The Crisscross Crime & Cross-Country Crime (May include spoilers!)

[tomswift2002]

- and perhaps they could have even crossed the long uncrossed line (in the books anyway)- and have the Hardy Boys celebrate their graduation from high school- and establish their own part-time detective agency after studying criminology in college. I don't know what the huge mystery exactly would be- but it should find a way to incorporate some of their past mysteries and adventures and pay tribute to the whole cast of characters while at the same time establishing some new ground- and this kind of thing should definitely be a multi-part story- perhaps a trilogy would be in order. Well- that's my idea on it anyway.

The boys already celebrated their graduation from Bayport High School --- in #9 The Great Airport Mystery (1930).

[MacGyver]

Okay- interesting to know. Does this mean in the original continuity, the Hardy Boys have been solving cases 10-38 during their summer break? (Although I know those kinds of timelines tend to get pretty nebulous...) But I meant in the revised continuity, they are still portrayed as being in high school throughout the end of the Digests.

[tomswift2002]

Okay- interesting to know. Does this mean in the original continuity, the Hardy Boys have been solving cases 10-38 during their summer break? (Although I know those kinds of timelines tend to get pretty nebulous...) But I meant in the revised continuity, they are still portrayed as being in high school throughout the end of the Digests.

For the original texts of 10-38, after graduating from high school in #9, the boys "mysteriously" return to high school with no reason given, but there are mentions in the texts of the boys still going to Bayport High (in #32 The Crisscross Shadow, the boys are on the high school football team).

[SDLagent]

Yeah, originally Frank and Joe, like all other Stratemeyer Syndicate characters to that point, aged. They were only 16 and 15, respectively, in the first book and by book nine had graduated. At this point the Syndicate realized that the Hardys were ageing too fast and would likely suffer the same fate as Tom Swift who had aged, grown-up, got married, and subsequently lost his popularity. The Hardys haven't really aged since. 

[MacGyver]

Maybe it's different in Canada (since Leslie McFarlane was Canadian and all- but still, I would think he would be writing with American customs in mind since the Hardys are portrayed as Americans)- but most American high school seniors are at least 17 and many are 18. It doesn't seem like Frank and Joe would have been far enough along in their schooling to have graduated if they were only still 16 and 15, respectively.

[SDLagent]

No, they weren't only 16 and 15. That's what I'm saying. They aged normally until The Great Airport Mystery and than never aged again.

[MacGyver]

Ah, okay- I misunderstood before.
So from The Great Airport Mystery forward, (in the original continuity) Frank and Joe were stuck at their perpetual 18 and 17.
Which are also the ages used in the revised books as well.

[SDLagent]

Yeah, from what I can remember. Unless they deaged them back to 16 and 15.

[MacGyver]

For the original texts of 10-38, after graduating from high school in #9, the boys "mysteriously" return to high school with no reason given, but there are mentions in the texts of the boys still going to Bayport High (in #32 The Crisscross Shadow, the boys are on the high school football team).

I wonder if (in the original text continuity here) The Great Airport Mystery should really be read as the last entry in that series of books- otherwise books #10-38 are flashbacks to their high school years...

Oh well- I suppose that's why they changed it for the revised continuity... Still they could perhaps have The Hardys going to college somewhere as an ending to the Digests run... and maybe do a series of The Hardy Boys on Campus- as long as it doesn't get derailed into about 90% romance/drama and 10% mystery, like the Nancy Drew on Campus series pretty much did.
Well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens now with this The Hardy Boys Adventures series...

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

They could perhaps have The Hardys going to college somewhere as an ending to the Digests run... and maybe do a series of The Hardy Boys on Campus- as long as it doesn't get derailed into about 90% romance/drama and 10% mystery, like the Nancy Drew on Campus series pretty much did.
Well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens now with this The Hardy Boys Adventures series...

I'd like to see Frank and Joe in collage, too, but not if is going to be like you said. I want mystery, not romance. Hope this new Hardy Boys series is as good or even better then the UB's. 

[MacGyver]

So far the closest we've had to The Hardy Boys in college has been the '90s TV series, The Hardy Boys, and Clean Sweep, #114 in The Hardy Boys Casefiles (which has Frank and Joe staying at the dorm of a college friend of theirs.) I'm sure there are probably some other times they've gone undercover at colleges- I'm thinking Game Plan for Disaster (#76 in The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories) for instance, but it's been a long time since I read that one...

[tomswift2002]

The Genius Thieves had Frank enrolled at a college, while Joe was a janitor.

Of course, Chet signed up for Zoar College in the 1970 version of The Melted Coins.

[MacGyver]

there you go

[tomswift2002]

Well Zoar was a fake college, and Chet got swindled.