I've been going through the scans I made of all the internal artwork from the revised texts of The Hardy Boys and trying to separate them into styles. I've classified six styles, although there seems to be evidence that at least three of them might be the same artist. I've labeled them styles A-F, with style A as Rudy Nappi. Style B also seems to be Nappi, but there are some changes with it that gave me reason to classify it separately. Mostly, this is a looser line style that might just come from working more quickly.
Style C is clearly the work of a different artist, and distinctive enough to group together as the work of a single artist. According to a UK website (hardyboys.co.uk), George Wilson was the artist for the imprint of book #29, The Secret of the Lost Tunnel. Wilson has a distinctive look for Joe and Frank that makes grouping these titles together as style C very easy.
Style D was an unknown artist, and I lumped #38, The Mystery at Devil's Paw and #52 The Shattered Helmet under them. This caused me a lot of angst as I studied them, but more on this later in the article.
Style E is another unknown artist, and only applies to #53, The Clue of the Hissing Serpent. What is interesting about these is that they are clearly drawn in high 70s fashion, with large square pockets and long hair. Published in 1974, they are remarkably prescient of the TV show that went on the air in 1977, with Frank, Joe and Chet all looking like Parker Stevenson and Shawn Cassidy. I also find it striking how much they resemble the iconic, classic look of Frank and Joe. My gut is that these were drawn by Rudy Nappi, and with only one book to produce artwork for that year, didn't need to be rushed.
Style F is another distinctive style, and the work of another unknown artist. These are awful in my opinion. They are stark and angular with buttons for facial features, and disproportionate angles and perspectives. There is little about them I find appealing.
Looking Closer
Style D gave me a great headache. In particular, book #52 bothered me. I'd see elements of style E in some of the images, and similarities with book #38 in others. Part of how I separated these by styles was to look at which books were produced in each year from 1959 through 1979. The covers were all done by Rudy Nappi, and I think he was also producing the internal art as well, continuing a long-standing tradition.
Beginning in 1961, revised versions of the early books were released alongside the new titles. In 1961, there was one revision, but 1962 had three, 1963 one, 1964 saw three. 1965 had three, 1966 saw 5 in addition to the new title, and 1967 another two.
Most of these revised texts feature art that I would classify as style B. They look like Nappi, but they also look hastily drawn. Given the volume of artwork required (the original versions only featured a frontispiece, but the revised editions featured five additional drawings within the body of the text), it is easy to understand why they look rushed.
Style D was given to the year 1973, with the new title #52 The Shattered Helmet and the revision of #38 The Mystery at Devil's Paw. These show a clear break from the style of George Wilson and style C. Book #52, as I said earlier, gave me headaches. Look at these two examples from that book and I think you'll understand.
The airport image has odd angular postures, little facial features and just overall sketchy detail. It looks like a rough bit of line art that never got fleshed out. Contrast that with the image of Frank and Joe studying film over Butler's shoulder. Care has been taken to flesh out the figures, there is a lot of detail in the facial features, and a relaxed, casual comfort in their posing.
I couldn't decide how to classify them, largely due to these two images. Finally, it struck me that they must not be done by the same artist. That had never occurred to me before, that illustrations within a single title might be done by two different artists. Frankly, I think the image on the right is Rudy Nappi, and feel that this book can be reclassified as style E (maybe B - E is still unique in ways, but I think more in the medium used than a different artist). The answer seems to be that the airport image was either commissioned separately, or more likely, commissioned as a last minute replacement from another artist. I'm inclined to suspect that the artist of the airport image is likely the unknown artist of style F.
This made me wonder if #38 was really a separate style, or if it could be reclassified as well. So I opened them up in Photoshop to look more closely.
The Eureka moment
Looking at the last image in #38, I was wondering if it could be the same artist as that of the airport image. There was a sketchy angularity in each that jarred with my senses. But when I glanced down, I noticed initials in the corner! "A.O." was there in the corner. It was a wonderful moment! Style D was a distinct style, and furthermore, none of the other revised artwork was connected with those initials. I eagerly checked the other images in the book for the initials, and there they were. I was no closer to knowing who A.O. was, but it was something to start with.
Anticipating a deeper perusal of the UK site again to try finding any reference to an A.O., I looked at the next image. This one had a name, "A. ORBAAN"! My heart leapt in my chest. I don't know how I've missed it all this time, but there it was as clear as day. A quick internet search lists Albert F. Orbaan as an American artist and illustrator (1914-1983).
This made my day. I've been struggling and researching artists, trying to pin down who actually drew these illustrations, and finding nothing. Almost every site you visit lists Nappi as the de facto artist - he painted the covers, so he must have drawn the illustrations. It is thrilling to have found an answer, even if it is just one.
Here is the frontispiece from book #38 The Mystery at Devil's Paw with the artist's signature. Also, if you check out the image on the right, you'll notice that the original image was drawn with the car being forced off the road to the left, but the image was flipped so it was going off the right shoulder. Here's a hint... the artist's name gives it away (Albert Orbaan).
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