Another “I’m only bringing this up because I’m re-reading comic archives” post — this one about Kate Beaton’s Mystery Solving Teens characters.  Taking a somewhat staid cultural item, whether it’s history or a fictional character or book and applying a veneer of knowing sarcasm over it is the bedrock of Beaton’s sense of humor.  She can also deftly point out the absurdities of the original situation or character.  For the Hardy Boys, turning the rather adult-like teenage stars of those books into rather modern, slacker teens flips the premise sideways.  Why would these teens solve mysteries? Why in the heck would the adults trust them?

UPDATE: Beaton also did a genius skewering of the Nancy Drew character in several strips where she riffed off of the book covers.