The Creators – Anthony Del Col – Writer, Joe Eisma – Artist, Crank! – Letters, Salvatore Aiala – Colours

The Players – Joe Hardy, Frank Hardy, Nancy Drew, Carson Drew

The Story – Nancy Drew is dead. Or is she?

The Take – Continuing shortly after the events in The Big Lie, a story told by this very same creative team, it finds Nancy Drew apparently dead by suicide and Joe Hardy unable to take his mind off of it and her. Writer Anthony Del Col writes a good piece of tragedy and Joe Eisma paints the forlorn Hardy boy well, so much so that it leads to Joe doing what he does best and that is investigating that which he does not believe despite all evidence to the contrary. Frank tries his best to be the shoulder to lean on, but it comes to a point where Frank can only do so much before he gets frustrated with his obstinate brother. Joe knows that Nancy was murdered, knows that there is more to the story than what appears to be the truth and with his mind set, he intends to get to the bottom of it no matter where it takes him. Del Col makes it look like The Syndicate might have been responsible throughout the tale, the group having played a large role in the previous storyline and with Nancy’s obsession over them, it is an obvious conclusion. The story takes Joe all over town, tracing her movements from friends to her father to the professionals overseeing the case. He even manages to get himself a possible murder rap in the process until finally, the truth of it all is staring back at him. All of it reads like a procedural crossed with a CW show, much like the new Nancy Drew television show but with the added bonus of the Hardy Boys and even a mention of the Bobbsey Twins who definitely need to make an appearance at some point, an added bonus for fans of these classic properties. The artwork is just as stunning, as dark and moody as the series that preceded this one and it puts one in the mood for the mystery that unfolds. By the end of the issue, despite Joe’s revelation, readers know that there is more to it than that and are left on a cliff-hanger which makes buying the next issue a foregone conclusion.

Worth It? – Yes.