How do you celebrate one of fiction’s most beloved and celebrated female detectives? Kill her off and have the Hardy Boys investigate who done it. Right! Right? Yeah, Polygon reported that will be the premise of a new comic from Dynamite, which will be in honor of Nancy Drew’s 90th anniversary as an iconic part of detective fiction.

Much like Xena to Hercules, Nancy Drew was created as a spinoff to the Hardy Boys, and much like Xena, the legacy of the female counterpart has usurped the original version in popularity. Since the publication of The Secret of the Old Clock in 1965, there have been several crossovers between Drew and the Boys, including the previous Dynamite comic Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie.

Edward Stratemeyer, the creator of both franchises, is one of the most prolific writers because of this and other ventures, creating over 1,300 books, including The Rover Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, and Tom Swift series. He basically invented the pillars of modern children’s literature, and while the original works had some racial and other problematic stereotypes, the books have since been edited to just represent the best of what Stratemeyer created. Despite not making a lot of female-led properties—the Dana Girls are basically the female equivalent of the Hardy Boys—what he created with Nancy Drew stands the test of time.

When I first heard this news, all I could think was, “Who signed off on this idea?” I’m sure it’ll probably be a fake-out and Nancy will be alright, but doesn’t it seem weird that this is how the idea of paying tribute to this character came together? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for one of the Hardy Boys (their names are Frank and Joe, for the record, which I just found out today) to be murdered, and she decides to help them solve it so, you know, it could be about her actively using her detective skills and not just … being a weird plot device or potential MacGuffin for other characters?

Oh well, I guess maybe they will save letting her be the protagonist of her own celebration for the 100-year anniversary?

So on her anniversary, you decide to use her death as a plot device for a DIFFERENT series? — mary — mood reader (@MaryOrtuyo) January 24, 2020

The Nancy Drew books were powerful because a smart, brave, independent young woman solved crimes by doing all the things we got told weren’t for girls. Killing her off so two male characters can have as adventure is the ultimate betrayal of that legacy. https://t.co/PW10spnHEQ — Sister Outrider (@ClaireShrugged) January 23, 2020

killing off a female lead so two men can have the spotlight does not seem like the way to celebrate her https://t.co/TZuAJ0jZCw — jillian 🍰💕✨ (@zeldawave) January 23, 2020

Well, I guess we can always just watch the CW series and just hope Nancy Drew is Gone Girl-ing them.

(via Polygon, image: The CW)

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