Same sleuths, but a whole new attitude

WHO throws light on a dark corner better than Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys? They arrived in the first half of the 20th century, the brainchildren of a collective effort hidden behind the names Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon, thrilling young readers with their sunny, can-do attitudes as they investigated apparitions and strange sightings in eerie, abandoned places.

And though other characters change and age like their readers -- even Harry Potter’s magic can’t hold off adolescence -- Nancy, Frank and Joe have remained forever golden, without a wrinkle or gray hair. But that doesn’t mean they can’t stand a little updating. Aladdin Paperbacks (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) and Papercutz are two publishers introducing new prose and graphic novels clearly targeting the comics-video games-skateboarding crowd.

In the novels “Running on Fumes” (Aladdin: $4.99) and “Extreme Danger” (Aladdin: $1.99), the Hardy Boys snoop for terrorist-type thugs in the California desert and at an extreme sports event. The boys don’t stumble into mysteries as they did in the past: In the new series, they’re members of a team called American Teens Against Crime (they “attack” evil, get it?). In the graphic novel “The Demon of River Heights” (Papercutz: $7.95), Nancy looks for young filmmakers vanished in the woods a la “The Blair Witch Project,” while “Writ in Stone” (Papercutz: $7.95) has her in hot pursuit of kidnappers.

The Norman Rockwell-esque book cover illustrations of old, depicting preppy boys in sweaters and sensible girls in knee-length dresses, have given way, in the graphic novels, to characters with pixieish features typical of manga and anime. Known for her curious nature and cool head, Nancy now shows the kind of prowess once reserved for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When an angry bear chases her and her friends, Nancy fights it off -- and drops some ecologically correct attitudes in the process.

“Normally I’m a big nature fan,” she says, leaping over the bear. “I even drive a hybrid car, but sometimes you just have to make exceptions, if you want to stay alive!” Then, she’s pictured throwing a punch with a resounding “thwak!”

To some young readers, the detective work will be predictable: TV and publishing are saturated with crime stories, and Nancy and the boys aren’t unique anymore. Still, the books provide good reading practice for the 8-to-12 set, and the subject matter and language are extremely tame (in case any parent is wondering). “When did you learn to hotwire a motorbike?” Joe asks Frank in the graphic novel “The Ocean of Osyria” (Papercutz: $7.95). “The Internet is a wondrous place,” his brother says, without a trace of sibling sarcasm. In the older books, Nancy and the Hardy Boys learned lessons in friendship and self-reliance in the course of their adventures. The same is true for the new series, reminding young readers that these discoveries are just as important as the treacherous plots foiled by the end of every story. *