November 6th, 2013

Nancy and Sluggo and…Snuffy!

by John Rose

On Halloween evening, once all the trick-or-treating was done, I sat down at the computer to read my favorite comics on the web. I had already read the comics in my local newspaper that morning, but as you can imagine, as a cartoonist, I read a lot of comics daily and I had not yet read my favorites from the internet.
I have always loved seeing comics crossovers. That is, when comic strip characters appear in comic strips other than their own. Imagine my surprise when I scrolled down and read “Nancy” by my good friend, Guy Gilchrist! There in the first panel of his beautiful Halloween-themed strip were Snuffy, Loweezy and Tater–Nancy had just finished reading the Snuffy Smith comic strip in her newspaper!

Nancy by Guy Gilchrist

I was so bodaciously honored to be a a part of his classic strip that day! Guy is a wonderful cartoonist and a super nice guy (no pun intended!). He drew “The Muppets” comic strip for Jim Henson and King Features for many years and has been drawing the “Nancy” strip since 1995. He also is a public speaker, a country music singer, a guitar player…in short, a man of many talents! He said he was inspired to feature them in his strip after we visited with eachother before and during a book signing I had in Nashville in September. It was so much fun to see the gang from Hootin’ Holler in “Nancy!”  It was definitely a “treat” for me on Halloween!
Here are a few comic crossovers I have had with my comic strip over the years…

Top: I had Beetle Bailey visit Hootin’ Holler for his 60th birthday. Middle: Walt Wallet visited to celebrate Gasoline Alley’s 90th anniversary. Bottom: Dagwood and Blondie visit during their 75th anniversary.

Snuffy and the gang have also been in crossovers with “Pearls Before Swine” and “Dennis the Menace” among others.
As a comic strip reader back in 1997, I remember perhaps the greatest comic strip crossover of all time.  I opened the newspaper on April Fools’ Day of 1997 to find all of my favorite comic strips drawn by other cartoonists. It is referred to as The Comic Strip Switcheroo, or the Great April Fools’ Day Comics Switcheroonie.  It was a great stunt and the brainchild of “Baby Blues” cartoonists Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman. You can read all about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_strip_switcheroo
When will the next comic strip crossover take place? Keep reading your favorite strips to find out!