Dynamite Entertainment Presents The Big Lie #1

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Details about the upcoming comic series ~
Title: The Big Lie #1
Release Date: March 8, 2017
Number of pages: 32
Cover A: Faye Dalton
Cover B: Emma Vieceli
Cover C Subscription: Robert Hack
Writer: Anthony Del Col
Art: Werther Dell’Edera
Rating: Teen +
Available Formats: Comic Book, Digital
Cost: 3.99 USD
Cover Art:

nancyhardy001covadaltonnancyhardy001covbviecelinancyhardy001covcsubhack

 

 

 

 

Synopsis From Publisher – Warning from me for anyone, who is a fan of the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew, who hasn’t seen the plotline yet and doesn’t know the premise of the series – you won’t like what it is, so you might not want to continue reading the post:

THE BIG LIE is 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 the femme fatale Nancy Drew to prove their innocence (and find the real guilty party in the process) in a twisting, hard-boiled tale, complete with double-crosses, deceit and dames.

That plot isn’t entertaining sounding at all to me. I was optimistically (as well as cautiously) excited back in the summer (before I knew about the plot) when I first heard about the 2017 comics from Dynamite Entertainment that was supposed to be Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. I love the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and I love a lot of comics, too. I don’t tend to read T (Teen) rated comics. They’re usually overdone, unrealistic, and don’t grab me. I prefer All Ages comics that my HB/ND reading sib of mine will read, too. I’d put off posting since I prefer to talk only about books I’m enthusiastic about, but I did need to say something for everyone asking me about it. I started writing this as soon as I saw about it, and got most of it done then.

The press release on 12/20/16 from Dynamite Entertainment included the book synopsis that effectively killed my excitement for their comic book series. There are some pretty obvious Hardy and Nancy errors in the short write-up. According to the press release, they want to quote “bring the iconic teen detectives into the modern age” unquote. You cannot “bring” someone into the modern age who is already here!!!! 🙄 The Hardy Boys and Nancy have been here! The press release wasn’t very long and oddly over-emphasized modern, which makes me think they don’t know that the Hardys and Nancy are still solving crimes in more modern times than say, 1927 and 1930 when the Hardys and Nancy Drew book series first began, respectively. Okay, so obviously not everyone realizes there have been many new Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, including comic books/graphic novels during more modern times than the 1920s and 1930s. When publishers say “modern” – that is an advertising tactic, gimmick/ploy, and, I think, assumes that we are gullible. New Hardy Boys books and Nancy Drew books since the ’20s and ’30s, in the 21st century includes ones from:

  • The Hardy Boys (Mystery Stories) 1927-2005 #1-#190, the whole series of The Undercover Brothers, the currently running series Hardy Boys Adventures, with the next volume, #14, Attack of the Bayport Beast, available Feb. 21, 2017. 😎
  • Nancy Drew (Mystery Stories) 1930-2003 #1-#175, Girl Detective (whole series), Nancy Drew Diaries, the current series, has a new one, #14 Riverboat Roulette released this week (on the 3rd to be exact). 😎

Case solved. 😎

Here’s another quote from the press release:

“Writer Del Col, a big fan of the characters, conceived this unique take years ago and worked to find and secure the license with Dynamite to bring this tale to life.

“I often come up with a lot of bizarre ideas, and two years ago I had this vision of a modern-day noir story with femme fatale Nancy Drew aiding accusing criminals the Hardy Boys,” says writer Anthony Del Col. “It was an idea that, upon further thought, actually wasn’t that bizarre. And now Werther, Dynamite, and I are using it as a launching pad to examine who these characters really are, and why they’re still so beloved.”

If you change their personalities, their character, you can’t examine who they really are, and if you change their personalities, doesn’t that mean you don’t like who they really are? Otherwise, you wouldn’t change them and instead you would write an exciting story with the actual Hardy Boys and Nancy solving a crime. I believe “aiding accusing” was supposed to read “accused”. And Nancy as a femme fatale is inaccurate and definitely is “that bizarre”.

“…and why they’re still so beloved.”

