Newton's third law of heroics - For every hero, there is an equal but opposite villain
Feb. 11th, 2012 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scans_dailyI've been meaning to post this for a while since IIRC greenmask asked about it
This is from the Papercutz graphic novels (and is about 27 pages of 88), written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by Daniel Rendon and Paolo Hernandes, where the Hardy Boys have rarely looked more manga-ish and are not so much heading towards bishonen, as running full tilt towards it. If you like that sort of thing, enjoy, if not, you may prefer to avoid this post.
I post this, not just because it features the Hardy Boys fighting crime in their jim-jam's (though that doesn't hurt) and being forced to their knees at gunpoint (not quite a turn on, but hardly a turn-off either)
but because it introduces a concept it's really rather surprising it took them this long to get around to.
So join me, won't you, as Frank and Joe Hardy meet;
It's Spring Break (a very American thing I understand) in Bayport and our heroes are looking forward to a little relaxation. Their friends are heading off to various events; Chet to "Food Tasting Camp" (which he claims is very scientific), Iola is doing some work with a charitable group, and Callie is working on her podcasts (See, they're hip!). In this take on the characters, Iola and Joe are sort of dating, but Frank is not dating Callie, and is repeatedly shown to be shy klutz around girls, who, of course, find this an adorable trait.
Also, for those not familiar with this iteration, Frank and Joe are also members of A.T.A.C.: American Teens Against Crime, one of those rather worrying if you think about it for more than a moment ideas. Created by their father, Fenton Hardy, A.T.A.C. is a top secret Goverment agency which uses underage agents to go where adults can't... (Hmm... Underagents, that has to a title for something but I'm not sure I want to ponder what). Now given Joe and Frank's experiences, they would have more field time than some entire covert agencies field teams combined, but even so.... (and it makes the ethical issues address in the "Alex Rider" books look like amateur night). However in another slightly worrying turn, whilst Fenton knows about their missions, neither he nor they have told MRS Hardy about any of this. But I digress...
The boys gets a new mission, in California, but it's not due to start for a week, so Mr Hardy decides to treat the boys to a little mini-vacation as a thank you, they'll travel across country in a new luxury train, seeing the sights along the way.
It's a big train... a very big train... a big sleek long, powerful train...Paging Dr Freud....
(Oh, and when I said Joe and Iola were dating it appears to be a fairly open sort of a thing, or else Iola doesn't mind a little looking at other girls as long as nothing happens... or a threesome is possible... okay I made that last bit up.... or DID I?)
Another train suddenly appears heding straight towards... actually, y'know what, I've only just noticed that at no point does the train get a name, normally they always have a cool name, but not this one, it's just a "big shiny luxury train", go figure. So the boys immediately leap into action, and I do mean "leap", I'm not sure Batman could make this move without a batline.
They make it to the switching tower and Frank (being the techno-geek of the duo) manages to work out the system just enough to sideline the other train before impact, the switching controller having apparently fainted (Which the boys find a mire suspicious, but can't really do much about). The train leaves without further incident and Frank and Joe are offered a free meal as a thank you... (Oh come on, you mean their trip wasn't even inclusive of food? Last of the big spenders that Mr Hardy)
Anyway, in the dining car, they find the girls Joe was ogling earlier....
Other travellers join them...
Yeah that's their mission outfits for the rest of the story, never say I'm not good to you.... (and that elderly lady keeps showing up, despite never actually getting a name or introduction)
They find a conductor half-hanging out of the train, only being kept from falling to his death by the fact his watch-chain got caught on the door frame.
What the security guard might have thought was going on I leave to your imaginations...
Nicolina's a smart cookie, and of course thes boys innocence is proved, since the footage shows them leaving their room only after the alarm had been raised (Why the camera's didn't catch who actually DID push the conductor is not elaborated on, but then, this isn't Agatha Christie.)
Dang but they're both so pretty, but they're brothers and I can never work that kink even in my head.
They decide to stop for a snack, and instead find their fellow passenger Tre Gelbman, scantily clad and tied up in the freezer compartment (If you want to see that, go buy the book, I have enough kinks of my own thanks :P). They rescue her of course, but she has no clue who did it, or why anyone would want to.
Finally the boys make it back to their compartment...
