Mr. Pizza's Hardy Boys Forum

Other Hardy Boys Series Discussion => Hardy Boys Adventures => Topic started by: SDLagent on June 18, 2012, 07:52:29 PM

Title: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: SDLagent on June 18, 2012, 07:52:29 PM
We don't know much about the series, yet, but for me there's two specific things I've been wondering about. Will this be another reboot or a modern take/continuation on the originals? I'm hoping for a modernized version of the Hardys but without any of gimmicks they've tried to work into recent series to make the Hardys "cool". I'd like some unadulterated Hardy boys! We'll probably end-up with a new continuity of some kind but I'm betting it won't be as drastic as the UB universe (with ATAC, Aunt Trudy, and co). Maybe something akin to what the Casefiles were to the Originals.

And will the books really only be 160 pages long? I was hopping they'd be a bit longer than the UB and more inline with the original series. Plus, $15.99 seems a bit much for a 160 page hardcover. Considering The Case of the MyFace Kidnapper also "has" 160 pages, I'm guessing this is just the default page count they list for a lot of books before release.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: JoeHardyRocks on June 18, 2012, 08:56:26 PM
Well weren't the casefiles around 160 pages also?

I'm also hoping for that. No gimmicky corny, "OMG's" or mentioning current pop culture icons to try and make them relate-able. Just awesome teenagers solving mysteries/fighting crime. :)  I hope they're more like casefiles.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on June 18, 2012, 10:30:34 PM
Well, the Casefiles does have a few references here and there that can be considered dated. And so does the Originals- but these are usually more because of technology and not because of random pop culture references- that approach may have worked to make the UB books more accessible to kids today but it will definitely not give it a lot of staying power because pop culture outdates itself so quickly.
So yeah- I like SDLAgent's description- pure, unadulterated Hardy Boys action and adventure with Frank and Joe being the virtuous role models and heroes they've always been.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: SDLagent on June 19, 2012, 06:52:53 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on June 18, 2012, 10:30:34 PM
Well, the Casefiles does have a few references here and there that can be considered dated. And so does the Originals- but these are usually more because of technology and not because of random pop culture references- that approach may have worked to make the UB books more accessible to kids today but it will definitely not give it a lot of staying power because pop culture outdates itself so quickly.
So yeah- I like SDLAgent's description- pure, unadulterated Hardy Boys action and adventure with Frank and Joe being the virtuous role models and heroes they've always been.

Sometimes people forget Frank and Joe weren't always the perfect role models. Of course, the Hardys were always good kids but they actually got in to more trouble before the Originals were revised. They and their chums even played pranks on the cops sometimes!
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on June 19, 2012, 09:29:59 PM
Yes, that is true. But I generally look to the Revised books as more the standard canon at this point. And I don't mean to make out like the Hardys are little angels all the time- but for the most part, they do the right thing.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: tomswift2002 on June 20, 2012, 06:26:36 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on June 18, 2012, 10:30:34 PM
Well, the Casefiles does have a few references here and there that can be considered dated. And so does the Originals- but these are usually more because of technology and not because of random pop culture references- that approach may have worked to make the UB books more accessible to kids today but it will definitely not give it a lot of staying power because pop culture outdates itself so quickly.
So yeah- I like SDLAgent's description- pure, unadulterated Hardy Boys action and adventure with Frank and Joe being the virtuous role models and heroes they've always been.

I still remember that in Dead On Target the James Bond film franchise and Sean Connery in it.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on June 20, 2012, 10:14:55 PM
Yeah- Joe makes a reference to Kojak in that book too and I don't know how many kids would get that reference today.... (Of course, I don't know how many would've gotten it in 1987 either, for that matter...)
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: SkyWarp on June 21, 2012, 12:01:09 AM
I'm a firm believer that putting references that not everyone will understand (as long as they don't confuse) is something that helps with the stories.  If we understand everything, there is nothing to learn. 

Larry Hama of GI Joe comic writing fame does this all the time.  He never wrote the GI Joe comics for kids.  He wrote them for all ages and for himself to be surprised.  There are TONS of things in GI Joe comics that that kids will never understand.  Hama's GI Joe probably has more editor notes than all other modern comics combined.  Acronyms, historical people and sayings, military jargon, cultural and political references, literary and philosophical ideas, etc. fill the stories.  Yet, even as one looks back over the outdated technology, clothing, and cultural references, the books still are great because they focus on the characters.  Story, character development, and learning something new, always helps give media a chance to have longer lasting success. 

I hope the HBAdventures take this path.  Hopefully they don't water down the story line for the "ideal" age group.  Kids, especially those that like to read, want to have something that makes them feel more grown up.  And reading something that has stuff in it that they don't fully understand goes to help this.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on June 21, 2012, 07:55:40 AM
That's a good point, Skywarp and I think there is a lot of merit to that idea. I myself enjoy reading about things I don't understand to learn more and be challenged. It was definitely true as a kid too. I was just pointing out that it can be possible to go overboard in some regard to the point where you can't hardly understand the story without getting all the various references. As long as the focus remains on the characters and main basic plot, then yeah- I think that's fine.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: SDLagent on June 21, 2012, 05:39:50 PM
Quote from: SkyWarp on June 21, 2012, 12:01:09 AM
I'm a firm believer that putting references that not everyone will understand (as long as they don't confuse) is something that helps with the stories.  If we understand everything, there is nothing to learn. 

Larry Hama of GI Joe comic writing fame does this all the time.  He never wrote the GI Joe comics for kids.  He wrote them for all ages and for himself to be surprised.  There are TONS of things in GI Joe comics that that kids will never understand.  Hama's GI Joe probably has more editor notes than all other modern comics combined.  Acronyms, historical people and sayings, military jargon, cultural and political references, literary and philosophical ideas, etc. fill the stories.  Yet, even as one looks back over the outdated technology, clothing, and cultural references, the books still are great because they focus on the characters.  Story, character development, and learning something new, always helps give media a chance to have longer lasting success. 

I hope the HBAdventures take this path.  Hopefully they don't water down the story line for the "ideal" age group.  Kids, especially those that like to read, want to have something that makes them feel more grown up.  And reading something that has stuff in it that they don't fully understand goes to help this.

Agreed. I remember when I was little I always hated it when I felt like I was being talked down to. It's why I usually preferred National Geographic to National Geographic Kids.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: SkyWarp on June 21, 2012, 05:49:24 PM
Quote from: SDLagent on June 21, 2012, 05:39:50 PM
National Geographic Kids.

Is that the magazine that use to be called "National Geographic World"?   Both use to come with maps.  Neither do now.  :(
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on June 21, 2012, 10:33:12 PM
Definitely- I don't like kids (or anyone else for that matter) being talked down to either. Give us something to challenge us and make us think a little and maybe even (gasp and begorra!) pick up a dictionary and look up a new vocabulary word! (Just make sure it's not a 4 letter one like the ones kids were learning in the UB books...)
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: SDLagent on June 23, 2012, 02:39:59 PM
I kinda of doubt any kids were learning new words from the UB but I get what you're saying.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on June 23, 2012, 09:57:14 PM
Yeah, unfortunately you're right there... :(  (but that's just the way of the world)
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on July 25, 2012, 10:51:08 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on June 21, 2012, 10:33:12 PM
Definitely- I don't like kids (or anyone else for that matter) being talked down to either. Give us something to challenge us and make us think a little and maybe even (gasp and begorra!) pick up a dictionary and look up a new vocabulary word! (Just make sure it's not a 4 letter one like the ones kids were learning in the UB books...)

What four latter words were these? I got my eight year old cousin into the UB series, and I hope she's not expanding her vocabulary.  :-\ My mom asked if there was sex in them. I just about died from laughing.  ;D ::)
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: tomswift2002 on January 12, 2017, 05:59:16 PM
I just finished "Bound For Danger", and I must say that it has got to be the worst Adventure to date, and the way the plot worked out, just about the worst Hardy Boys book, with the UB#20 and the "killing people with hot dogs" plot just besting it.  I've read other Hardy Boys were high school or college sports was the center of the plot, but the whole hazing thing felt like it could've been a B-plot to another plot involving Bound Industries. 

Plus I felt that the characterizations of Frank and Joe were so off, and with a lot of the book taking place at Bayport High, and the cafeteria, I was left wondering why we didn't see Chet or Iola or maybe had an appearance by Tony Prito and Callie.  Although Joe did have a girlfriend in this book, but by the end they were seperated.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on January 12, 2017, 08:52:52 PM
Well, that's depressing to hear.... I hope some of the Adventures books are better than this. It is the current Hardy Boys series and I'd eventually like to get around to reading one of them. (Of course, I only read one of the Undercover Brothers books and that was enough for me on that. I feel like it may wind up being the same with this series- but we'll see.) I still have both the UB and Adventures books in my collection though- and eventually I might read them all. But I've got plenty of other books I like to read and these just haven't honestly been a high priority.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: tomswift2002 on February 16, 2017, 05:56:49 PM
I just picked up both the paperback and hardcover editions of #14 'Attack Of The Bayport Beast'.  I don't have much hope for this book.  17 chapters over a measly 106 pages.  According to the Contents page, Chapter 8 starts on page 52, Chapter 9 on page 55 and Chapter 10 on page 59.  I'm currently reading the revised text of "The Phantom Freighter" and. Y comparison Chapter 17 starts on page 147.  Also by comparison "Cult Of Crime" has Chapter 13 on page 135.  I feel short-changed with Bayport Beast.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on February 16, 2017, 11:40:12 PM
That progression should probably show the regression of kids' attention spans today. :(
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: tomswift2002 on February 17, 2017, 07:52:33 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on February 16, 2017, 11:40:12 PM
That progression should probably show the regression of kids' attention spans today. :(
Which is scary, because the book really, at 106 pages, really feels and looks physically like a book for the Clues Brothers series.  But with the Original series, I think its a valid comparison because those books are still on the market and are the Adventures competition. Plus it looks like later this year Grosset & Dunlap is going to relaunch more of the Classic Hardy's with new artwork.
Title: Re: The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)
Post by: MacGyver on February 17, 2017, 11:44:45 PM
Yeah- that's true. I saw the news you posted about the new artwork for classic Hardy Boys books- cool! However, keep in mind that the later Digests had some outliers from its usual uniformity as well. (I think the Casefiles, Original Text books and Revised Text books had the most consistency in general. Okay- and probably the Clues Brothers and similar books too.)