I can tell you why they are still so beloved – it’s why I love them. ❤ The brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy, and Nancy Drew ~ they are good, ethical, moral, fighting on the side of good, inspiring, never give up attitude, helping others, cool, exciting, thrilling mysteries, fight for righting wrong, fighting evil, their code of ethics, sense of honor, their moral code, their survival of the numerous attempts on their lives for doing the right thing and stopping bad people. One of the reasons Nancy is still loved and so successful is that she isn’t a femme fatale! You can’t calculate the variable to solve the equation if you change any of the terms of the formula; you’re not going to be able to get an accurate answer.

Another part of the press release, this quote from Dynamite Entertainment’s CEO/Publisher, Nick Barrucci “We wanted to do a take on the iconic characters the world grew up on…” Why ignore everyone not grown up yet? o_O I mean, hello, there are still many in the world still growing up and still reading the real Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew stories. 🙄

There are many, many Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew fans around the world that this will not appeal to. There are probably some non-Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew fans who will be pleased to read about the implied tragedy and the mischaracterization. Of course some HB and ND fans will read this series because they have to read just about everything with those characters’ names in them.

Some people might scoff at me for my youthful ideologies and hopefulness – so be it. 😎

The Plot ~
The premise of “the murder of their father” is horrific and terribly upsetting. Why does anyone think they have to make it look like a regular character gets killed? Most Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew readers care about the characters – and don’t want them killed. Then for the brothers to be falsely accused like that is bizarre. Regardless of what this particular series does, Fenton is alive. 😎

The Hardys have had to deal with many different crimes in The Hardy Boys Mysteries (1927-2005 #1-#190) as has Nancy with her series. They’ve solved some extremely dangerous cases that of course had danger and violence – after all, when someone is trying to kill you, that’s not a friend request, that’s very intense danger. They’re risk their lives to stop these violent wrongdoers. The Hardy Boys Mysteries (1927-2005) are definitely mysterious and dangerous with a lot of excitement and intense cases to solve. Check out what they’ve fought: Drug smuggling? Check. Murders? Check. Arson? Check. Kidnapping? Check. Hazing? Check. Theft? Check. Extortion? Check. Blackmail? Check. Greed? Check. And not just once on these things. Plus, there’re more crimes besides those that they’ve solved.

One of the many things I love about the Hardy brothers and Nancy is that so often, they prevent murders. Isn’t that the goal? Isn’t it preferable to stop a murder before it happens? Yes, it is.

The Incorrect Details/Mischaracterization (just from what I’ve seen so far) ~
Um, femme fatale Nancy Drew? Who can’t picture Nancy rolling her eyes at that? Seriously. She would laugh! If you want to write something totally different, please don’t take the names of well-known, well-loved established characters, with character, and try to tell us you’re writing the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew! Nancy is not the only one rolling her eyes! The definition of femme fatale is NOT Nancy Drew. All anyone has to do to find that fact out very easily is to look up the definition in a dictionary and read some real Nancy Drew books. In fact, I’ll post the definition so no one has to look it up. The French literal translation is fatal/disastrous woman. A femme fatale is a seductress who leads men to destruction – a Delilah.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition of Femme Fatale: a seductive woman who lures men into dangerous or compromising situations.

Yeah, Nancy Drew, not a femme fatale. She’s a brave, courageous, intelligent, nice, kind, compassionate, decent, and inspiring female.

Bonus error in synopsis that isn’t as important as the others and that would have been ignored by me, but once a reader gets irritated then it’s harder to ignore stuff: Bayport is not a resort town. Now the whole town of Bayport is laughing at that one.

I have more promo pics of the comic, but one of them has morbid, crime scene photos laying on the table of the interrogation room, that is entirely inappropriate and I’m not posting it.

The title, The Big Lie, is fitting.

The Bottom Line ~
No matter what, whatever this series says, Frank and Joe’s dad, Fenton, is alive.

I love reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, that’s pretty obvious from just a quick glance at my blog here. They are great characters. I respect them and appreciate others who actually love and respect them, too. You guys, I recommend you skip this one, unless it turns into a better mystery. There is absolutely no reason to be dragged through this. It’s depressing and I really don’t appreciate having to not only be not enthusiastic about this particular series that I had been looking forward to, but also having to even give it any amount of time during fun holidays. 🙄 There were other Dynamite Entertainment comics that I saw online that I was going to try, like The Green Hornet looked cool, but now when I see the publisher’s company name, I think of this depressing, horrific comic. However, I do want to be fair, so if I find out that this is a better mystery than how it is currently appearing, then I will adjust my words to reflect this.

