If you like: Super Mysteries, comic books, Goldie Vance, Sammy Keyes, exclamation marks.
I went through a phase around the age of 12 when I lived and breathed Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mysteries and that factors heavily in this recommendation.
You’ve been warned.
Like all generations that came before me, I’m sure my version was the best version. They just don’t build a Nancy Drew book like they used to.
Yeah, the ‘90s books aren’t going to win any awards for writing -- I know because I still have them in my closet -- but they were...well, what I remember is that Nancy was brave and smart and determined. She traveled a lot. The world around her was a code that could always be cracked.
It was nostalgia and an interest in Kelly Thompson’s work that made me pick up the first issue of a new Nancy Drew comic book.
It did not start well for me -- other than the titian hair, it seemed like Thompson forgoed the familiar for the trendy.
The story is told in first-person narration, the sidekicks are new, and of course Nancy is sassy, because everyone loves a sassy superhero. Which makes sense for Thompson’s run on Hawkeye, but does every female detective have to flippantly live by sarcasm and one-liners?
Oh boy, I thought, I shouldn’t have had hopes. But my literary detective skills must be rusty.
It was a fake-out! After the intro, a mysterious letter takes Nancy back to Bayport(!), where Bess and George pick her up from the train station.
Just as I started to warm up, Thompson dropped an even bigger bomb. Frank and Joe Hardy! It’s a NANCY DREW AND HARDY BOYS SUPER MYSTERY! Caps and exclamation marks pretty much sum up my reaction as preteen Annie took over.
It holds true to the characters in the original, for the most part. There’s some unspoken tension in the group that adds to the detective work. While Nancy Drew leads the sleuthing, Frank and Joe take more of a backseat in the first two issues. Although Frank is still the sensible one and Joe is still the flirt. George is bold and Bess is sweet.
Nancy is observant of the details around her and quick to search for a source of information. She’s also a little single-minded in her drive to solve a mystery, which has been a characteristic explored in the best versions of Nancy Drew. It doesn’t always make her the best friend or daughter, but she is always able to find the answers.
And being around her is never boring.
You know that because each issue ends with a cliffhanger in proper Super Mystery style.
So, well-played Thompson and St-Onge. It should appeal to today’s preteens, but also inspires some exclamation marks in old fans.
"Nancy Drew" by Kelly Thompson and Jenn St-Onge; Dynamite; June.
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