"Writ in Stone"
Writer: Stephan Petrucha
Artists: Sho Murase, Rachel Ito (3D)
Publisher: Papercutz
The delightful Nancy Drew under the direction of Stephan Petrucha with her pals George and Bess find themselves in the middle of another mystery in Writ in Stone. This issue of the manga--bleah--also introduces the characters Hannah and Ned Nickerson, both from the books and gives readers a savory taste of the period styled mystery for issue three.
Petrucha's mystery will likely not tax the brains of anybody who loves the genre, but he does add several interesting twists to spice things up, and the motive of the felon makes sense. The draw to the tale as with any Nancy Drew tale no matter how trite or pedestrian--which this mystery is not--is Nancy herself.
Petrucha's characterization of the modernized Nancy is as valid as that of Pamela Sue Martin from the television series--and if you haven't gotten those DVDs yet, Nancyphiles shame on you. Nancy grabs onto a mystery and does not let go, but this issue shows Nancy also caring about the needs of a lost boy--tied into the mystery--as well as her friends less important needs. He also brings out a nicely worked character flaw in her that fits with the original model.
George and Bess play less of role than they did in the previous story, but Petrucha adds some choice lines for them. Ned Nickerson graduates to Nancy Drew's boyfriend, and well, I suppose anybody could see this coming, but I still don't like the guy. Never did. I think he best worked as comedy relief in the television series, but Petrucha does give Ned some welcome steel that doesn't demean the star.
As usual it's necessary for me to go on record to say I hate manga, but my love for Nancy Drew outweighs my disdain for the style, and Sho Murase with Rachel Ito do turn in a beautiful jewel in the coal of what I feel is a generic, clone like technique. There are exceptions, and this is one of them.
Murase's character designs--except for Ned, but that may be my own bias--all stand out among a crowd of big boobified waifs with saucer sized eyes and Ito's 3D flourishes give the book much artistic depth that's often lost in the black and white flatness of manga.
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