Thank God!
Please don't misunderstand me. Growing up, I voraciously read the yellow-spined Nancy Drew and blue-spined Hardy Boys books. I quickly discovered that some of the books I was reading were revised editions of books originally published between 1927, when the first Hardy Boys books hit the market, and about 1957. Thanks to a dear friend I was able to read most of the original text versions of the Nancy Drew books. I've since read the original versions of the first 34 Drew books, and a good number of the first 38 Hardy Boys books.
A change in both series took place in 1959. In addition to a new volume in both series, the first couple of books in each series was revised to eliminate negative stereotypes, shorten the stories, and to increase the amount of action. The Hardy brothers and Nancy Drew had been known to work outside of -- and in competition with -- law enforcement. With the revisions, the characters became pro law-and-order types. In Nancy's case, she also became practically perfect in every way. She could step into a role on the stage at a moment's notice having memorized the lines or play the bagpipes after one lesson or speak a dialect of a language having heard it once or twice. By 1977 the early books in both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series had been revised, and the first 58 Hardy Boys and first 56 Nancy Drew books continue to be in print to this day. Even though new series for the characters are currently being published, it is the blue-spined Hardys and yellow-spined Nancy Drews that most people remember and pass on to their kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews.
But writer Anthony Del Col, artist Werther Dell'Edera, and colorist Stefano Simeone have brought Nancy, Frank, and Joe into the 21st century, changing their external circumstances -- we find out that Fenton Hardy was murdered, for example, on the second page of the story -- without changing the essence of what makes Nancy, Frank, and Joe who they are. Bayport Police Chief Ezra Collig is here, but is now a person of color. Carson Drew is now a federal prosecutor. Nancy, Frank, and Joe are friends with or acquainted with other familiar series book characters such as Tom Swift, Bert and Nan Bobbsey, the Rover Boys, etc.
Dropping Nancy Drew and Frank and Joe Hardy into a noir setting, a setting definitely more hard-boiled than they usually find themselves, would seem to be an odd choice except for the fact that they manage to take it all in stride. Readers soon discover that this isn't the first time Nancy, Frank, and Joe's world has been rocked by secrets better left hidden. Del Col ends the story with a cliffhanger, promising that this is only "The End . . . For Now," suggesting that there is far more to the story than what is told in The Big Lie.
Del Col writes succinctly, allowing Dell'Edera's art and Simeone's colors to convey mood and demeanor and move the story forward. Dell'Edera's art is loose and sketch-like in places but emphasizes at the same time the idea that things are constantly in motion. Simeone's colors manage to make Bayport look like the perfect vacation spot that visitors see, as when he uses bright color tones like those used in comics 35 years ago and more, and also reveals the seedy side of the town through the use of darker tones when America's favorite teen detectives move into areas where perhaps they shouldn't be.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Fans of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys who only want to read stories involving Nancy, Frank, and Joe as they appear in the books from 1957-1979 may be reluctant to give this a try, but if they do I think they'll find that the same things they like about the characters in those books are still here.
I understand Dynamite Entertainment has green-lighted the second arc of Del Col's story for release in 2018. I can't wait! (And I hope that Simon and Schuster, owners and publishers of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, considers a prose companion series for teens/young adults featuring the characters.)
Rating: 5 Stars
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