#the three investigators

[werezolft]

The Dead Boy Detectives (and crew), have been occupying my thoughts the past few weeks. I’ve watched the show on repeat, rewatched Sandman, actually started reading the Sandman graphic novels (currently on Seasons of Mist, the introduction of the Dead Boys), and I’ve started drawing the episodes in the style of old teen detective novels.

I started these before getting super into behind the scenes details. I went down a bit of a rabbit-hole last night, and was delighted to learn that show-runner Steve Yockey wanted the show to be reminiscent of The Hardy Boys, one of the main influences of these covers.

The accuracy of their depictions varies, I don’t think they always really look like themselves. But I had a lot of fun.

I hope to continue designing these for a bit while the obsession holds, and maybe I can properly bring in purples, Crystal’s hero color.

[Alt Text:

Image 1: A series of covers on a white background. From left to right, "The Case Of The Dandelion Shrine", "The Case Of Devlin House", "The Case Of The Dandelion Shrine" (alt cover), "The Case Of The Hungry Snake", and "The Case Of The Lighthouse Leapers".

Image 2: Three teenagers, Charles, Crystal and Edwin explore a blue green cave with a skull covered in dandelions on a center shrine. Charles holds a flashlight, Crystal is climbing in while her eyes have gone white during a psychic episode, and Edwin is playing lookout. At the top of the page in yellow italics is the text “Dead Boy Detectives” and below in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF THE DANDELION SHRINE”.

Image 3: Edwin, Charles and Crystal peering around the corner of a yellow-green wooden hallway, looking at the silhouette of a man swinging an axe. They have varying worried expressions. At the top, in yellow italics is “Dead Boy Detectives” and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF DEVLIN HOUSE”.

Image 4: Crystal and Niko stare at each other across a green hallway. Niko has her left hand raised and is surrounded by glowing images, stars, hearts, moons, butterflies, rainbows, and sparkles. The cast a faint pink light. At the top in yellow italics is “Dead Boy Detectives”, and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF THE DANDELION SHRINE”.

Image 5: Charles and Edwin tied to chairs in a golden yellow room. Charles has an iron collar chained to his neck, and his wrists are bound. Edwin is in a white tank top, and his mouth is gagged with a clothe. On the wall is the shadow of the witch Esther, with her cane. In the corner is a large cabinet, Niko peers out of. On top of the cabinet is perched a crow, Monty. At the top, in yellow italics “Dead Boy Detectives” and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF THE HUNGRY SNAKE”.

Image 6: Edwin, Charles and Crystal stand on stairs overlooking the gray sea and red sky. A giant angler fish, Angie, is staring at them. In the corner, on top of the hill is a classic red and white striped lighthouse. At the top, in yellow italics “Dead Boy Detectives” and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF THE LIGHTHOUSE LEAPERS”.

Image 7: A series of book covers on a white background: “Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in The Secret of Skeleton Island”, “Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall”, “Nancy Drew, The Mystery at Lilac Inn”, “The Hardy Boys, While the Clock Ticked”, and “The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon”.

[raaviana]

pls rocky beach high school update your archive so that bob andrews can have a break

[denschnappichmir]

Random Sachen, die meiner Meinung nach in der Zentrale der drei ??? rumliegen würden

— eine handverlesene Auswahl von Bobs Musik (ob CDs oder Vinyl oder beides darf eure drei ??? Ästhetik entscheiden) die er von Arbeit mitgebracht hat (die offizielle Sammlung ist in seinem Zimmer gelagert)

— ein benutztes Saftglas von Peter, am Boden sind noch Kirschsaftränder

— Bob‘s alte Lesebrille vergessen in irgendeinem Regal, die seelenruhig darauf wartet, dass sie im Notfall zum Einsatz kommt

— ein Basketball unter der Sitzbank (von Peters letztem gescheiterten Versuch mit Justus Körbe werfen auf dem Schrottplatz zu üben)

— Peters Jeansjacke, die er mal wieder liegen gelassen hat (auf dem Etikett am Kragen ist noch aus der 7. Klasse sein Name mit Filzstift drauf geschrieben)

