Crawling with Zombies

Hardy Boys: The New Case Files #1

by Gerry Conway, Paulo Henrique Marcondes (Illustrator)

Frank and Joe go undercover as the Living Dead to infiltrate a "Zombie Crawl" that has acquired a notorious reputation for potentially deadly accidents. Will the Undercover Brothers and Agents of A.T.A.C. become the next victims? As if this weren't enough ― there's something dark and sinister happening while everyone's distracted by zombie madness!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mystery, Comics, Childrens, Zombies

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Gerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) wass an American writer of comic books and television shows. He was known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he was known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

On April 27, 2026, Marvel Comics announced on its website and social media accounts that Conway had died at the age of 73.

News of Conway's death from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was almost scared off by the apparent premise for this and the new Nancy Drew graphic novels, both of which seemed to move the series from mystery into horror. In both cases I was pleasantly surprised. While I like Scott Lobdell's work, getting Gerry Conway to write the new series was a real coup. His sense of what you can do in the comics medium is still sharp, and he is exploring some perfectly reasonable ideas about the interaction between Frank and Joe Hardy, without wrecking the premise of the series.
Paulo Henrique is a good artist, but I could do without his attempts at manga-style comedic takes, with exaggerated faces and chibi stylings. Those seemed misplaced.
Like the earlier Hardy Boys graphic novels, for which this series is a sequel, the Boys are working undercover as detectives, with their father as liaison with the A.T.A.C. agency [American Teens Against Crime...sure, it's a dumb acronym, but it could be worse]. The concept is a lot like the Alex Rider books, but without the coercion which made that series a little creepy.
In this particular story, zombie-themed flash mobs have been popping up, but suddenly some of the participants have behaved strangely enough to endanger lives. Is it a game gone wrong, or something more sinister? It was a lot of fun, and leads directly into a second story.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

an updated version of the classic series. this time with ZOMBIES!!! Are Frank and Joe in over their heads in the page turner? Will they ever see each other as equals or will Frank's stringent ways and Joe's careless actions break them apart forever? After this case everything is up in the air...

[OCLS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardy Boys graphic novel that will be a good read for reluctant readers.

Dream Big (Summer Reading Program 2012) recommended book

Available from OCLS in print.

[Seema M. Fazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way Frank kept calling Joe "little brother" its cute, and I loved the illustrations. But what I didn't like about this graphic novel is them having a fight. If only they weren't fighting, I would have given it five stars!

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high expectations for this, since zombies + Hardy Boys should equal awesome! But there were a lot of holes in the plot that really bugged me and it seemed overly simplistic. My favorite part was the manga-like elements incorporated into the art.

[Lisa C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and timely, but not really useful for the Summer Reading List

[miguel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wasn't all exciting and incredible like the original graphic novel series.

[Jessie Peng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointing