For more than 8 decades, the ageless teen, Nancy Drew has blazed a path through the generations. Part of her enduring charm and timeless appeal is her ability to reach out and touch the resonant chord with her audience. She has endured through the depression era of the 1930s and the war-torn 1940s when many other series from those times waned in popularity and were discontinued. To be sure, there have been numerous factors that have led to the continued success of Nancy, which is why it is really no surprise that as we move deeper into the 21st Century, her charm is still with us, and she is remade, yet again, for a brand new generation of readers.
Throughout the years, Nancy has appeared in books, board and computer games, film and TV, and of course in comics. In 2005 Papercutz began producing a series of graphic novels staring the girl detective. These graphic novels are largely written by Stefan Petrucha and illustrated — manga-style — by Sho Murase, which has been described as, “a fun, sassy, modern-day teen who is still hot on the heels of criminals.” Aiding and abetting Nancy in her hunt for criminals are her sometimes allies and partners, The Hardy Boys (who —as it turns out — star in their own line of updated Papercutz graphic novels).
Nancy runs across Frank and Joe Hardy, when the boys are working on a case that brings them from their hometown of Bayport to River Heights where Nancy lives. As it turns out the two cases are peripherally linked to each other and the three of them determine that it would be best to combine their talents and work together, especially as it seems that the cases on which they are both currently working seem to have so much in common with each other.
For her part, Nancy is working on a case involving Gregor and his sister Garina Coffson (who apparently attempted to kill Nancy in a previous tale). The Coffsons are immigrants from Romania, where, coincidently, Ned — Nancy’s newly ex-boyfriend — has just taken a summer internship at a company called Carpathian Investments; which has its home office in Vârf Negru, the home town of Gregor and Garina. Realizing that something shady is afoot, the teens wrangle passage to Romania to pursue the lead.
Once there they not only track down Ned, but learn of the existence of Gregor and Garina brother Valon, who was left behind when Gregor and Garina were shipped of the States to live with their aunt. As it turns out, Valon didn’t take too kindly to being left behind and now plans to extract revenge on his siblings, and it is up to Nancy and the Hardy Boys to thwart his plans and rescue Gregor and Garina.
This particular team-up of Nancy and the Hardys was penned by Gerry Conway, the regular author of Papercutz Hardy Boys Graphic Novels. Conway, who is perhaps best known for his work on Spider-Man turns in a stellar script that is not only intriguing and complex, but sophisticated, and clever enough to keep the reader riveted throughout the length of the book. Needless to say, while the book is clearly targeted for teen readers, it is every bit enjoyable for older readers as well. Illustrated by Murase, the book has a very modern look to it that makes it accessible to readers of all ages. Given this new upgrade, it is a sure bet that Nancy and her pals should easily last another 80 years.
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