Hey guys! How's it going? I'm doing pretty well. I'm back with this week's comic book review. After thinking about it for a little while, I decided to keep going with the individual issue reviews of Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew. I've done the first three issues already and today I'll be reviewing issue #4. So let's get right into it.
To recap, somebody killed Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys set out to investigate her murder. However, Nancy isn't actually dead and only pretended to be dead so she could find out who tried to kill her and whether or not it has anything to do with the Syndicate and the death of Frank and Joe's father, Fenton Hardy. In this issue, Nancy is investigating Maryanne Bobbsey, the mother of Flo and Frank Bobbsey. Which leads to an interesting twist.
Honestly, this issue feels like filler. This series could've been four issues instead of six and probably wouldn't've made much of a difference. As always, Anthony Del Col writes a well plotted issue, but not a whole lot happens, except that Nancy talks to Mrs. Bobbsey and sleeps. That's it. Not much progress is made on the case and this is also the issue where Frank and Joe have the least to do.
Joe Eisma's artwork is still amazing. I love the designs he made for the characters. While reminiscent of his work on issues of Mark Waid's run on Archie for Archie Comics, there's just something about the Stratemeyer Syndicate Universe that makes it it's own. Even the story's atmosphere is still breathtaking. I love that they made Nancy a brunette for this series though. In the interior artwork though. As you can see from the cover for this issue, they still make her blond on the covers.
The only thing that bugs me about this issue is also something they did in the first issue. But it's not actually a problem with the issues themselves. It's a problem I have with the next issue boxes. So in the next issue box of issue #1, they mention the Nancy Drew TV series aired by The CW and now the next issue will thrill fans of Nancy, old and new, and then fans of the TV show. Which is fine, since I'm assuming that most people who watch Nancy Drew are either fans of the character and read the books when they were younger, or they at least have heard of Nancy Drew. But then in the next issue box in this issue, they say, "The penultimate issue in this noir series perfect for fans of Riverdale, Nancy Drew, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina." Um what? Why is this the perfect series for fans of Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina? This series is nothing like either of those shows. I can understand mentioning Nancy Drew since they're at least related in characters and style, but Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina?
I get they're trying to grab the CW and Netflix crowd for this book, but if that's the case, then make a comic book series that is closer to those two shows because chances are pretty good that most people who watch those shows aren't reading comic books. I'd say most people watching those shows read the Nancy Drew books when they were kids, read some Archie Digests when they were kids, or watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch starring Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman when they were kids. There's probably one or two who read the Archie comics regularly watching those shows, but not everyone, so basically outright stating that that's who you're marketing this book towards is interesting, but a little bit weird on the part of Dynamite's marketing team. Or any marketing team for that matter, since they're always putting blurbs like that on home media and book covers.
I think I said this in my review of Ready Player One but I understand that they're trying to entice people to read these books and comics, or see these shows and movies and so they associate them with things that people already know. I just think it's bizarre they associate things that have absolutely nothing in common with each other. Like this comic book series and a show like Riverdale or Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Or Harry Potter and Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory or Charlie & The Chocolate Factory if they're talking about the books. Which are the two things that the blurb on the front cover of Ready Player One are associated with the book.
Overall, this is a good issue. It's hard for me to recommend skipping it though since it acts as a bridge between issue #3 and issue #5. At the same time though it's also really hard for me to recommend reading it because it's such a filler issue and almost nothing happens in it. I guess, I would say that if you're a completionist, which it's really hard not to be with comics these days, then definitely pick up this issue, or wait for the trade paperback, which should be coming out later this year if I remember correctly.
Alright guys I know this is a short review, but that's gonna be it for me for today. I will be back on Friday with this week's movie review where I'll be reviewing The Goonies. So until then have a great afternoon and I will talk to you all later. Take care.
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