|
"Hardy Boys" redirects here. For the professional wrestling tag team, see Hardy Boyz. The Hardy Boys is a popular series of detective/adventure books for boys chronicling the fictional adventures of teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy. The original Hardy Boys series was produced between 1927 and 1979 under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon. Series history The Hardy Boys is a creation of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the creators of dozens of successful book series such as the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift, and later, Nancy Drew. Edward Stratemeyer conceived of the Hardy Boys in 1926 with the creation of plot outlines that would become the first volumes of the series. Various ghostwriters were employed, under contract of secrecy, to pen the actual stories. The first author was Leslie McFarlane, whose writing defined the literary style of the series, as well as the personalities and nuances of its characters. McFarlane authored volumes 1-16 and 22-24, which are generally regarded as the best works of the series. Substantial revisions to the first 38 titles began in 1959. Over the course of 15 years the series was revised to modernize outdated vernacular, reduce story length, age the characters and remove the ethnic and racial stereotypes prevalent in many of the early books (although the series was unusually inclusive for the era in having two non-WASP Hardy sidekicks who were portrayed as normal, fully assimilated teenagers -- Tony Prito and Phil Cohen). The result of this process varied from one book to another. In some cases only minor changes resulted, while in others the entire plot and storyline were thrown out, resulting in an entirely new book bearing no resemblance to the original. In 1979, after 52 years and 58 titles (plus the didactic Hardy Boys' Detective Handbook), Grosset & Dunlap lost the rights to publish any new Hardy Boys tales in a protracted court battle with the Syndicate. They did retain the right to continue publishing these 58 titles (referred to by some Hardy Boys enthusiasts as the canon) and continue to do so to this day, despite several changes in ownership. In the meantime, Simon & Schuster continued the series in the Hardy Boys Digest series of paperback books. In 2005 the venerable Digest series was ended with volume 190 and a new series, The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, was started. The Undercover Brothers series is supplemented by a series of graphic novels and, initially, a now-discontinued series of comic books. Also in 2005 Grosset & Dunlap gained permission to continue publishing more titles in hardcover, starting with Digest volumes 59 to 66. The Hardy Boys also appeared in several spin-off series: The Casefiles (127 volumes), the Clues Brothers (17 volumes), with Tom Swift in the 2 volume Ultra-Thriller series and with Nancy Drew in the 36 volume Supermystery series & the 6 volume Be Your Own Detective series. Hardy Boys books have been issued in over 25 languages, including Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, French, German, Sinhala, Japanese, Russian, Malay, and Afrikaans. Story background The Hardy Boys are brother amateur detectives. Frank Hardy is the elder of the two, and Joe Hardy is the younger. The stories are an unageing series as, despite their hundreds of adventures totaling far more than a year, they are always 17 and 18 years old, (originally, they were 15 and 16 years old, but this was changed in the later printings) and it is always, approximately, the present day. The two boys live in the fictional city of Bayport (on Barmet Bay) with their father, Fenton Hardy, a private detective formerly with the New York Police Department, their mother Laura Hardy (erroneously called Mildred in The Flying Express), and their Aunt Gertrude, a character often used for comic relief. Frank's longtime platonic girlfriend is Callie Shaw, while Joe is often linked with Iola Morton, the sister of the duo's good friend Chet Morton, another comic relief character. Other friends who assist the brothers include Phil Cohen, Biff Hooper, Jerry Gilroy and Tony Prito. The Bayport Police Department is represented by Police Chief Ezra (at least in one book "Clint") Collig (in Flying Express he is called Chief Finch), and Patrolman Con Riley. 