I don’t know if you know this, but when Graphic #17 ”Word Up!” is released, you’ll hold the record for most consecutive Hardy Boys books written. This record has been the late Leslie McFarlane’s since the 1930s. McFarlane, the first “Franklin W. Dixon”, actually wrote about 18 Hardys but only 16, consecutively.

Pretty cool, eh?

I guessed as much. How involved is S&S with the series? Did they just send you a guideline to fellow or do you have to send in all your plot outlines to them?

“may I call you “Spence”?”

Go ahead. Some people call me Spencer, some call me Spence.

“That is, I don’t think Fenton, Joe or Frank actually enjoy keeping the rest of the family in the dark, but I can see why they would.”

Yeah, I get why they do it to.

“Shhhhh! features another recurring character we only see in the Graphic Novels — and I’m sure an eagle eyed fan like you will recognize this person from the first frame!”

I’m looking forward to it! Actullay, I’m really looking forward to ”Shhhhhh!” in general – in the past 80+ long-suffering Laura hasn’t had much “screen time”.

Trevor: ”Back when the GN’s were first announced there was a report circulating that you were writing a story that sort of explained how Fenton Hardy set up ATAC and got Frank and Joe involved with that agency, and how Frank and Joe went from the Frank and Joe in the Digest line to the Frank and Joe in the Undercover Brothers line. Whatever happened to that story? Since “Ocean of Osyria” seemed to be a Digest Hardy Boys, and then book 2 “Identity Theft” was an ATAC story with no explanation about the setup of ATAC.”

I’ve wondered about that myself.

BTW, ”Live Free, Die Hardy!” is one of the best of the series. The Hardys arming themselves with high-powered fire arms? Hardcore! We haven’t seen the Hardys with guns since the Casefiles in the ’80s.

Excellent work on the Graphic Novels. I find the GN’s better than the regular novels that Simon & Schuster are putting out, since you tend to give us a different storyline in each book, whereas the other series is just one story repeated one book after the other.

Back when the GN’s were first announced there was a report circulating that you were writing a story that sort of explained how Fenton Hardy set up ATAC and got Frank and Joe involved with that agency, and how Frank and Joe went from the Frank and Joe in the Digest line to the Frank and Joe in the Undercover Brothers line. Whatever happened to that story? Since “Ocean of Osyria” seemed to be a Digest Hardy Boys, and then book 2 “Identity Theft” was an ATAC story with no explanation about the setup of ATAC.

Anyway, I have to echo Spencer’s words here, but I really enjoy the non-ATAC stories that you do. “Ocean of Osyria”, “The Opposite Numbers” and “Haley Danelle’s Best Eight” are my top 3 favorites. And I hope that you do some more non-ATAC stories that show Frank and Joe fighting crime by themselves, instead of receiving their assignments from a government agency.

Here’s to more non-ATAC stories of our favorite detectives!

I agree — that would be quite an interesting an intriguing story!

Unfortunately there are things that I can’t do anything in the Graphic Novel series that would contradict what is being done in the novel series. (Like, if I wanted to send Aunt Trudy off to war? Or reveal that Fenton is actually a clone from an alternate reality? Those would be big no nos!)

While the Hardy Boys are definitely NOT super heroes, look at people like Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne who have had to protect their loved ones from the scarier side of their adventures. That is, I don’t think Fenton, Joe or Frank actually enjoy keeping the rest of the family in the dark, but I can see why they would.

But who knows, Spence (may I call you “Spence”? And yes, Scott is way better than Mr. Lobdell! LOL!) maybe there will come a time when I’m given the go ahead to tell that story in the future.

Until then, keep an eye on the stories I DO get to tell! And, Shhhhh! features another recurring character we only see in the Graphic Novels — and I’m sure an eagle eyed fan like you will recognize this person from the first frame!

G.A.C.!
S!

You mentioned once in an interview that while you think ATAC is great, you enjoy non-ATAC stories, then with #14 you did do a non-ATAC story. I and many other Hardy fans aren’t huge fans of ATAC (although, like I mentioned, I really enjoy the ATAC vs. WARD stuff), so it was a breath of fresh air. I hope to see more non-ATAC stories in the future.

One ATAC story I think you should try is Laura and maybe Gertrude, too, finding out about ATAC – and not in a nice way. Maybe they don’t even find out from the boys or Fenton. Think about the possibilities of that story…How would you feel if you found out were spouse had set-up a secret crime-fighting agency behind your back, and your kids were working for him, as undercover agents! Ouch! It could even be a recurring plot thread throughout the series.

Anyway this post is getting long, but one last thing…I’m looking forward to Laura in #16 ”Shhhhhh!”. Maybe something like I mentioned will happen in that one, even, either way I’m looking forward to it.