31 Days of Nancy Drew Topic #13 Nancy Drew Graphic Novels and Comics - A Brief Overview

31 Days of Nancy Drew Topic #13

Nancy Drew Graphic Novels and Comics - A Brief Overview

The Nancy Drew series even has graphic novels and comic books. Briefly I'll go over these - Graphic Novels from Papercutz and then 2 recent series from Dynamite Comics.

Also - all of these 31 Days blogs I've been posting here can be easily accessible at this link - and most of this information can be found at my Nancy Drew Sleuth website in the various sections there - http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com and also my Pinterest boards will be good for the collectibles blogs coming up.

NANCY DREW GRAPHIC NOVELS

Papercutz debuted their first Nancy Drew graphic novel series in 2005 based on the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series and it ran for 21 volumes through 2010 - featuring a Manga style Nancy Drew. 2012, they debuted Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew to go with the Clue Crew series and these were illustrated by Archie Comics illustrator Stan Goldberg, who several of us got to meet at the 2012 NYC Comic Con when I was moderator of a panel on Nancy Drew there. Then in 2014, Papercutz began repackaging the old Girl Detective graphic novels as Nancy Drew Diaries and a few of these were released. There were 21 graphic novels released, then 3 novels in the Nancy Drew - New Case Files Together with the Hardy Boys and then the 3 Clue Crew.

 

 

There are some advertising/promo items one can collect from the Papercutz series and I'll picture a few with the images in this posting. There are also a few related to the Dynamite comics too and I'll show those too below - these include previews/catalogs, posters, stickers and a totebag.

 

DYNAMITE NANCY DREW COMICS

2017 featured the release of the first Nancy Drew comic series written by Anthony Del Col and it was a 6 issue series - The Big Lie which featured Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys teamed up to solve Fenton Hardy's murder. Anthony will be continuing this series in the near future. This was the best comic series that came out from Dynamite in my opinion.

 

2018 there was a five issue release of Nancy Drew, an all-female driven concept in which most fans had praise for the depiction of Bess as being more of how Bess should look. The author of this series wasn't really a Nancy Drew fan per se - as she admitted in interviews, and it showed in the continuity errors and name errors/etc. of this series. You don't have to be a fan or familiar with Nancy Drew to write about Nancy Drew - but a little research never hurts either. I think most of her research consisted of the previous Big Lie Comic series from Del Col. While it was interesting, I overall preferred the Noir take of Del Col, who was a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys fan growing up - and it showed in how the characters were depicted and classic nods.

 

And I'd be remiss not to mention the Ms. Tree special comic featuring the Nancy Drew centerfold featuring Frank Miller's "Famous Detective Pin-Up" #4 - Nancy Drew - which I'll picture here instead of bringing it up in the future book related collectibles blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the comments, tell me if you collected any of these books and if so, what were your favorites? Do you prefer the Papercutz or Dynamite versions? Which Dynamite comic series did you prefer? What about the art--how did you like how it depicted Nancy Drew and her chums?

Nancy Drew Clue Crew Graphic Novel Contest

UPDATE: HERE ARE THE 3 PRIZE WINNERS FOR THE CONTEST:

Ashley, Mystery Player and Lea. E-mail your address to: sleuths@ndsleuths.com


Nancy Drew sleuths in Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #2 Secret Sand Sleuths now in print by Papercutz.

In this story, for Nancy and her pals it's a night at the museum! A beautiful sand mandala at the modern art museum is ruined. Fortunately, Nancy and the Crew are on the scene, and while they might not understand all the artwork, they know they like to solve a mystery! Following a mysterious hum, they get lost in the vast museum, and may end up facing more than they can handle.

This book comes in both paperback and hardcover versions and there is a proof out there with a blurb on the cover that it's not for resale but for sleuthing only which is cool!

