Customer Reviews

The Demon of River Heights (Nancy Drew Graphic Novels: Girl Detective #1)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 11-year old daughter absolutely loves this book. She describes it as "a comic book, but good!!!" She can't wait for more to be published. I think the photos are a bit strange (the characters don't look like how I expected them to), but she has read it over and over again happily.

Nancy Drew Girl Detective #1: The Demon of River Heights is an all-new, full-color, graphic novel story featuring the brave and ingenious teenage sleuthing heroine whose books have been classics of children's literature for more than 75 years. The bright, colorful artwork flows very much like a cartoon in comic book form, and the story is packed from cover to cover with storytelling excitement. Together Nancy Drew, along with Bess and George, search for missing student filmmakers and the deadly secret behind the urban myth of "The Demon of River Heights" in this excellent graphic novel format addition to an established legacy of beloved adventure stories. First in a "Nancy Drew Girl Detective" series of graphic novels featuring Nancy Drew, The Demon Of River Heights is highly recommended for personal and library collections, as well as a gift books for young people.

Nancy Drew, The Demon of River Heights, is Volume 1 in the full color graphic novel series. Since it is a graphic novel the drawings are absolutely critical. In that department the book is outstanding. The drawings are a treat in and of themselves. Artist Sho Murase, with 3D CG elements by Rachel Ito, creates drawings that pull the reader into the panels in a compelling fashion. One example: pages showing Drew inside a half darkened room, interrupted as she paws through private items, have sunlight passing through the half closed blinds and crossing the apartment-scape and characters in an eye-catching fashion. The effect is mysterious and rather uneasy. Not at all unusual for this graphic novel. The artists really know their craft and put together a mysterious feel that is worth the price of the publication. As this is the heart of a graphic novel, 4 stars.

Sadly, the story itself is insubstantial and in no way lives up to the drawings; however, it is interesting to a point. The story line tends to be predictable and has a definite formula feel. Nancy and her two friends are engaged in an investigation into mysterious goings on with an upstart amateur movie company. They quickly encounter villains and danger without even trying. Ms Drew personally narrates the story and her friends somehow come to the rescue when the plot closes on Nancy's worst dilemma. So what else is new? Doesn't every mystery novel follow this path? Every 10 year old will recognize where this is headed even though the personal narrative keeps the reader in the dark as to what the friends are doing (only in the final instance however; up till then Nancy effectively tells us what the friends are up to even though she is not present when the events occur).

Critically, The Demon of River Heights fails to show Nancy as especially bright. She is more tenacious and lucky than smart. This is the only Nancy Drew graphic novel I have read so I cannot tell if other novels in the series suffer from the same flaw. I think the author has dramatically underestimated the aptitude of the teen reader. Even the old Nancy Drew movies, black and white as they were, displayed Nancy as especially intelligent as well as bold. In The Demon of River Heights we find a bold Nancy Drew, ready to investigate the smallest clue, but she does not come off as super intelligent. That is a major difference in the "old" Nancy and this graphic adaptation. The old Nancy was smart almost beyond belief. This Nancy is pretty normal in the brainpower department.

In my opinion the major appeal of Nancy Drew was her intelligence quotient. By failing in that area the writer has failed entirely. The artists alone make this volume worth buying, but they do their job so well I can recommend the book without hesitation.

AD2

"The Demon of River Heights" is the first installment in the lastest reincarnaton of Nancy Drew, girl detective. This version takes the form of a graphic novel with rather dramatic comic book style artwork. Nancy Drew, her best friends Bess and Georgina, boyfriend Ned, and father Carson Drew have been reimagined into the 21st century. High tech gear plays its part in the story.

The new series advertises itself as based on the original series by Carolyn Keene. The plot presented here is a new one, in which two art students are making a movie in River Heights based on an urban myth about a local demon. There is of course a mystery behind the movie, that plays itself out in a series of scary encounters with unexpected creatures. The story line is fast-paced and features Nancy's usual sleuthing skills and her talent for getting into trouble. The content is entirely safe for grade-school readers.

"The Demon of River Heights" is meant to appeal to the latest generation of Nancy Drew's young fans, and is recommended to that audience.