A day like any other for the Freres Hardy... I love Joe's expression there as he finds the bomb. He and Frank manage to shove the bed back up into the wall it folded out from to muffle the blast (Though whether the poor sods in the compartment next door survived is another matter)
The security guard shows up again, and again seems to enjoy holding well-muscled, handsome young men, in their underwear.... with their hands up.... and on their knees at gunpoint... I don't know whether to be appalled.... or applaud.
Shira and Nicolina both leap at the guard to give the boys a chance to explain themselves.
I have no idea who she is, but random psycho granny is rather fun...
Joe manages to pull the Emergency Cord, and the train screeches to a stop, knocking everyone over. Shira grads the gun and covers the guard again, but Frank and Joe appear to have vanished down through an emergency panel in the floor.
Way to encourage your kid brother Frank....
They end up in another compartment, one where all the staff uniforms are kept, so disguise themselves as stewards, hoping they'll pass unrecognised, but in doing so they come across yet ANOTHER disturbing scene....
Of course they MAKE it their business, but it's all right, he's apparently simply upset about her writing a bad review for his last book about trains (Given the sample she quotes, she had a point). They calm things down and the guy grovels and apology....
Realising that he had nothing to do with the other attacks and not being under immediate threat at gunpoint, the Hardys shuck the steward outfits and try to think things out... whilst posing in a suitably windswept location at the back of the train...
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!
Joe notices that the train is now picking up speed... a LOT of speed... way past safety limits.
Since it's logical the person wanting to do this must be on board, but is probably going to make a getaway first (unless they're suicidal, which seems unlikely), they split up. Frank to get his equipment to try and hack the train controls to slow it down, Joe to the roof of the train, the most logical place to try and make a getaway from since jumping is a no-no
Can you guess who it is? I'll bet you can! And they have quite the explanation...
Suddenly the train slows, Frank has been successful in hacking his hacked system and shutting things down on his PDA. He joins Joe on the roof of the train and tries to get the Noir Sisters to surrender.
Sigh... okay, that was a very weak save there, pulling an overly complicated piece of tech out of nowhere (I'd say out of their ass, but Hardy Boy ass takes my mind to other places)
Rather than run to the other end of the tunnel to be picked up, Frank deduces they'll have run back to the start of the tunnel (which is closer) where they can climb up the mountain to a better vantage point for signalling for a pickup....
Turns out it's ATAC forces who take the Sisters off to... whatever it is that ATAC do with wrongdoers.
And so we end this story.... or do we?
Several days later the Boys finally arrive in California (presumably without any further incident...)
And this, of course, would be far from the last time we would see the Nicolina and Shira, the Noir Sisters, who continue to prove themselves as effective foils for Frank and Joe, the Hardy Boys....a little violence, a little schemeing, a little mutual flirting and UST... what more could any two adolescent action adveturesome guys ask for in their nemeses?
And to close... a page from the preview of their next story, just because....
greenmask asked about itThis is from the Papercutz graphic novels (and is about 27 pages of 88), written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by Daniel Rendon and Paolo Hernandes, where the Hardy Boys have rarely looked more manga-ish and are not so much heading towards bishonen, as running full tilt towards it. If you like that sort of thing, enjoy, if not, you may prefer to avoid this post.
I post this, not just because it features the Hardy Boys fighting crime in their jim-jam's (though that doesn't hurt) and being forced to their knees at gunpoint (not quite a turn on, but hardly a turn-off either)
but because it introduces a concept it's really rather surprising it took them this long to get around to.
So join me, won't you, as Frank and Joe Hardy meet;
It's Spring Break (a very American thing I understand) in Bayport and our heroes are looking forward to a little relaxation. Their friends are heading off to various events; Chet to "Food Tasting Camp" (which he claims is very scientific), Iola is doing some work with a charitable group, and Callie is working on her podcasts (See, they're hip!). In this take on the characters, Iola and Joe are sort of dating, but Frank is not dating Callie, and is repeatedly shown to be shy klutz around girls, who, of course, find this an adorable trait.