This new Clue Crew graphic novel series is illustrated by Stan Goldberg. It begins with a quote from Nancy, "Interesting is what my Dad calls art when he really think it stinks." These are very cute graphic novels that are a nice companion to the regular Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew book series by Simon & Schuster.

I've got a giveaway too with this preview - it's a cool Papercutz catalog that has some neat stuff in it on the Clue Crew--good paper ephemera for Nancy Drew collectors! I'll be giving away some of these in a drawing to those who comment. Be sure to comment with your name. 

Here's your mission for your comment if you choose to accept it--name your top 5 classic Nancy Drew books you'd like to see Papercutz turn into a graphic novel! Post entries by Sun. April 28 to be entered.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Clue Crew Graphic Novel Step-By-Step

Papercutz shares with us a step-by-step for putting together Clue Crew #3!

STEP 1 - SCRIPT

This is Sarah Kinney's script for this page. In this scene, the girls are trying to decide which class pet to bring home and pet-sit while school is out. Sarah gives Stan some "acting" guidance for the characters as well as scene descriptions and dialogue. It's important for him to know how everyone is feeling and what they're thinking since he's actually telling the story in pictures rather than just illustrating it. Sarah spends a lot of time describing the note flying out the window as that's a main clue in the mystery.

Page Three

Panel 1: Just outside their closed classroom door, annoyed George scolds sheepish Bess. Nancy is catching up with them, as she looks at the back of Principal Newman walking farther down the hall.

GEORGE

Oh, Bess! Finally a chance to get Rizzo all to

ourselves, and you’re going all rat hater on us?

BESS

I don’t hate Rizzo!

Panel 2: Close on Bess who scrunches her nose and shivers in disgust.

BESS

I just can’t stand to touch him… or look at him… or

think about him…>jjrrrvv<

Panel 3: Slightly harried Mrs. Ramirez joins the girls, holding a key to the door.
Nancy looks at her, concerned.

MRS. RAMIREZ

Sorry I’m late getting back from lunch. I was

arranging a ski trip this weekend. Hate to waste

fresh snow!

NANCY

You’re not late. We’re back early to pick a pet to sit

for. But, we’re not in total agreement.

Panel 4: Looking through a half open window, past a long, large aquarium tank on the shelf, we see the classroom door starting to open. This tank is larger than any we’ve seen, and we cannot see what it contains. A folded note on the shelf beside the tank is caught by a cross breeze from the opening door. We only see Mrs. Ramirez’ name handwritten on it. Balloon from off-panel Nancy behind opening door.

HANDWRITING ON NOTE

MRS. RAMIREZ

NANCY (OFF PANEL)

George wants Rizzo, but Bess is… well, not as

thrilled about a sleepover with the rat.

Page three continued

Panel 5: As the door opens wide, the note is aloft and starts to fly out the window. The girls enter, looking back up at Mrs. Ramirez coming in behind them. Mrs. Ramirez takes the key from the lock as she opens the door. No one notices the large tank, or the flying note beside it.

NOTE (HANDWRITTEN)

MRS. RAMIREZ

MRS. RAMIREZ

Well, since it’s your turn to pick, Nancy. You have

to be the tiebreaker and do what you think is right.

NANCY

>Sigh< But, like my dad always says; the right

thing to do isn’t always the easy thing.

STEP 2 - PENCILS

Stan's pencils are really tight and almost look like the final art. He's been doing this for a while! There's a lot of action and meaning in George's facial expressions (she really wanted the rat!) and Mrs. Ramirez calms things down just by showing up. The note at the bottom of the page is from Papercutz Editor-In-Chief Jim Salicrup. It looked like the paper already blew out the window in Panel 4, so he thought Stan should show it floating outside the window in Panel 5. There's a photo of this page on Stan's drawing board, as well!

