January 27th is STEFAN PETRUCHA’s birthday!

One of the questions comicbook editors are asked most often is “What exactly does a comicbook editor do?” Comicbook editing is such a mysterious profession, that you might be better off asking Nancy Drew for the answer. Some of the answer is fairly obvious—assigning writers and artists to create comicbooks or graphic novels on an agreed upon schedule. And one of the things that makes any editors’ job incredibly easier is to be lucky enough to assign a writer who just happens to be brilliantly talented, incredibly reliable, and always a pleasure to work with. Such a writer is Stefan Petrucha.

 

 

Stefan Petrucha is all those things and more. As writer or co-writer (with Sarah Kinney) of the NANCY DREW graphic novels he has kept our favorite Girl Detective hopping in one amazing mystery after another:

 

In “The Demon of River Heights,” Nancy exposes the true demon and the dangers of cigarette smoking. And this premiere Nancy Drew graphic novel wins the Benjamin Franklin Award.

 

“Writ In Stone” questions who really discovered America.

 

“The Haunted Dollhouse” celebrates and namedrops many of the classic Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew Mysteries.

 

“The Girl Who Wasn’t There” brings Nancy, George, and Bess to India to help a friend Nancy meant when call tech support.

 

“The Fake Heir” shows that even when Nancy has a bad day, which included a spider bite on her nose, she can still solve a mystery.

 

In “Mr. Cheeters is Missing” Nancy must find a kidnapped chimp, without making a monkey of herself.

 

Nancy also discovers “The Charmed Bracelet” is actually cursed.

 

 

“Global Warning” is not only an ecological thriller, it actually ties-in with one of the great Her Interactive Nancy Drew computer games.

 

Then there’s the “High Miles Mystery,” a Nancy Drew trilogy, that includes “Ghost in the Machinery,” “The Disoriented Express,” and “Monkey Wrench Blues.” See what happens when a new fuel is invented that could change the world.

 

After such a awesome adventures, Nancy is brought back down to Earth with “Dress Reversal” – a tale that actually sees her trapped in a van with Deirdre Shannon.

 

After finding various missing persons—including a chimp—Nancy is challenged to find and entire missing community in “Doggone Town.” She also finds Togo, her new dog.

 

Sometimes finding a missing person, or in this case, a missing tiger can be dangerous as Nancy learns in “Tiger Counter.” This one is a Distinguished iParenting Media Award Winner!

 

With nothing up her sleeves, Nancy matches wits with a popular professional magician in “Sleight of Dan.”

 

Balloon rides can be fun, but not when you’re dangling from one like Nancy does in “What Goes Up…”

 

Nancy travels to Turkey with her dad, and after surviving a “Night of the Living Chatchke” winds up trapped in the “City Under the Basement.”

 

Nancy spends most of “Ciffhanger” literally hanging from a ledge, but that doesn’t impede her powers of deduction.

 

And coming soon, in time to celebrate Nancy’s 80^th Anniversary, “High School Musical Mystery Part One,” featuring the very first encounter between Nancy Drew and Carolyn Keene’s sister sleuths, the Dana Girls!

 

 

And that’s just what Stefan’s been dreaming up for Nancy Drew! Somehow he’s not only found time to write such novels as The Timetripper series, The Shadow of Frankenstein, The Wicked Dead series (with Thomas Pendleton), Teen Inc., The Rule of Won, and coming in March, Split, but he’s also written comics such as Mickey Mouse, Duckman, The X-Files, Spider-Man, Squalor, Meta-4, and for Papercutz, several stories for TALES FROM THE CRYPT, including the super-popular parody “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid.”

 

 

As you can probably guess, I’m not only Stefan’s editor at Papercutz, I’m also a big fan of his work, which I’m sure you will be too if you check out any Petrucha-penned publication! So, Happy Birthday, Stefan!  And keep those scripts coming!