'Detective' Oscar Smuff is often seen in cases as he comically blunders trying to solve a mystery. In the older stories, the Hardy Boys' cases often are linked to the confidential cases their detective father is currently working on. He sometimes asks them for help, while at other times they stumble upon villains and incidents that are connected to his cases. The Hardys have a motorboat named the Sleuth and a yellow convertible (In volumes 1-6, they use motorcycles, but this changes when Joe's is destroyed in "The Shore Road Mystery"). Mr. Hardy has an airplane, which is described in some books as being twin-engined, single-engined in others. Chet Morton has a jalopy called the Queen, which is at times described as being tomato red, other times being bright yellow. Biff Hooper has a jalopy, Tony Prito has a motorboat called the Napoli and drives his father's pick-up truck. In 1987, a spin-off series, the Hardy Boy Casefiles, targeted at older readers, was introduced. Consisting of 127 volumes, these stories were much darker in tone and featured plots involving bioterrorism and other kinds of terrorism, espionage, government conspiracies, cults, militia groups, and organized crime. They also featured a level of violence unseen in previous Hardy Boys stories, a fact that became evident to readers in the opening pages of the first "Hardy Boys Casefile" novel as longtime supporting cast member Iola Morton was murdered by a bomb planted in the Hardys' car. The original series (1927-1979) The Hardy Boys Mysteries ("Hardy Boys Digest|Digests") (1979-2005)
The Clues Brothers (1997-2000)
The Hardy Boys Casefiles (1987-1998) The Casefiles series, aimed at older readers, was published by Archway Paperbacks (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) between 1987 and 1998. The Casefiles were a drastic change from the established Hardy Boys world. Some of their major features: The list of Casefiles is below:
The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers (2005-Date) "The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers" is a series of paperback books which replaced the Digest paperbacks in early 2005. The Hardy Boys are now agents of A.T.A.C. (American Teens Against Crime) and are solving more realistic and/or violent crimes. This series is written in first-person narrative style with Frank and Joe alternating chapters.
Spy Set - Box set of volumes 1-4 (2005) Undercover Brothers Super Mystery (2006-Date) Wanted - Super Mystery Kidnapped At The Casino - Super Mystery Undercover Brothers Graphic Novels (2005-Date) The Undercover Brothers also appear in a series of graphic novels by Papercutz. 1. The Ocean of Osyria - 2005 2. Identity Theft 3. Mad House 4. Malled - 2006 5. Sea You, Sea Me 6. Hyde & Shriek 7. The Opposite Numbers 8. Board To Death - 2007 Crossovers The Hardy Boys teamed up with two other series book protagonists; Nancy Drew and Tom Swift. The Ultra-Thriller Series (1992-1993) The two volume Ultra-Thriller series was a short-lived Hardy Boys spin off that joined boy inventor Tom Swift with the crime-solving Hardy Boys, Frank & Joe. Although the Franklin W. Dixon pseudonym was used, the series was more akin to the then-current Tom Swift IV series. Supermystery|The Super Mystery Series (1988-1998)
TV appearances The Hardy Boys have appeared five times on television, including programs on The Mickey Mouse Club in 1956 and 1957 starring Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk. In 1967, NBC aired a pilot called "The Mystery Of The Chinese Junk" starring Tim Matthieson (later Matheson) as Joe Hardy and Rick Gates as Frank. Two years later, in 1969, ABC ran a Saturday Morning cartoon series (produced by Filmation) and later an ABC prime time series starring Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy from 1977-1979. There was also a syndicated 13 episode Canadian series in 1995 with Paul Popowich produced by Nelvana. The Mickey Mouse Club series, the animated series and the 1970s ABC-TV series were responsible for the creation of many items of Hardy Boys memorabilia such as board games, comic books, jigsaw puzzles, dolls and other items. The teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy was featured on many of the 1970s items of memorabilia. The animated series produced two bubblegum music albums released by RCA: 'Here Come The Hardys' and 'Wheels'. Several singles from the albums were also released. Other In 2002-3, Random House issued the first seven volumes on audio cassette. September 2005 saw the release of the first ever Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew "Supermystery" PC Game. In 2005 the first season of the ABC-TV Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was released on DVD. In 2006, the 1995 Canadian Hardy Boys show was released on DVD in Canada. Also in 2006, the "Tower Treasure" serial from the Mickey Mouse Club was released on DVD. The stories have inspired some authors to create their own Hardy Boys fan fiction. The Hardy Boys were parodied as the "Hardly Boys" in the South Park episode Mystery of the Urinal Deuce, first aired in October 2006. See also | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| |