Link to the n*de dudes

The Three Investigators (1967-83) is an American boys' mystery series originally published as Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, although the famous director rarely appears and plays no role in the stories:

The Mystery of the Green Ghost

The Mystery of the Screaming Clock

The Mystery of the Dancing Devil

The Mystery of the Sinister Scarecrow.

The Secret of Shark Reef

In all, 41 Mystery of and 4 Secret of.

The stories have been translated into over 20 languages. In Germany, the investigators are Die Drei ???, pronounced Fragenzeichen, "Question Marks," after their business card..

The three boys:

The leader, future detective Jupiter: stocky/muscular, highly intelligent, able to piece together clues quickly. His Uncle Titus' salvage yard provides many mysteries.

Athletic Peter takes on the dangerous assignments, like trailing suspects and rescuing his friends. His father works in special effects in Hollywood, giving them access to movie-making mysteries.

Shy, sensitive, gay-vague Bob, who wears a leg brace, works at the library; he conducts the research in public and forbidden collections. His father is a journalist, giving them access to news-story mysteries.

I read three of the books back in the 2000s, when I was researching an article on queer codes in children's literature. None of the investigators express any girl craziness, and the constant kidnapping, tight-squeezes, and nick-of-time rescues create many opportunities for buddy-bonding. Peter and Bob are so intimate that one almost expects them to be a canonical gay couple. So when I discovered that the trio has appeared in two German movies, I had to check them for gay subtexts (or maybe texts).

In the books, the boys are 13-14 years old, but Julius Weckauf (Jupiter), Nevio Wendt (Peter), and Levi Brandl (Bob) are 16-18, able to drive and get into more life-threatening situations.

Die Drei ???: Erbe des Drachen, "The Dragon's Legacy" (2023): the boys have a summer internship on the set of the movie Dracula Rises, filming in Transylvania. They investigate the disappearance of a boy 50 years ago, encountering a secret society and an "an undead creature."

The trailer doesn't show anyone meeting the Girl of His Dreams, and Bob looks quite gay-stereotype feminine. I'll take it as a queer code.

Mark Wachke, who starred in The Dark on Netflix, plays Peter's father, the special effects guy.

Die Drei ??? und der Karpathanhund, "The Carpathan Hound" (2025): gay gallery owner Mr. Prentice asks the boys to track down his stolen Carpathian Hound sculpture. Darn, I thought it would be a "Hound of the Baskervilles" thing.

Johannes Nussbaum (n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) plays Sonny Elmquist.

The trailer reveals lots of threatening villians, including a carnival devil. We see Peter rescuing Bob, and again, no Girl of His Dreams. Have they become a canonincal couple?

Plus a homophobic fan complains about "turning some characters gay." Sounds like it is worth a review.

A third German movie, Die Drei ??? Toteninsel ("Death Island"), will premiere in 2026.

Wait -- "where to watch" showed that the movie is available on Amazon Prime, but apparently not in the U.S. We'll have to make do with the trailers, and check to see if any of the actors are gay in real life.

More after the break

Julius Weckauf (Jupiter) has appeared in Der Pfad, Catweazle, and the sitcom Intimate, which has gay characters. His social media yields no clues about whether he is gay or not.

Levi Brandl (Bob) has appeared only in the Drei ??? movies, and as himself in on Hallo Deutschland and Tigerenten Club.

Nevio Wendt (Peter, left and top photo) has had the most extensive on-screen career, appearing in several movies and playing troubled teen Sascha Petrenko on 124 episodes of the soap opera Rote Rosen (2020-21). My German is not great, but it sounds like either he or his character is gay.

Encouraged by the lack of girl-craziness in the German Drei ???, I checked out the two American movies, starring Chancellor Miller (Jupitor), Nick Price (Peter), and Cameron Monaghan (Bob).

The Three Investigators and the Secret of Skeleton Island (2007): While vacationing in South Africa, the boys travel to Skeleton Island, where they run afoul of a mysterious beast. Plus there's a kidnapping and several attempted murders, including a squashing-tomb. Ulp, according to the trailer, Peter gets a tacked-on heterosexual romance.

Jannik Schumann (n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) voices Jupiter in the German edition.

The Three Investigators and the Secret of Terror Castle (2009): While investigating the case of a thieving clown, the boys find their way to a mysterious castle, full of booby traps and dry-ice ghosts, and a young girl who claims that she and Bob dated in a previous life. Another hetero-romance?

These aren't available to stream, either.