Gone Undercover

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie #4 and 6 (Dynamite, 2017, $3.99)

Even if you don't know or like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, this is a wonderful, straight-ahead mystery comic. It reminds me of Ms. Tree, Criminal, and 100 Bullets. It also reminds me a little of the Riverdale TV show and perhaps even Veronica Mars.



From these two issues, written by Anthony Del Col and drawn by Werther Dell'Edera, I gather that Fenton Hardy supposedly committed suicide (!!!). Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys have gone undercover with a local gang, immersing themselves in Bayport's criminal underground to find the true killer.

Dell'Edera's art is semi-realistic and captures the noir of mystery well, but is cartoony enough to not become overly threatening. Of the youth detective characters, Drew is more of a strong presence than either Hardy, which struck me as odd but good. #4 includes some pretty neat elements, including the statue of General Jack Smith being a literal entry point to the criminal underground.

The return to the caves and "our old adventures" in #6 is a pleasant almost-callback to the original books—and the shadowy art on pp. 12-14 is pretty darn cool. P. 14 is almost all shape and silhouette—a technique that intrigues me.

A sleeper hit! The comic doesn't need the licensed characters. Perhaps the licensed characters need the comic.

Availability: These issues are available in Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie.