The Hardy Boys Adventures (general discussion)

[tomswift2002]

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.

[MacGyver]

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.

[tomswift2002]

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.

[MacGyver]

That progression should probably show the regression of kids' attention spans today.

[tomswift2002]

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.

[MacGyver]

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.)