Pablo Picasso, The Dream and Lie of Franco (1937)

Sueño y mentira de Franco [Dream and Lie of Franco] by Pablo Picasso, 1937.

 

Max Ernst, Une semaine de bonté (1934)

Une semaine de bonté (A Week of Kindness) by Max Ernst, 1934.

 

Salvador Dali, Mystères surréalistes de New York (1935)

Mystères surréalistes de New York by Salvador Dali, 1935.

 

Jean Bruller, Le Mariage de Monsieur Lakonik (1931)

Le Mariage de Monsieur Lakonik by Jean Bruller, 1931.

 

Jean de Brunhoff, The Story of Babar (1931)

The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, 1931.
 

Stanley Link, Tiny Tim (1931)

 Tiny Tim by Stanley Link , 1931.

Suihō Tagawa, Norakuro (1931)

 

Norakuro by Suihō Tagawa, 1931.

Edwina Dumm, Alec the Great (1934)

 

Alec the Great by Edwina Dumm, 1934.

Phil Bond, No Jobs Today (1931)

No Jobs Today by Phil Bond, 1931.

 

Hergé, Tintin in the Congo (1931)

Tintin in the Congo by Hergé, 1931.

Henry Kiyama, The Four Immigrants Manga (1931)

The Four Immigrants Manga by Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama, 1931.

 

Chester Gould, Dick Tracy (1931)

Dick Tracy by Chester Gould, 1931.

 

Helen Hokinson, So You're Going to Buy a Book (1931)

So You're Going to Buy a Book by Helen Hokinson, 1931.

 

Helena Bochráková-Dittrichová, Childhood (1931)

Childhood by Helena Bochráková-Dittrichová, 1931.

 

Ernie Bushmiller, Nancy (1938)

 

Nancy by Ernie Bushmiller (1938)

Ernie Bushmiller took over Larry Whittington's "Fritzi Ritz" comic strip in 1925 and introduced the character of Nancy, Fritz's niece, in 1933. By 1938 Nancy had taken over the strip and it was renamed simply "Nancy" as Bushmiller focused more on the surreal antics of the little girl and her working class boyfriend Sluggo.

Over the years, and until Bushmiller's death in 1982, Nancy became something like the ne plus ultra of the American newspaper comic strip; a stripped-down, elegant gag-a-day work of art that explored quotidian absurdities using the language of cartooning like few others. Deceptively simple, Nancy with form, time, and space with a supremely modernist outlook.

The critics:

"Ernie Bushmiller is my comics Kafka."

---Jerry Moriarty, 1988.