real dream come true, and I look forward to sharing what I’ve been working on with everyone.”
Right now, the syndicate is re-running old strips, but a final “goodbye” strip from Jaimes will appear before Cash takes over.
Jaimes — who uses a pseudonym when creating the strip; her real identity has not been revealed — became the first woman to work on Nancy in 2018, bringing a more modern sensibility to the strip. It became a multi-layered meta delight, bringing joy, wit and a newfound energy to the comics page. Cash is a fun creator in her own right, and seems like a natural fit to take over the strip.
“Caroline is a brilliant cartoonist, and I’m thrilled to follow her take on this character we both love so much,” Jaimes said. “I’m stepping down with a heart full of gratitude for my readers and warmth for anyone who discovered Ernie Bushmiller’s work through the new Nancy. It’s been an honor, but it’s time to move on to the next season of my life. Like rebooting Mafalda. Or maybe Little Lulu.”