Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Revisited: The Big Lie and The Death of Nancy Drew

 

  

Reviewed by Jeanne

When a new author takes up established characters and puts a new spin on them, the results are usually either admired or vilified.  In this case, author Anthony Del Col decided to update the beloved children’s sleuths Frank and Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew in graphic novel form.  They’re young adults now and not looking for gold coins or missing wills: they’re trying to find murderers.

In Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys:  The Big Lie, Frank and Joe are suspected of murdering their father, a disgraced police detective.  The boys proclaim their innocence but the new police chief is sure it’s just a matter of time before one of the Hardys caves and implicates the other.  Old friend Nancy Drew turns up, ready to help the brothers find the real killer.  That’s easier said than done:  despite its picture postcard appearance, Bayside has a dark thread of corruption running through it: gambling, drugs, smuggling, and murder.

The Death of Nancy Drew: A Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Noir opens with Joe obsessing over the recent death of his friend, Nancy, in what was ruled an accident.  Joe believes it was no accident, but murder.  Frank is skeptical and the brothers clash, leaving Joe to investigate on his own.

This second volume is the one that intrigued me.  Actually, I didn’t know there was a first volume, but as I read The Death of Nancy Drew there were so many references to things that occurred previously that I realized this had to be a sequel.  I was too involved in the story to stop, so I finished it and went back to read the first volume.

I thoroughly enjoyed both.  While the stories are grittier, Nancy, Joe, and Frank are still the resourceful, smart, brave characters I knew and loved growing up.  I liked these people.  I was especially taken with Nancy. She comes across as a remarkable young woman.

Not all the characters from the past fare as well, however, and some do not make wise life choices.  Other familiar names crop up, and some are definitely NOT nice but I still enjoyed the tip of the hat to these other Stratemeyer Syndicate series.  (Okay, did not know the Rover Boys, until this tale!) I don’t want to spoil anyone else’s enjoyment of these books, so I’m going to leave off any further descriptions or comments.

The art in both is very well done.   Werther Dell’Edera did the honors in The Big Lie, while Joe Eisma did the art in The Death of Nancy Drew.  Both volumes include bonus material in the form of interviews with the creators.  The Big Lie included the art for covers of individual issues collected here, and I was quite taken with the ones by Fay Dalton.

While these may not be to everyone’s liking, I was delighted and charmed.

Let’s Return to Those Days of Yore……

By Doris

When you were a kid, did you read the Nancy Drew mysteries or the Hardy Boys? I never did. I did not like Nancy Drew, and my experience with the Hardy Boys was Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy in their teeny bopper Hardy Boys TV series. So why have I developed a new interest in the Hardy Boys now? It originates with one of our patrons, of course!

Mr. F. is a charming older gentleman with a resoundingly deep voice and twinkling eyes. You can just imagine him as one of those radio announcers in the 30’s or 40’s whose voice filled the night as he spun marvelous tales. A few months ago he brought me a list of all the Hardy Boys books and asked me to find the first four for him. I made some comment about a grandchild visiting and wanting to read the books. He blushed just a tiny bit and confessed the books were for him. He decided to re-read all the books because he had loved them as a child. We laughed and talked about “second childhoods,” and I found his books for him at the Mosheim branch of the Greene County Library. Soon he was knee deep in the adventures of Joe and Frank as they solve the mysteries of The Footprints Under the Window or another of the more than one hundred titles in the series. Every couple of weeks Mr. F. would come in and request the next three or four books on the list. This week he requested the last four books. Both of us are sad. He has really enjoyed reliving a part of his youth, and I have enjoyed talking with him about the books. We both have enjoyed discovering which library in our consortium will be sending the books. Evidently the Mosheim Library has a complete set, and they have been very generous in loaning them to us.

Pause here for a commercial, please. Being able to borrow books from the other libraries in the Watauga Regional Library consortium is a real benefit for our patrons. If we do not have a requested item, chances are one of the other libraries will. Always ask us to check and see if a book is available from another library if we do not have it. The service is FREE!

Edward Stratemeyer who also created Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, the Rover boys, and dozens of other characters created the Hardy Boys in 1926. He outlined the stories and hired Canadian writer Leslie McFarlane to write the books. McFarlane wrote the books under the name of Franklin Dixon.

In case this piques your interest, I’ll tell you that the first three books are The Tower Treasure, The House on the Cliff, and The Secret of the Old Mill. These were released originally on May 16, 1927, by publisher Grossett and Dunlap.

Did you know the Hardy Boys is the best-selling and longest running series of books for boys in the world? They have been translated into more than 25 languages.

The book series morphed into comic books, television series, movies, games, video games, and all types of collectibles. Original editions of the books can be quite valuable.

Wondering what to put in a child’s stocking this Christmas? How about a vintage Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mystery?

Or, if you have been very good, maybe Santa will bring you one of these great classics to enjoy all by yourself.