STEP 3 - FINAL

Once Stan got approval on the pencils, he went over it with an ink brush to clean it up and make it ready for print production. When you compare it to the pencils, you can see that he made some decisions about line thickness, to emphasize the important features of certain characters and de-emphasize background elements. In Panel 1, Nancy now has a much more defined outline than she did in the pencils. Colorist Laurie Smith and Letterer Todd Orzechowski then take the inked art and add color and word balloons on the computer.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew Graphic Novel Giveaway!

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew Giveaway!

UPDATE: Winners are: Matthias, Tiara, Lea, and Jerel - Jerel and Matthias, send me an e-mail at sleuths (at) ndsleuths.com with your addresses to ship one too!

The new Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew Graphic Novels are now in stores and to celebrate the debut of this new graphic novel series from Papercutz, we're having a giveaway!

To win a special Ashcan of the first novel, Small Volcanoes, comment on this Blog and tell us what you'd like to see done with the graphic novels--more classic books, more Girl Detective, and what you think of the Clue Crew novels if you've read Small Volcanoes. Be sure to put your name on the post when I do the drawing! The Ashcan features some info about Nancy Drew, a preview of the novel, and an interview with the authors Sarah Kinney and Stefan Petrucha!

Drawing will be held on Nov. 20!

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew - Small Volcanoes

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew

Graphic Novels by Papercutz

Nancy Drew begins a new adventure in the graphic novel world - as an eight-year-old sleuth in a series of Clue Crew books this October! Here's a synopsis of the first volume out from Papercutz: Small Volcanoes:

8 year old Nancy Drew decides to build a model of a volcano for her science project. Best friends George (Georgia) Fayne and a gungho Bess Marvin arrive to help. But, the next day, their teacher Mrs. Ramirez opens the door to find all the volcanoes missing. Why are they missing? Is it an actual crime or a prank? And who did it? Nancy Drew, with the help of Bess and George, is on the case!

Written by Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney and illustrated by Stan Goldberg (of Archie fame), they are illustrated in the American Comic Book style and not in Manga type style of previous Nancy Drew graphic novels. Here's a sample page:

I like the regular Comic Book style over the Manga style. The art style is definitely reminiscent of the Archies and I enjoyed the story. I think these will appeal to the young kids in the 6 to 9 set for sure. At the end of the story, they have a page with a write up on Nancy Drew with a little bit of history on the series and they feature the classic Nancy Drew Old Clock cover (3rd at Nappi) and one of the Girl Detective Graphic Novels.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Panel at NY Comic Con - Oct. 14

New York Comic Con

Nancy Drew Panel

Nancy Drew Fans: Are you attending this year's NY Comic Con? 

Nancy Drew, Comics Detective! will be a panel on Sun. Oct. 14: 2:45pm-3:45pm. NY Comic Con is located at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

I'll be moderating the panel featuring many on the Papercutz team that produces the Nancy Drew graphic novels like the soon to be released Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew series, plus comic and Nancy Drew collector and fan, Todd H. Latoski! Come out and join us for some Super Sleuthing Fun :)

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & The Clue Crew Graphic Novels

Nancy Drew Graphic Novels are Back!

Papercutz is debuting their new series of Nancy Drew Graphic Novels based on he Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew books styled in American Comic Book style rather than Manga.

These will debut October 2012 with the first title, Small Volcanoes.

Here's the specs on that volume:

Title: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew Graphic Novel #1 "Small Volcanoes"
Author: Sarah Kinney and Stefan Petrucha
Artist: Stan Goldberg
Description: 8 year old Nancy Drew decides to build a model of a volcano for her science project. Best friends George (Georgia) Fayne and a gung-ho Bess Marvin arrive to help. But, the next day, their teacher Mrs. Ramirez opens the door to find all the volcanoes missing. Why are they missing? Is it an actual crime or a prank? And who did it? Nancy Drew, with the help of Bess and George, is on the case!

6x9, full-color, 64 pages
Paperback $6.99, ISBN: 978-1-59707-354-7
Hardcover $10.99, ISBN: 978-1-59707-355-4

Here are a couple of sample pages:

Jenn:)