— ein Klassiker (George Orwell) mit abgegriffenem Einband auf dem Tisch, den die drei momentan in der Schule lesen; von Justus, da er den Wohnwagen als seinen Rückzugsort benutzt

— chaotische Momentaufnahmen von Ermittlungen an der Tür zu Bobs Dunkelkammer (ein verwackelter Peter, der ins Bild reingelaufen ist, Justus Auge in Großaufnahme als er Bob warnt, dass er den Blitz ausmachen soll) ….plus ein „Ich muss draußen bleiben“-Schild neben mehreren Unfallfotos von Peter

— ein obskurer altertümlicher Gegenstand, den Bob von einem Flohmarktbesuch der drei mit Onkel Titus mitgebracht hat

— ein Haargummi am PC, was vor langer Zeit von Kelly liegen gelassen wurde und Bob manchmal benutzt, wenn er arbeitet

— daneben zwei seiner silbernen Ringe, die er beim Nachdenken abgestreift und liegen gelassen hat

— ein paar zerknickte Comichefte im Regal zwischen Detektivbüchern und Zeitungsartikeln

— eine Tasse (ehemals aus Mrs Andrews Küche) mit Bobs Zeichenzeug drin, was er für die Phantomskizzen benötigt

— ein Stofftuch mit Motorölschmieren über dem Türöffner eines Küchenschranks, an dem sich Peter die Hände abgewischt hat, nachdem er am MG rumgebastelt hat

[liv45no]

Hugenay: merde wie werde ich diese Bilder jetzt los

Hugenay:

Justus’ Monolog am Ende des Falls:

Peter: ich geh mich mit Jeffrey treffen😊🌸

Bob:

Justus wenn Jelena

Bobs go-to-Methode wenn er Leute für Recherchen befragen muss:

[misplacedamongtheangels]

Spontane Bobcast Jubiläums Folge (aka CHAOS), erste Glückwunsch Nachricht kommt von Jens/Peter.

Andreas hinterher: „Ach, na, das rührt einen ja. MEIN Peter!“

Kai *lacht*: „Ja. Unser aller Peter.“

Andreas: NEIN er ist mein Peter. Ich sitze ja immer neben ihm, rechts von ihm. Und streichle ihm übers Knie.“

Das kam so random, ich könnte heulen.

[lueurichor]

Peter Shaw | The 2nd Investigator

•••

I was around seven years old when I first started listening to this series. I was today years old when I found out it has a relatively active fandom and that I now have a real reason to share some character moodboards. How great is that !

This is to all my german speaking people especially, ich liebe euch alle Leute ! 🧡

Und omg, ich habe auch vor kurzem zum ersten Mal realisiert dass die auch andere Namen haben. Wer bitteschön ist Pete Cranshaw lol?

[ceyfilo]

drei ??? line-up! (firm believer of justus socken in sandalen)

heavily inspired by @captbexx i hope you dont mind :o

[littledozerdraws]

Drei Fragezeichen - Erbe des Drachen-style 🐲🎥🏰

[vreenak]

DIE DREI ??? – ERBE DES DRACHEN (2023)

End credits [1/?]

[werezolft]

Pt. 2 of my Dead Boy Detective covers inspired by teen detective novels. More info and reference photos under the cut

I’ve continued watching this series on repeat while creating the novel covers. I really didn’t think I would get through all the episodes, I often stop projects part way through. I might do another post of the covers in chronological series order, as opposed to the order I drew them in.

Style, colors, and very often the actual poses are pulled from covers featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Three Investigators.

I don’t know if you can tell, but I struggle pulling the concentration to add details to make forests look realistic. Something about trees takes more energy than I normally have, haha.

I don’t really have a lot more to add, but thanks for all the love on the first collection, it’s been very fun.

Also, happy pride month 🌈🌈🌈

[ Alt Text

Image 1: An orange-red spiral staircase descends down into darkness. Charles Rowland is higher up, wearing his typical hero outfit; red shirt, black trousers and coat with pins. He’s holding a yellow lantern, and looking behind him anxiously. Edwin Payne follows behind, shrouded in shadow, wearing white nightclothes. At the top in yellow italics is “Dead Boy Detectives”, and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE IF THE VERY LONG STAIRWAY”.

