This is the front page of Nörd nyt

This is the first page of the article

With a special sense of humour this magazine focus on comic strips and sometimes bookseries. This article is written by Rasmus Hastrup and Peter Becher Pedersen. It is called "The big all-embracing guide to the Three Investigators". This is only a short summarize, but I have got the permission to make a translation. Later this year You will be able to read it.

Unfortunately they don´t mention any sources. But some of the information is to be found on the internet and I recognize two of the photos (Ed Vebell and Robert Arthur). I don´t always agree with Rasmus and Peter and they go too far when they say that MV Carey hated Rocky Beach. I also think that they underrate Silver Spider and overrate Cranky Collector. No more complaints. The article is great and a perfect guide for readers and collectors. Especially I find the analysis of the covers interesting.

The article has 5 parts.

1. An introduction. The authors try to explain why the bookseries was a success.
2. An analysis of the five authors.
3. An analysis of the cover artists (danish editions).
4. Information on editions, cover artists etc. and rating of every title.
5. Information on the publishing order in Denmark and on the three books that were never translated.

- Compared to many other series the books are elegant and thrilling. They focus the unknown and the mystery.

- The boys have three different tempers. Every reader has the possibility to identify with someone.

- The books are timeless and free from difficult personal problems. The books are an alternative universe when reality gets too hard.

He gave rise to the whole concept and was the best author. They point at his experience of Radio and Television. He had a great capacity to create an atmosphere by describing the surroundings. He also changes between seriousness and humour and was able to describe the personalities of the boys. He is also a master of chapter-endings (cliffhangers). His books are also very good detective stories with many clues. His bad mistake was The Mystery of the Silver Spider which is a book they don´t like at all.

The author with most action, but also a creator of Atmosphere, for example the Dancing Devil and the empty circus park in Crooked Cat.

She often moved the stories away from Rocky Beach to other places. How do we explain that? Perhaps she wanted to evolve the series and broaden the geographic context. Perhaps she also felt unsecure with a fantasy town which she never did create. Her stories often have occult or paranormal themes. The authors of the article think that many of her stories are unsatisfactory. But they like Monster Mountain and Sinister Scarecrow.

He stole from the stories of Robert Arthur. They compare some parts of Coughing Dragon with Terror Castle. In his stories You also find many animals. They don´t like his books at all.

He combined instructive books about nature with mysteries. He reintroduced the humour that Robert Arthur once had. They like Two-Toed Pidgeon very much.

Ed Vebell made 2 danish covers - Terror Castle and Stuttering Parrot. He did paint in a realistic way. They like Stuttering Parrot most.

Harry Kane made 10 of the danish covers. He gave Jupe a Hawaii-shirt and Bob his glasses and his Waistcoat. They especially like the covers of The Whispering Mummy and the Green Ghost. No one knows where the original covers and the internal illustrations are today.

Niels Jörgen Jahn only made the cover of Crooked Cat. They don´t like his cover at all. He stole the cover from Harry Kane.

The Spanish cover artist Jordi Penalva made 16 of the covers. He was inspired by Harry Kane, but the boys got longer hair. Apart from Phantom Lake he didn´t copy any of the original covers. They especially like Green Ghost, Flaming Footprints and Coughing Dragon. The covers are often more dramatical than the stories.

1976 the publisher changed coverdesign and they imported the new design from Spain. (Therefore You find the same cover design in Spain and in Denmark) They also did use 10 covers of the Spanish artist Angel Badia Camps. Sometimes he almost copied the american original, but sometimes he did use his own ideas, for example Invisible dog and Skeleton Island. They like the Dancing Devil best.

The cover is from my collection

Palle Bregnhöj made two covers - Deadly Double and Magic circle. They don´t like his covers. They think that he made them in a danish style which doesn´t fit in the context of the American contents.of the books.

This cover is from my collection

Robert Adragna made two of the danish covers - Shark Reef and Sinister Scarecrow. They like the Shark Reef cover most. Sinister Scarecrow is also ok, but there is something wrong with the perspective.

Christian Würgler-Hansen made the last 10 covers in Denmark. They have made an interview and he told them that he never did read the stories. The publisher called him and asked him to make a cover to a book. Then the publisher read one or two very thrilling parts from the book on the telephone, and then Christian did make the cover. That explains why some of the covers are very good and some very bad. His cover of Two-Toed Pidgeon is very good. But the cover of Smashing Glasses is very bad.

Peder Madsen made 4 covers to the new editions. In an interview he says that he read the books before he made the covers. He doesn´t want to show much of the boys´ faces because everyone should be able to identify with them. He draws them as caricatures. The authors of the article like Terror castle the most.

4. Information on every book, summaries and ratings. 5 question marks symbolize the best rating. This is how they rate the stories:

5 - ?????

Stuttering Parrot, Fiery Eye, Dead Man´s Riddle, Cranky Collector

4 - ????

Terror Castle, Green Ghost, Skeleton Island, Shrinking House, Phantom lake, Monster Mountain, Dancing Devil, Headless Horse, Sinister Scarecrow, Two-Toed Pidgeon

3 - ???

Whispering Mummy, Screaming Clock, Talking Skull, Laughing Shadow, Crooked Cat, Flaming Footprints, Sining Serpent, Haunted Mirror, Invisible Dog, Death trap Mine, Shark Reef, Scarfaced Beggar, Purple Pirate, Wandering Caveman, Kidnapped Whale

2 - ??

Vanishing Treasure, Moaning Cave, Nervous Lion, Magic Circle, Deadly Double, Blazing Cliffs, Smashing Glass,

1 - ?

Silver Spider, Coughing Dragon, Missing Mermaid, Trail of terror

5. Information on the publishing order in Denmark and on the three books that were never translated (They don´t know why).