The lost characters

[SDLagent]

Thinking about all the Hardy's chums missing from the Undercover Brothers got me thinking of ALL the characters who have disappeared never to be heard again.

Perry Robinson - a regular member of the "gang" until volume ten of the original series, ''What Happened at Midnight''. And when the books were revised he was written out of all except for book one.

Jerry Gilroy - appeared in even more then Perry, staring in books as late as #23 ''The Melted Coins'', but he to disappeared, and like Perry his role was further reduced when the books were revised. I actually think Jerry is a more interesting character then some of the longer lasting ones such as Biff and Phil. Him offering to take Callie to a party was classic!

Oscar Smuff - the closest thing the Hardys had to an arch rival in the early books, Smuff's last appearance was in The Hardy Boys #34 ''The Hooded Hawk Mystery'', and in name only.

Jack Wayne - the Hardys' airplane pilot was a major supporting character in the Originals. I'm not sure when his last appearance was but I know he appeared in quite a few Digests.

Sam Radley - Fenton's partner, he helped the Hardys on many cases but seemed to disappear in the 80s...did he blow up with Iola?

Jamal Hawkins - appeared in a few later Digests and disappeared so fast hardly anyone even remembers him.

And this is just a few with the UB, there is many more, including Biff, Tony, Phil, and Callie. Plus UB-original characters seem be starting to go missing, Q among them.

[003Robin457]

Also Blenda Conrad just dissapered. Somewhere after 10 or so UBs Franks main love intrest in the seris was gone!

[Olivia]

Oscar Smuff was a distant relative of Chet, or should have been

[003Robin457]

Oscar Smuff: The First to Dissaper.
Whos Next?
>:-0 (Evil Smiley)

[Olivia]

Need I remind you of who else disappeared in the first Casefile??

But that was different from the intent of this thread. It just wasn't a dropped character without a real purpose.

[SDLagent]

Oscar Smuff: The First to Dissaper.
Whos Next?
>:-0 (Evil Smiley)

I think Perry disappeared before Smuff.

[tomswift2002]

I think Perry disappeared before Smuff.

In the revised texts of the classic series, Perry Robinson only appears in The Tower Treasure, and then he is never heard from again.

Jack Wayne and Sky Happy Sal managed to last till I believe #83 The Swamp Monster, but then both him and Sky Happy Sal, which in a number of later G&D books mention was made that Fenton Hardy owned Sky Happy Sal and that Jack Wayne was the pilot hired by Fenton Hardy to pilot the plane with both Frank and Joe having been trained by Jack Wayne to fly.  I think Jamaal Hawkins was introduced because everyone at S&S forgot about Jack Wayne and Sky Happy Sal and the editors wanted the Hardy's to have a personal pilot and plane, so Jamaal Hawkins and his father and father's business were introduced in #135 The Hypersonic Secret.

[tomswift2002]

As for Sam Radley, mention is made of him in Digest #84 Revenge of the Desert Phantom and then he drops off the radar screen completely once the series is restarted in 1987.

[SDLagent]

He was a good character, I wonder why they decided to drop him. His last possible mention could be considered ''Dead on Target'', in which Fenton refers to an unnamed assistant.

[tomswift2002]

Yeah, but Fenton also had a few other assistants that were used in the originals and Stratemeyer Digests that usually appeared in the same books as Sam.

[SDLagent]

But it is possible. It could also be his assistant from the original text ''Flickering Torch Mystery'', what was his name? Or more likely it was just an unnamed character to the writer who doesn't have any story behind it.

[Lungbarrow]

I didn't even realise Perry Robinson was in more than one book - I've only been reading the revised editions - the only original texts I've read have been the few published in paperback in the UK. I did find it rather odd that in The Tower Treasure he's described as one of the Hardys' closest friends and then never mentioned again!

[Bigfootman]

I've haven't read a lot of Casefiles or UBs with Sam Peterson, is he still around?

[tomswift2002]

Sam Peterson was only mentioned in the Casefiles.

[Bigfootman]

So he's a lost character.