Doggone Town

Nancy Drew: Girl Detective Graphic Novels #13

by Stefan Petrucha, Sarah Kinney (Illustrator)

When Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson attempt to return a lost dog named "Togo" to its owner in the small town of Nevershare, they stumble onto a much bigger mystery―where did all the people go? The entire population of Nevershare is missing, except for one person, and she's mean and not very helpful. Will Nancy solve this mystery before she and Ned also disappear?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mystery, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2008

About the author

Stefan Petrucha (born January 27, 1959) is an American writer for adults and young adults. He has written graphic novels in the The X-Files and Nancy Drew series, as well as science fiction and horror.
Born in the Bronx, he has spent time in the big city and the suburbs, and now lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, fellow writer Sarah Kinney, and their daughters. At times he has been a tech writer, an educational writer, a public relations writer and an editor for trade journals, but his preference is for fiction in all its forms.

Reviews

[Lara's · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis : When Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson attempt to return a lost dog named “Togo” to its owner in the small town of Nevershare, they stumble onto a much bigger mystery—where did all the people go? The entire population of Nevershare is missing, except for one person, and she’s mean and not very helpful. Will Nancy solve this mystery before she and Ned also disappear?
Review : Graphics are wonderful, storyline is o.k. which is kind of what I expected. This was my very first Nancy Drew story so, I'm not sure where the bar lies. I thought I might be playing limbo with this one and I was pretty much right. The story is kind of hard to believe for old timers like myself. That said I think it's just the thing for a 7-9 year old to really get excited about..at a sleep over with other 7-9 year olds. The high quality of the graphics kept me reading and the over-the-top, high drama that is oozing out from EVERYWHERE does involve a very creepy, greedy old lady. It's a fun little book for car trips and such. I imagine myself at 7 years old, bag of Jolly Ranchers, Hubba Bubba and Pixie Stix just going wild for it.
Critical Reviews : Could not find any reviews on this one.

[Yuemei · Rating 2 out of 5]

again it was okay...I've been a big fun of nancy drew since i was young and still am now, no wonder i never stop playing "the nancy drew pc games" all of it! never missed a single game! anyway i understand that they made this for kids, still i just like the old version.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good one.

[Lyci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the old books way better

[meeta · Rating 1 out of 5]

not interesting and the font choices were weird and i did not enjoy the art style

[Sabrina Kaye Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw that this comic book was going to be re-published to include two graphic novels in one, I immediately e-mailed +Stefan Petrucha to see if he had any ARC's up for grabs. He didn't, but he did forward my e-mail to +Papercutz and they ended up sending me a copy! I was so excited, even if it is a book for people 8-12 years old, I believe any age range can enjoy Nancy Drew no matter what! I grew up playing the Nancy Drew games, and even though I am super huge on books, I didn't even know there was a series by the amazing Carolyn Keene until just last year. How late am I, I mean seriously?

Anyway! I love this book not only because it is a greatly drawn graphic novel with 3D CG elements and color, but also because of the simple yet clever story line with some twists and turns. Not to mention a sweet "Tales From the Crypt" mention was dropped and it made me smile! I really just loved going back in time and visiting my childhood in a familiar way with Nancy, George, Bessie, and Ned all grouping together to solve the mysteries and sometimes (almost always) that Nancy gets them into!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting story in that it takes something from the older Nancy Drew where she had a dog named Togo, and works it into the story.

Hannah is scared by something and Nancy and the girls find a window where the thing escaped from. Nancy goes into a tree to follow it and something jumps on her face. Enter Togo. Nancy goes to the town the dog supposedly came from to return it and finds no one there except for old elderly, rather nasty woman. This leads to the mystery of where is everyone, and what does the old woman have to gain by the situation.

The ending is a little different from the older-style Nancy Drew endings. The town is very poor and remains so, and in the original books a town that was in that condition would have something happen (old treasure found, etc.) which would not only solve Nancy's mystery but supply the town with the money it needed.