Also, for those not familiar with this iteration, Frank and Joe are also members of A.T.A.C.: American Teens Against Crime, one of those rather worrying if you think about it for more than a moment ideas. Created by their father, Fenton Hardy, A.T.A.C. is a top secret Goverment agency which uses underage agents to go where adults can't... (Hmm... Underagents, that has to a title for something but I'm not sure I want to ponder what). Now given Joe and Frank's experiences, they would have more field time than some entire covert agencies field teams combined, but even so.... (and it makes the ethical issues address in the "Alex Rider" books look like amateur night). However in another slightly worrying turn, whilst Fenton knows about their missions, neither he nor they have told MRS Hardy about any of this. But I digress...
The boys gets a new mission, in California, but it's not due to start for a week, so Mr Hardy decides to treat the boys to a little mini-vacation as a thank you, they'll travel across country in a new luxury train, seeing the sights along the way.
It's a big train... a very big train... a big sleek long, powerful train...Paging Dr Freud....
(Oh, and when I said Joe and Iola were dating it appears to be a fairly open sort of a thing, or else Iola doesn't mind a little looking at other girls as long as nothing happens... or a threesome is possible... okay I made that last bit up.... or DID I?)
Another train suddenly appears heding straight towards... actually, y'know what, I've only just noticed that at no point does the train get a name, normally they always have a cool name, but not this one, it's just a "big shiny luxury train", go figure. So the boys immediately leap into action, and I do mean "leap", I'm not sure Batman could make this move without a batline.
They make it to the switching tower and Frank (being the techno-geek of the duo) manages to work out the system just enough to sideline the other train before impact, the switching controller having apparently fainted (Which the boys find a mire suspicious, but can't really do much about). The train leaves without further incident and Frank and Joe are offered a free meal as a thank you... (Oh come on, you mean their trip wasn't even inclusive of food? Last of the big spenders that Mr Hardy)
Anyway, in the dining car, they find the girls Joe was ogling earlier....
Other travellers join them...
Yeah that's their mission outfits for the rest of the story, never say I'm not good to you.... (and that elderly lady keeps showing up, despite never actually getting a name or introduction)
They find a conductor half-hanging out of the train, only being kept from falling to his death by the fact his watch-chain got caught on the door frame.
What the security guard might have thought was going on I leave to your imaginations...
Nicolina's a smart cookie, and of course thes boys innocence is proved, since the footage shows them leaving their room only after the alarm had been raised (Why the camera's didn't catch who actually DID push the conductor is not elaborated on, but then, this isn't Agatha Christie.)
Dang but they're both so pretty, but they're brothers and I can never work that kink even in my head.
They decide to stop for a snack, and instead find their fellow passenger Tre Gelbman, scantily clad and tied up in the freezer compartment (If you want to see that, go buy the book, I have enough kinks of my own thanks :P). They rescue her of course, but she has no clue who did it, or why anyone would want to.
Finally the boys make it back to their compartment...
A day like any other for the Freres Hardy... I love Joe's expression there as he finds the bomb. He and Frank manage to shove the bed back up into the wall it folded out from to muffle the blast (Though whether the poor sods in the compartment next door survived is another matter)
The security guard shows up again, and again seems to enjoy holding well-muscled, handsome young men, in their underwear.... with their hands up.... and on their knees at gunpoint... I don't know whether to be appalled.... or applaud.
Shira and Nicolina both leap at the guard to give the boys a chance to explain themselves.
I have no idea who she is, but random psycho granny is rather fun...
Joe manages to pull the Emergency Cord, and the train screeches to a stop, knocking everyone over. Shira grads the gun and covers the guard again, but Frank and Joe appear to have vanished down through an emergency panel in the floor.
Way to encourage your kid brother Frank....
They end up in another compartment, one where all the staff uniforms are kept, so disguise themselves as stewards, hoping they'll pass unrecognised, but in doing so they come across yet ANOTHER disturbing scene....
Of course they MAKE it their business, but it's all right, he's apparently simply upset about her writing a bad review for his last book about trains (Given the sample she quotes, she had a point). They calm things down and the guy grovels and apology....
Realising that he had nothing to do with the other attacks and not being under immediate threat at gunpoint, the Hardys shuck the steward outfits and try to think things out... whilst posing in a suitably windswept location at the back of the train...
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!
Joe notices that the train is now picking up speed... a LOT of speed... way past safety limits.
