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The Hardy Boys is the fictional gang of two teenage brothers and adventure detectives, Frank and Joe Hardy, made famous by the series of teenage novels that have been centered around them. The characters were first created by Edward Stratemeyer in 1927 and the different novels have been written by many different ghostwriters over the years and published under the collective pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon.
The Hardy Boys novels underwent extensive revisions in 1959 to eliminate racist stereotypes and to add simplicity so as to overcome the challenge poised by television. Critics allege that with these revisions, Hardy Boys became more respectful of the law and affluent agents of the adult ruling class rather than characters who aided the poor as they originally were. Most of the cases the Hardy Boys work on are confidential detective cases handed over to their detective father and the plot invariably involves action.
The books remain hugely popular even today, and in spite of all the challenges poised by the television serials and video games featuring the same characters, Hardy Boys books sell more than a million copies annually.