[Sara ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because WOW, I just had to see what the graphic novel of Nancy Drew was like. Overall, it was a cute little story about a dog that ends up in Nancy's room during a storm and the mystery Nancy encounters while trying to track down the dog's owner... My thoughts?

Pros:
* Nancy was actually strawberry blonde again!
* Ned & Bess were SUPER cute
* Brings Nancy Drew to a whole new audience

Cons:
* The storyline was WAAAAY too simple. No misdirection or anything—it was OBVIOUS who the bad guy was the second you saw their picture in the book looking all ominous and gray.
* George... Errr... hmmmm....

[Jodi Smedley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doggone Town is a graphic novel based on the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene. In this mystery, Nancy finds a missing dog. As she and her boyfriend, Ned, return the dog, the discover an ornery lady and an entire missing town. Together, they find the missing people and discover the truth behind this mean lady.

Especially after reading American Born Chinese, this graphic novel felt really young. I read a Nancy Drew book or two when I was in middle school, so I thought I'd give this a try. The pictures that went along with the story were fun; It was nice to see a depiction of what was happening; however, I wonder if providing pictures like this stifels kids' imaginations.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny how I'm reviewing book #13 first, but that is where I started and whatever, I'll review the previous twelve when I get time. I find these graphic novels to completely take away from the real Nancy Drew.

This plot was twisted yes and it left me guessing, but I don't understand how people could be so gulibale and stupid. And that dog was driving me nuts with it's habit of latching on to faces, I would have beat that thing silly, it wasn't even drawn to look cute, just plain.

I liked the twist and the near end was funny, but really, what happened to the real Nancy Drew? Now that's a mystery!

[Annthelibrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The series brings the world’s most famous girl detective, Nancy Drew, into the graphic novel format. In this story a lost dog leads Nancy and her boyfriend Ned to the small town of Nevershare, but why are all its citizens gone except for Ms. Byra Tussle, the dog Togo’s owner? If she is his owner, why does she get his name wrong? Then again, why does Togo seem afraid of Byra? With Nancy Drew on the case you can bet the mysteries get solved! 13th in the series.
I read this for a graphic novel genre assignment. I just can't get in to graphic novels. The mystery in this was pretty lame. I was a big fan of Nancy Drew as a child, but don't know how the old mysteries would hold up for me today.

[Shonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy finds a lost dog. She convinces Ned to travel with her to return the dog to his owners. When they arrive, the town is deserted. Where is everyone? Nancy and Ned meet a strange, old woman. As Nancy tries to learn more information about the town and its missing people, Nancy soon realizes this woman is not going to help. In fact, she’s rather. . .mean! Can Ned and Nancy discover the mystery behind the town?

[Jaguar · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Doggone Town (Nancy Drew: Girl Detective Graphic Novels #13)” by Stefan Petrucha is the first book in the “Nancy Drew: Girl Detective Graphic Novels” series that I have read. I thought the art of the dog was cute, and it was mainly like a comic book. One of the character drawings was kind of ugly, but other than that….I enjoyed it, and I want to read book one.

2015-Summer-Reading-Review

[:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the Nancy Drew series and like the graphic novel idea. It was quicker to read but wasn't like the original. It had the same characters and the plot was the same. The artist was good and there were some pretty weird pictures. I liked the graphic novel better than the original. I am going to read more of the series.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't know they had started making these into a comic series. But upon reflection it makes sense.

E brought some home and I read them. Ok. But I like the books better. She liked the action agent part a bit more than the Nancy Drew sort of silly mysteries. Overall she likes the combo Drew-Hardy comics best.

[Raja99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another light-hearted and fast-paced Nancy Drew graphic novel. The mystery is quite strange but turns out to be fair, and Nancy gets to interact with a friendly dog.

(Finished 2009-09-09 13:02:40 EDT)