This post is Filed Under:

Home page Highlights,
Interviews and Columns

Nancy Drew #1 Tula Lotay cover

Kelly Thompson is the popular writer of such comics as Rogue & Gambit, Hawkeye, Jem and the Holograms, journey to star Wars: The Last Jedi – Captain Phasma. Her newest project brings back one of the most popular detectives in literature, Nancy Drew. She recently shared much more about this upcoming series from Dynamite with Westfield’s Roger Ash.

Nancy Drew #1 Marguerite Sauvage cover

Westfield: What appeals to you about Nancy Drew?

Kelly Thompson: What DOESN’T appeal about Nancy Drew? She’s iconic! Sassy, capable, whip-smart detective. teen detectives don’t just come along every day. but I expect what I like many about Nancy is that along with being amazing at practically everything, she’s also really bad at some stuff, which is highly relatable. She is so single-minded and obsessive about her work that it’s easy for her to miss the small but essential stuff, like maintaining friendships and even paying attention to making sure she’s handling her own emotional well-being.

Nancy Drew #1 preview page 1

Westfield: What were some of the challenges of updating her?

Thompson: The most significant challenge in tackling such an renowned character is always finding that balance between saying something new and giving the character a distinct and modernized voice that people can relate to and still staying true to the core of what people loved about the character in the first place.

Nancy Drew #1 preview page 2

Westfield: What can readers look forward to in the story?

Thompson: We’ve got a terrific mystery for Nancy that drags her back to her hometown of Bayport, and reunites her with her childhood pals and adventurers – Bess, George, and The Hardy Boys. once there, they try to get to the bottom of an anonymous letter that Nancy received, and leads them straight into a murder mystery – including literally stumbling onto the body themselves. The stakes couldn’t be higher on this one – both emotionally and physically for our heroes. but thanks to the character dynamics, there’s a lot of fun and lightness in here too…these characters know each other well and there’s a real magic to their chemistry on the page.

Nancy Drew #1 preview page 3

Westfield: who are some of the other characters we’ll meet?

Thompson: We also introduce two new characters fairly early – Danica, who is George’s new girlfriend, and Pete Vega, who may or may not be a love interest for Nancy. very mysterious! We’ve got a few background characters of course and some bad guys, and we’ve jammed in there at least one solid Nancy Drew “Easter egg.”

Nancy Drew #1 preview page 4

Westfield: What can you say about your collaboration with artist Jenn St-Onge?

Thompson: I love working with Jenn. We first worked together on The Misfits, a five-issue miniseries spin off from Jem and The Holograms and Jenn blew me away constantly. just when you’d think you’d given her something impossible, she’d do it better than you ever imagined. She also worked with me on the Jem: unlimited Crossover and she killed it, despite it being certainly one of the most challenging books to draw that I’ve ever written. and yet, her Nancy Drew work looks better than anything else she’s ever done. Her storytelling is outstanding as well as her design work and expressions. and she continues to be better at jamming an unreasonable number of people on a page than practically any artist I’ve ever known. A skill I frequently take advantage of. I’m sorry, Jenn!

We’re also working for the first time with colorist Tríona Farrell and she’s such an exciting colorist – everything is so lush and has such depth. Jenn and I are both in love with her work. We’ve also got letterer Ariana Maher on board who has brought some really distinct methods to the table for our book that I think readers are going to get a kick out of.

Nancy Drew #1 Jenn St-Onge cover

Westfield: any closing comments?

Thompson: I hope old fans and new fans alike can find something in this story – I think there’s something for everyone and we’ve tried to make it exciting and new for the old fans, while still keeping it very accessible. This can easily be your first or your fiftieth Nancy Drew story and still fall in love.