An Explosive Finale For A First Arc In Nancy Drew #5
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Nancy Drew and her team are on the hunt for Bess Marvin. She went missing at a club called the Palace of Wisdom while the crew were investigating a potential drug trade in the club. Nancy is in panic mode, but she manages to calm long enough to come up with a plan. Locke Lobster is ground-zero for the both the murders and the drug trade, so Nancy Drew leads her friends to its warehouse to find Bess and solve this case for good.
Nancy Drew #5 finishes out the story of Nancy’s return to Bayport, the mysterious drug trade, and the apparent murder of Pete Vega’s mother. The story comes to a rather dramatic conclusion, with guns, explosions, and attempted murder. Needless to say, this takes the content of its mysteries more from the more recent Nancy Drew reboots and revisions than the tame original novels.
Regardless, the characters are endearing and lovable. There is strife in Nancy’s crew, but it’s reasonable, understandable, and never makes any one character look like a needless jerk.
Bess Marvin especially shines in this issue and may be my personal favorite of this updated team. She’s bubbly, endearing, and pretty funny.
Needless to say, there are hints of another story to come at the end, and, given how well Kelly Thompson, Jenn St-Onge, and Triona Farrell did with this story, I’m all for more of Nancy Drew from Dynamite Entertainment.
Jenn St-Onge’s artwork is both ridiculously cute and does a good job of maintaining drama in more intense scenes. This in part comes from strategic use of shadow as well as skillful emoting on part of the characters. When Bess goes missing, a part of the reason the tone comes down is because Nancy is visibly shaken and despondent. Triona Farrell’s color work is a good balance of mostly autumnal shades that give Bayport the personality of a small and out-of-the-way town on the coast. It looks great.
Nancy Drew #5 brings the first arc of this comic series to a strong ending with the team coming together to solve what ills Bayport. It’s an entertaining read brought together by strong characters and great visual work. This one earns a recommendation. Check it out.
Nancy Drew #5 comes to us from writer Kelly Thompson, artist Jenn St-Onge, color artist Triona Farrell, letterer Ariana Maher, cover artist Tula Lotay, and variant cover artists Emanuela Lupacchino with Triona Farrell, and Jenn St-Onge.