This year represents the 90th birthday of the iconic fictional detective Nancy Drew, and a new comic from Dynamite is choosing to celebrate the anniversary in an incredibly strange way. The publisher announced on Thursday that, in honor of the character’s 90th birthday, Nancy Drew would be starring in another comic series, but not as the one solving the crime. This new book begins with the death of Nancy Drew, and her friends the Hardy Boys have been called in to solve her murder.
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Nancy Drew’s major milestone is being honored by killing the character off in order to let her two male counterparts take center stage and solve the case. There will likely be more to this comic than it seems, but the premise alone is more than enough to frustrate fans of the character.
Social media nearly exploded after Polygon announced the book’s details and creative team. Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew #1 is meant to be a major event in the history of all three characters, but it sounds like a lot of fans want nothing to do with it. After all, is killing a character really the right way to celebrate her legacy?
Take a look at what a few of Nancy Drew’s fans had to say:
“We Killed Her”
“Hey, how’d you celebrate that iconic young woman sleuth character? The one beloved by many?”
— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) January 24, 2020
“We killed her, stuffed her body in a fridge, had two less popular boy sleuths solve the murder, thus robbing her of agency. Very respectful of the character and of women in general.” https://t.co/UPs8QuDi4Y
Nancy’s Death as a Plot Device
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
That Doesn’t Seem Right
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
Betrayal of a Legacy
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
Gross
As a life long Hardy Boys fan, this is accurate and killing off NANCY DREW, who is by far the better detective, is gross https://t.co/mLg7SwpWUd
— Jake (@YungTimberWolf) January 24, 2020
Shoves Nancy Aside
Nancy Drew probably hasn’t been killed off, but a much better way to tell this story would have been to have a bunch of girl detectives inspired by her do the work of solving what happened to her. Bringing those Hardy jamokes in doesn’t pay tribute to her; it shoves her aside.
— Tom & Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo) January 24, 2020
Seems Ick
It’s true that comics, in my limited experience, are enamored of killing the unkillable for a good stunt. But everything is not the same as everything else, because *a social and commercial context for things exists*, and this seems ick. https://t.co/QDg8tBmzgz
— Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes) January 24, 2020
They Fridged Nancy??
Coming up for air from impeachment… did they FRIDGE NANCY DREW????
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) January 24, 2020
Heated
I’m heated. Why kill Nancy Drew off? Why not ax one of the Hardy Boys and have her solve his murder, I mean there are at least two of them. pic.twitter.com/M6WAOxAXWz
— Melanie Dotcity 76/7175 📗 (@MelanieDotcity) January 24, 2020
Out the Window
I don’t know how I am supposed to focus on taxes when two men have been assigned to create a Nancy Drew comic in which the Hardy Boys investigate her death. My concentration is out the window. Fuck the patriarchy.
— A. N. Devers (@andevers) January 24, 2020
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
