Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 28th, 2017
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Blurb from goodreads:
Volume collects issues 1-6
A Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery unlike any other you've ever read! When the teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy are accused of the murder of their father - a detective in the small resort town of Bayport - they must team up with Nancy Drew to prove their innocence (and find the real guilty party in the process) in a twisting noir tale, complete with double-crosses, deceit, and dames.
Writer Anthony Del Col (Assassin's Creed, Kill Shakespeare) and artist Werther Dell'Edera (Batman: Detective Comics, House of Mystery) bring the iconic teen detectives into the modern age, and redefine noir for a new generation of readers!
I loved the Hardy Boys growing up, both the books and later, the TV series. Yes, I'm that old, lol. I was less of a Nancy fan but I read and enjoyed some of those books too. Still, when I saw this on NetGalley, I was intrigued. The blurb was a little off-putting with it's talk of noir style but I decided to give it a try.
This story radically revises the Hardy boys mythos - killing off their dad, reviving their late mother, and absolutely no mention of Aunt Gertrude nor is their any mention of any of their friends, Chet, Tony, etc. Additionally, they've been friends with Nancy and her family for years. There are changes to Nancy's mythos as well but not as radical. One nice little touch was the inclusion of other famous teen sleuths such as Tom Swift and the Bobbsey twins.
The story starts shortly after Fenton Hardy was killed. Nancy, Frank, and Joe have teamed up to solve Fenton's murder. Nancy is definitely the brains of the outfit and quite a master manipulator. Frank and Joe have sibling issues and argue, and fist fight, often. Joe is impetuous and Frank is sulky; actually, they both are. Like other teens, they argue, and whine, and got on my nerves. But together they find a killer, crack a drug ring, and discover a conspiracy. They were smart, clever, impulsive, and annoying and made a good team.
If you are a hard-core fan of the original Hardy Boys, or Nancy Drew, you may want to skip this. Not only is it very noir, complete with dark illustrations, but it radically updates Frank, Joe, and Nancy's stories. It's a much more current theme and storyline. The story wandered a bit, or so it seemed at first, before settling into the investigation. I have to say, I didn't always like Frank, Nancy, or Joe but they weren't boring or predictable. The art, as I mentioned, was dark, sometimes blurry, and not as detailed as I like. But the facial illustrations were excellent and added depth to the story. The story found Fenton's killer but left open other threads. Not a great story but a decent, if dark, very dark, update.
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