If you’re not familiar with “fridging,” it’s a comic book trope. The death of a female character motivates the male character to do something heroic. Green Lantern being the first example when he finds his murdered girlfriend in the fridge.

A recent example would be the 90th anniversary of Nancy Drew in March 2020. A new comic book series begins with Nancy Drew being dead on page one. The Hardy Boys take it upon themselves to solve her murder. Only to discover that she was alive and well, and pissed off that they were stepping in on her investigation.

Anthony Del Col, the writer, thought it would be a neat idea to have the Hardy Boys investigate Nancy Drew’s death. He was unaware of fridging as a trope and wasn’t prepared for the backlash.

That’s not how you celebrate a 90-year-old character.