Creator of the seminal NANCY comic strip in addition to Fritzi Ritz, Ernie Bushmiller would have been 107 today. A truly 'algebraic' comic, the oddly yet perfectly balanced strip was and still is hugely popular with comic strip readers despite its squat protagonist and cornball comedy. A cartoonist who rarely took a day off, Bushmiller inspired generations of future cartoonists and Fantagraphics is proud to reprint the strips. As Tom Spurgeon was so nice to point out, when Fantagraphics was located in Stamford, Connecticut, our neighbor WAS Ernie Bushmiller! Celebrate the love of Bushmiller and read some Nancy today. The strip below was reformatted to fit the blog.

But why stop at reading Nancy in appreciation of Bushmiller, you could also a Nancy tattoo! OSU Librarian Caitlin McGurk sports Nancy's head while cartoonist and Fantagraphics intern Ben Horak flexes a Sluggo tattoo. But we're still looking for the elusive 'three rocks' tattoo. Happy Birthday, Mr. Bushmiller.

Love and Rockets fan Jeff Weis has been celebrating the 30th anniversary of the series by getting tattoos of the Locas on both shoulders — classic giddy-up Maggie the Mechanic (inked by Joe Bass at Jade Mermaid Tattoo in Portland, OR) and one we haven't seen before, debonair tuxedo Hopey (inked by Christy Fish at Blacklist Tattoo in Portland)! Bravo and thanks for sharing, Jeff!

Fell a little behind on my photo blogging but here are some sights from the floor at Comic-Con International yesterday:

Sweet Maggie ink! Jaime was impressed with this one (as were we all).

The line for the Gilbert Shelton & Dave McKean signing stretched all the way around the booth.

Dave McKean and his cool watch (and hey, it's Anthony Vukojevich, Mome vet Rob Goodin and Tom Neely in the background).

The dapper Mr. Shelton (and those guys again).

Monte Schulz dropped by to chat with Gary.

The No Straight Lines signing with Ed Luce, editor Justin Hall, Dylan Edwards and Trina Robbins.

Somebody brought an old Who's Who in the DC Universe for Trina to sign the page with her Cheetah illustration. That lady's done it all!

Another DC character also made an appearance at the No Straight Lines signing. (At least I think that's Poison Ivy.)

Matt Groening showed off his pal Gary Panter's Dal Tokyo while Akbar & Jeff walked past in the background. Matt recounted for us how he helped save the strip from being dumped at the L.A. Weekly back in the 1980s by arguing that it's one of the greatest works of art of the 20th century.

Eric shows off Johnny Gruelle's Mr. Twee Deedle to Matt, who was particularly taken with Gruelle's "birds-eye view" strips in the book and walked away with it under his arm.

Shannon Wheeler was signing Oil and Water before he even had a chance to sit down.

Shannon joined Mark Kalesniko at the signing table.

Our homie John Roderick dropped by and picked up Significant Objects and the new softcover edition of Joost Swarte's Is That All There Is?, confessing that he'd love to have Swarte do the cover art for his next album.

By the way, my co-workers have photos & tales of their own that they'll be posting when they get back to the office... RIGHT GUYS?

(final cover may vary)

That's right, the awesome Monster Brains blog got their hands on an exclusive 5-page sneak peek of Prison Pit Book 4, the next volume of Johnny Ryan's senses-shredding ass-demolishing opus of ultraviolence and insanity, coming this Fall!

Are you excited? Are you as excited as THIS GUY???

(Update via Johnny’s blog: tattoo inked by tattoo artist Kelly Kish onto Michael Buckner at The Rusty Needle Tattoo Parlor.)

Oh, and the new logo banner for Monster Brains? Yep, that's by Johnny too:

Running a little thin this week — our only exclusive update is Nicolas Mahler's Angelman — but we've got the usual links to strips from around the web:

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Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size):

And elsewhere:

The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum at ACT-I-VATE:

Amazing Facts... and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Kevin Huizenga:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Forming by Jesse Moynihan:

Humblug by Arnold Roth (two new updates):

Maakies by Tony Millionaire (and anonymous photographers):

The Pain — When Will It End? (plus answers to last week's "Ghandi or Batman?") by Tim Kreider:

Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

What's in the Backpack by Victor Kerlow:

We love it when folks share their fan tattoos and it's even better when it's someone from one of our favorite comic shops: Julie from Secret Headquarters in L.A. just got this one based on a Jason illustration. Go buy some comics and ask to see it in person!

Tattoo blog Tales of the Ink profiles one Laura Jane from Perth, Australia and her as-yet incomplete sleeve of Jaime Hernandez tattoos (and complete lack of pants): "To this day she continually returns to the comics, particularly the work of Jaime. He has a beautiful and simple outlook on life, and his work with only black ink portrays this perfectly." More angles at the link.

A fan named Ross Adams went and got himself a tattoo of the Caligulon symbol from Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit Book 3, and then Johnny went and tweeted about it. No word as to whether Adams can now shoot destructive/transfigurative rays from his shin.

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web:

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Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size):

Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

And elsewhere:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 new udpates):

Maakies by Tony Millionaire (and various tattoo artists):

Rumbling by Kevin Huizenga at What Things Do (we're late to add this — be sure to catch up on past installments)

Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

 Underworld by Kaz & co. (click for animated strip):

When someone at Staten Island comic shop Comic Book Jones tweeted about their tattoo of the NYC cityscape based on a Tony Millionaire drawing, we knew we had to see it and share it with all our Flog readers. And look what else we found in their Twitpic archives: one of their customers with a neck tattoo (!) of Michael Kupperman's Snake 'n' Bacon and a panel from Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6 on his arm!