Image 2: A blueish green forest at night, a full moon peaking over the trees in the top left corner. In the foreground to the right stands Crystal in her purple varsity jacket and floral turtleneck, hair half up in buns. Next to her Charles is wearing his hero outfit, polo shirt is fully black. They both look on hesitantly. In the mid ground Edwin, wearing his long brown coat is looking up at the furious glowing blue ghost of Shelby. At the top in yellow italics is “Dead Boy Detectives”, and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF THE TWO DEAD DRAGONS”.

Image 3: Crystal and Charles sit inside of a sigil circle on the blue floor of a green subway car. She’s wearing a red jacket, yellow shirt, and tan pants. He’s wearing his hero outfit. Charles is facing Crystal, while she’s angled away from the viewer, both are looking at sheet-ghost David the Demon, who is covered in the same sigils as the circle they sit on, running out the open subway door. At the top in yellow italics is “Dead Boy Detectives”, and in off-white bold lettering “The Case Of Crystal Palace”.

Image 4: A green forest, and brown earth, illuminated by the light of a magically summoned golden chandelier. Under it is The Cat King, brown hair angled into cat ears, wearing a white turtleneck sweater and sparkling black overcoat with red stripes. His arms are folded behind him, and his yellow cat eyes are gazing with feigned disinterest at Monty Finch and Edwin. Edwin is wearing his long brown coat, complete with brown vest and trousers, white shirt and blue bow tie. His cat bracelet is visible on his wrist. Edwin stands in an apprehensive crouch. Behind him Monty, long black hair, red scarf, and black coat, is glaring at The Cat King over his shoulder. At the top in yellow italics is “Dead Boy Detectives”, and in off-white bold caps “THE CASE OF THE CREEPING FOREST”.

Image 5: A series of covers on a white background. From left to right, "The Case Of The Dandelion Shrine", "The Case Of Devlin House", "The Case Of The Dandelion Shrine" (alt cover), "The Case Of The Hungry Snake", "The Case Of The Lighthouse Leapers", “The Case Of The Two Dead Dragons”, “The Case Of The Very Long Stairway”, “The Case Of Crystal Palace”, and “The Case Of The Creeping Forest”.

Image 6: A series of book covers on a white background: “Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in The Secret of Skeleton Island”, “Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall”, “Nancy Drew, The Mystery at Lilac Inn”, “The Hardy Boys, While the Clock Ticked”, “The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon”, “The Hardy Boys, The Disappearing Floor”, “Nancy Drew, The Hidden Staircase”, “The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow”, “The Hardy Boys, The Secret Panel”, and “The Hardy Boys, The Haunted Fort”.

[raaviana]

someone save this boy from the incompetence around him

[denschnappichmir]

wenn Clarissa Franklin 0 hater hat ist Peter Shaw immer noch da und überschreitet die Grenzen des Todes um nachts mit einem Messer unter ihrem Bett zu sitzen

[liv45no]

[concretesweetner]

Just found out my childhood book series has a active fandom and ao3 tag, 30 years have been added to my lifespan

[lyraina]

A selection of artwork I did for the Adventure Games Board Game for Kosmos Publishing. This one was a special treat for me since I've been listening to the audioplays of "The Three Investigators" for many years - being part of an official product for the series was a lot of fun!

The story follows the Three Investigators Justus, Peter and Bob on their adventure solving their newest case.

The style was supposed to be a little different from the previous games I illustrated, more heavy on linework to reflect existing artwork of the IP.

[all-action-all-picture]

Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators - 16.

1975 UK Armada paperback edition of Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators: The Mystery of the Nervous Lion (or George as he is called in the book). Originally published in 1971.

Written by Nick West (a pseudonym for Kin Platt, 1911-2003) and based on characters created by Robert Arthur (1909-1969). Cover by Peter Archer (1933-2018).