Out in March 2005, is a newfangled Nancy Drew--anime-style. Graphic novels by Papercutz will feature Nancy Drew and her chums involved in colorful adventures. Published four times a year, the fourth volume out this year will have a tie in to the 75th anniversary of the Nancy Drew series. Recently, I discussed the new graphic novels with Nancy Drew graphic novelist, Stefan Petrucha...

JF: Tell me a little bit about your writing and what you have published before. What influences your writing style?

SP: Oh, I've been writing for about fifteen years - I’m probably best known for writing Topp's X-Files comic (with Jim Salicrup as editor!), and for over 150 Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics for Egmont Publishing (how's that for range?) but I've also created various characters and pretty much written for most of the majors and a few of the minor comic publishers. Last year I did a graphic novel based on the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV movie and series from the seventies, which was nominated for a Stoker Award.

I've also written a lot of prose, including a few novels for White Wolf, based on their dark fantasy gaming worlds. I've just signed a four book deal with Razorbill, Penguin's new teen line, to do four novels about a time-transcending high school student named Harry Keller (based on a comic I wrote many years back entitled Squalor.)

I have all sorts of influences--really, it depends on what I'm reading this week. Growing up, I loved comics, then got into science fiction and fantasy. The very first hardcover I bought myself as a teen was The Seven Per Cent Solution, by Nicholas Meyer, about Sherlock Holmes meeting Sigmund Freud, so classic mystery characters have always held a fascination for me.

JF: How did you come to write the Nancy Drew graphic novels?

SP: Childhood pal Jim Salicrup knew from my work on the X-Files that I have a knack for character voices, a healthy respect for established history, and also a desire to write really exciting, engaging fun stories--so he figured I'd be a good bet for the job. For my part, I was thrilled to be working with such a revered character, and to finally have something in print that my daughters will enjoy reading.

JF: Had you read series books--including Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys--as a child?

SP: Embarrassed to admit it--but no! I was very into Encyclopedia Brown for a while, but neither Nancy nor the Hardy Boys were around much in our home. I may have actually read a Nancy Drew when I was eight or nine, (Mom had one on her shelf) but I was probably much more interested in reading about boys at that age, and didn't know the Hardy Boys.

JF: What has been your biggest challenge translating Nancy Drew Girl Detective into the graphic novel format?

SP: The regular novels have a nice leisurely, intimate pacing, with plenty of long conversations that are great to read, but wouldn't fly in a comic. In a comic books, it's very important to keep things moving at a good clip plot-wise, and visually interesting at the same time. So I think the challenge is to keep that same sense of intimacy while stepping up the pace of the action. For me, I try to keep as many pages, or scenes, looking like a cover of a Nancy Drew book--many of those covers always try capture the biggest moments of deep excitement and mystery in the story. That's what I aim for in the comic scripts.

Past that, there's a general challenge in dealing with any icon, like Nancy Drew. Nancy's been providing a special something to her audiences for almost 75 years now, and while you want to continue providing it, you don't want to wind up just repeating what's been done before. The trick there is to try and figure out what makes Nancy Drew appealing, under the skin, rather than just blindly copying what's gone before.

JF: What is your favorite thing about the new graphic novels?

SP: The artwork! Sho Murase has done an incredible job of capturing the essence of Nancy and translating it to the present day in an exciting way. Her look is more vibrant, less demure, if you like, but it's still very much the Nancy Drew everyone knows and loves. It's dynamite.

JF: Who is your favorite character and why?

SP: I like Nancy an awful lot, I love her steadfastness of purpose, her ethics, the way she (these days) can be so locked in on a mystery that she forgets to fill her gas tank. I also get a kick out of getting her into trouble--making her dangle from tall buildings, get chased by cars and so on--because you know it'll work out fine. Past her, I'm a bit of wry wisecracker myself, so George appeals a lot, too.

JF: In a nutshell, how would you sum up Anime-style Nancy Drew?

SP: Great artwork, exciting, fast paced, fun stories with terrific perennial characters that'll appeal to readers of all ages!

JF: What will readers find to be the biggest difference between the regular Girl Detective series and the new graphic novels?

SP: The graphic novels are based on the characters as they appear in the best selling "new" Nancy Drew novels from Simon & Schuster. So, Nancy drives a hybrid, George is a computer whiz and Bess is a kind of natural mechanic. Other than that kind of updating, the old gang from Nancy's rich history are still present and accounted for--and River Heights still gets more than its fair share of crime. If you're familiar with the new novels, the graphic novels should be a seamless fit--though, as I said, hang onto your seats for some quicker pacing!

JF: Tell us a little about the process of writing one of these graphic novels from conception to finished product.

SP: I keep the "cliffhanger" chapter endings, but make each chapter 28 pages, so every graphic novel consists of three chapters. 28 pages is just about the size of a normal comic, so the pace is good for the storytelling.

First, I come up with a synopsis for the whole story, broken down into chapters--this gets approved by my editors and the folks at Simon & Schuster. From there, I write what's called a full script--wherein I describe each panel (pages consist usually of 1-3 panels) and write the dialogue and captions. That full script again goes through the approval process, and there are usually some minor changes.

After that, it goes to Sho, who does the lovely artwork in black and white, then to a colorist and (lastly?) a letterer (who adds the word balloons and captions). It's not quite a movie crew, but there are lots of folks working on this--it's a real team effort.

JF: How do you see the graphic novels evolving in the future?

SP: I find it hard to believe, but this is the first time Nancy Drew is appearing in comics, so in a way, everything is new territory. I think story settings are key to Nancy, so I'm doing my best to keep the store locales atmospheric and exciting. In the future, I'd like to spend a little more time on George and Bess (maybe even do a story with them starring for a change)--to bring out more of their characters.

JF: Can you give us a preview or scoop on any of the upcoming novels--something to pique fans' interests?

SP: Certainly. The first issue is The Demon of River Heights, wherein Nancy appears in an Indie horror film being shot near River Heights. When the filmmakers disappear and some mysterious footage is found, Nancy has to figure out what happened to them--and whether or not their monster is real!

After that, it's Writ In Stone, about an ancient shoremarker that a visiting archeologist claims is proof that the Chinese discovered America before Columbus. When the stone is stolen, Nancy is hot on the trail of the thief, who is, of course, anxious to stop her--but not for the reasons you'd suspect.

Coming soon after that, there a story where Nancy & Co. visit India! They're there to track down a missing phone support person that Nancy befriended. And, for a very special 75th Anniversary treat, River Heights has a Nostalgia Week, in which everyone dresses 1930s style! Nancy even rides her old blue roadster again (which you were kind enough to provide some great reference for), as she explores the mystery of a strange dollhouse that seems to predict crimes before they happen.

That covers the plots that have been approved so far--and there's plenty more excitement in the works.

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