If you want to read the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, there are so many good ones to read. 😎 If it’s a comic/graphic novel you want to read or re-read, check out Papercutz’s Hardy Boys #5 Sea You, Sea Me, #12 Dude Ranch, #3 Mad House to name a few and Nancy Drew #20 and #21 High School Musical Mystery, Parts 1 and 2. They will be much more enjoyable. 😎

 

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33 thoughts on “Dynamite Entertainment Presents The Big Lie #1”

  1. Thank you for the warning, Ann! In most cases I like to search out the facts for myself, but in this case, I have someone who can be entirely trusted to know what they are saying. That person is you. 🙂 Since I know that you know the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books better than anyone else I’ve conversed with – and I know very serious fans of both series. I know the books and characters and pay attention to details but you know even more. I felt no need to read past your warning. This series is obviously not a part of the real Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew realm.

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  2. Thank you for the information, Ann. I appreciate your overview & especially your adament standing up for the true characters of the Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys books. You clearly know what you are talking about. & your warning was absolutely correct. I don’t like what these people are trying to do one bit. If I just went by their own words my conclusion would be (& is) that this series is totally asininical & irrelevant. I hope they don’t hurt themselves patting themselves on the back for coming up with such a “new” idea – yeah, that kind of thing’s already been done before in another asininical & irrelevant series. That mistake has already been made (embarassing). You can’t offer bilge like that to people who know the characters & expect them to buy it – in any sense of the term. 🙄

    Appreciating the good things,
    Lily

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  3. Even if things are corrected by the end of the series, it is still irrelevant to the Hardy and Drew world and is not a cool thing to do to the fans of the books. I love reading about the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, but these characters aren’t going to appear in this comic series, going by their own spiel. I think it’s awful when people borrow the names of already established characters just to try to entice people to read or watch their garbage. I’ve got news for them: that kind of junk doesn’t work with me. I’m not interested in their series. Not cool.

    I agree with your recommendations for good comic books/graphic novel readings in the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew world. Your article here is excellent, Ann, and I agree with everything you said and so do my friends. We know the characters and know what to expect when we read any type of publication with their names on the cover.

    And that part where they (the writing and publication team) said about “examine” – that just leaves me with two feelings: either roll my eyes or (and this is the one that actually hits me first) gag. Please, that just sounds so lame and fuddy-duddy. And they want us to believe that they’re going to give us a product that is cool and up-to-date? I think it sounds pretty clueless.

    Going by what they themselves said, if these comics were being offered for free on a table at the store, I would be tempted to just walk on by them. However, I would realize that would be an unwise thing to do. I would pick up the books, find the nearest trash can, drop them none too gently within its bowels, give a brief nod and walk away.

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    • I know what you mean. I can’t help but hope they will do the right thing. Me = eternal optimist. 😛 Yep. So true – it’s not right to take beloved characters’ names and write them out of character. That’s cashing in on the draw of their names. 🙄 Most people don’t like their fave characters done like that.

      Thanks, Callie! 🙂 Cool you agree! 🙂

      Lol 😆

      Wow, that definitely says how you feel! I’m really sorry that they upset you (and all of us) like this. It is disappointing. 😦 But writing my thoughts on it and reading all of what you guys have to say about it has helped me tremendously. 🙂 Therapeutic. 🙂

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  4. When I saw that u posted something about the HB and ND new comics, I was excited as I was having hope. But when I read your post, I was mad! Seriously???? They can’t just kill off they’re father like that! I was shocked! Like really??? And the comics look inappropriate. It sounds so depressing. 😦 Thanks for the warning. I will totally avoid it! *sigh* I’ve been having hope that they will be good. 😦 I felt so upset when I saw this. I hope they’re not ending the series. 😦
    How can they do that to the HB and ND?? They are such respected characters. 😥

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    • I’m glad you’re not impressed with Dynamite Entertainment’s sorry excuse for a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series, either. They apparently aren’t interested in writing the characters for real. They are erroneously hoping to draw people to the series by using those beloved characters’ names – but they also apparently didn’t stop to think a moment and realize the people who read the real books won’t like their, as Lily put it, “asininical” series. Dynamite Entertainment, I believe, has highly embarassed themselves – but I’m not sure they are with it enough to even realize that. 🙄 They aren’t representing either the Hardy Boys or the Nancy Drew series; they are only borrowing the names.