Since it's logical the person wanting to do this must be on board, but is probably going to make a getaway first (unless they're suicidal, which seems unlikely), they split up. Frank to get his equipment to try and hack the train controls to slow it down, Joe to the roof of the train, the most logical place to try and make a getaway from since jumping is a no-no
Can you guess who it is? I'll bet you can! And they have quite the explanation...
Suddenly the train slows, Frank has been successful in hacking his hacked system and shutting things down on his PDA. He joins Joe on the roof of the train and tries to get the Noir Sisters to surrender.
Sigh... okay, that was a very weak save there, pulling an overly complicated piece of tech out of nowhere (I'd say out of their ass, but Hardy Boy ass takes my mind to other places)
Rather than run to the other end of the tunnel to be picked up, Frank deduces they'll have run back to the start of the tunnel (which is closer) where they can climb up the mountain to a better vantage point for signalling for a pickup....
Turns out it's ATAC forces who take the Sisters off to... whatever it is that ATAC do with wrongdoers.
And so we end this story.... or do we?
Several days later the Boys finally arrive in California (presumably without any further incident...)
And this, of course, would be far from the last time we would see the Nicolina and Shira, the Noir Sisters, who continue to prove themselves as effective foils for Frank and Joe, the Hardy Boys....a little violence, a little schemeing, a little mutual flirting and UST... what more could any two adolescent action adveturesome guys ask for in their nemeses?
And to close... a page from the preview of their next story, just because....
no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 08:36 pm (UTC)hmmmmm.....pretty tied up boys......what?....stop looking at me like that....oh, it's not just me? :P
no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 08:53 pm (UTC)And on s_d, no, it's NEVER just you.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 09:06 pm (UTC)Like, Frank and Callie are not together? Is this real life??
And then they swing from a streetlight
It is confusing.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 09:08 pm (UTC)We lose Frank/Callie, but we do gain a delightfully dorky Frank in return who is quite a bit of fun like that.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 10:09 pm (UTC)Speaking of which, maybe some of the names should be updated; Chet and Iola particularly sound like they stepped out of the Depression era (which is, you know, the truth). Man, I remember having to look up "jalopy" in a dictionary just to find out what Chet's car was supposed to be. However, points to the writers of the comic for coming up with a plot that recalls the period origins of the Boys, what with the murder plot on a train and all.
By the way, when whatserface says "I flipped for you" did anyone else think she meant sexual orientation? Because that was the first thing that popped into my head and I was kind of mystified why she was mentioning it in the middle of a life-or-death battle.
Oh yes, and here's McSweeney's take on updating the Hardy Boys: a rejected proposal for The Case of the Secret Meth Lab.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-11 10:29 pm (UTC)The suit and tie look of the 1920's and 1930's, the crew cuts and polo shirts of the early 60's (and let's not foget the psychadelic cartoon from the late 1960's, the feathered haired heartthrobs of the 1970's, the 90210 types from the 1980's and so on into the 1990's and brief new TV series,. (There's a great website about the look of the books here)
Not being American I couldn't tell you how prevalent Chet and Iola are now as names, but Aunt Gertrude has been revamped into Aunt Trudy, a much younger, less battle-axe-y type of character, which more or less makes her pointless.
Love the link BTW :)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 01:11 am (UTC)And yeah, love that McSweeney's. It seems appropriate for s_d to link the rejected proposal for a new superhero named Captain Crochet.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-13 02:19 am (UTC)Case in point: FAMOUS AUTHORS NARRATE THE FUNNY PAGES
no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 12:24 am (UTC)For myself, I was a little surprised at the exchange,
Shira: "She's a little shy around boys"
Joe: (Looking shy) "I know the type"
no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 01:17 pm (UTC)It's a delightful stage musical about the Hardy Boys ("The only mystery they can't solve is their own sexual identity") and their friends growing up a little... Callie having a uniform fetish (and Frank being rather interested in that), Chet declaring his love for Joe, and a flattered Joe not being able to decide what his preferences are yet, but knowing that his friends and family wil love him regardless when he does.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 02:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 07:19 pm (UTC)Amusingly...
Date: 2012-02-11 10:45 pm (UTC)Re: Amusingly...
Date: 2012-02-11 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 11:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 12:17 pm (UTC)As for evil, they are basically anarchist terrorists, quite happy to kill individuals, or indeed everyone on the train because it suited their aims.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-12 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-13 02:24 am (UTC)