      Edward Stratemeyer created the characters in the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books and gave them very specific personalities. He wouldn’t approve of what Dynamite Entertainment is doing at all. Plus, they might have paid for the right to borrow the names, but that doesn’t give them the moral right to destroy the personalities or lives of the characters. So, whatever happens in this irrelevant comic series means nothing and has no bearing on the true Hardy and Drew world.

      As for the real characters 🙂 : Nancy Drew newest mystery just came out this week – Riverboat Roulette. 🙂 And the Hardy Boys newest mystery will be out next month – Attack of the Bayport Beast – which has cool dirt bikes on the front and looks like a high-speed adventure! 😎

      We know what’s real, Seema. 🙂 We can just ignore Dynamite Entertainment’s disrespectful comics; they don’t count anyway.

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      • I agree with u. Dynamite Entertainment think they are doing a great job using the characters of the Hardys and Nancy disrespectfully. They just want to attract people, which I don’t appreciate!
        Yes, ur right. Edward Stratemeyer would totally not appreciate that! After seeing all this, I hate Dynamite Entertainment now!
        Yes, those Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew comics are not counted as real HB and ND at all!

        I haven’t read the recent Nancy Drew Diaries #14 Riverboat Roulette yet, but I’m hoping to get it soon. 🙂 Let me know how it is.
        I’m also excited for the new Hardy Boys Adventures. 🙂 I hope the sample will be good, and be better than the previous one- #13 Bound For Danger.

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        • Cool! 🙂 I started reading Riverboat Roulette and I’m really enjoying it!! 🙂 I think you will really like it, too, Seema, 🙂 Yes, I’m hoping that the sample for Attack of the Bayport Beast will be enough to tell us it’s by the same author who wrote Showdown at Widow Creek and Mad Man of Black Bear Mountain – those were really good! 🙂 I didn’t read Bound for Danger; it didn’t sound good. I hope you are able to read Riverboat Roulette soon! 🙂

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    • Yeah, I had been excited about the comic – before reading the synopsis and didn’t really want to have to post about it after finding out the plot, but felt like I needed to. You’re right – they can’t do that – it’s not within their power to do that. Writing something doesn’t make it true. The Hardys and Nancy have many loyal, passionate fans. 🙂
      Yep, I agree. We respect the characters and love them. 🙂

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  6. Killing Fenton Hardy???
    A big NOOOOOOO.
    And having Frank and Joe accused of killing there father.
    Also a big NOOOOOOO

    You can’t kill Fenton Hardy and you can’t kill Iola Morton.

    They will live for ever.

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  7. ❤ ♪ You beautiful, true Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew appreciators/fans are speaking up admirably in defense of the Hardys and Nancy and Iola! I'm proud of you guys! 🙂 ♪ ❤

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    • We need to keep them like they were intended.
      Fighting for the truth, for justice and for law and order.
      Timeless.
      Always willing to do the right thing.
      And Fenton and Iola are as much alive as any fictional person can be.

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      • Absolutely! You said it, Helena! 🙂
        Yes! 😎
        So true – definitely timeless – I was just thinking about that the other day – these are things that are important no matter what year it is. 😎 Things that matter and doing right is always important. 😎

        That’s right! 🙂 🙂

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  8. Grrrrrrrrrr, why? 😦 🙄 I don’t want to waste money or time on it. It’s so weird that some comic/news/review sites online don’t know there are new Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books this year (excluding Dynamite Comics) and previous years and that there’s already been 21st century HB/ND comics! o_O O_o 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄

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    • Yep, save your $$ and get Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books! 😉 It’s definitely weird – it’s not very difficult to find that info so *shrugs and shakes head*.

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