The following is an interview with the creative contributors to Iron Circus Comics’ anthology, Perfect Crime Party, regarding the recent launch of their BackerKit campaign. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with the team about their immediate thoughts on what constituted the “perfect crime,” what makes Iron Circus the perfect home for the anthology, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: When provided with the opportunity to collaborate with Iron Circus Comics and share “the perfect crime” story, did you immediately know the story that you wanted to tell?
Amy Chase: I actually didn’t know right away – crime is a more challenging genre for me despite some prior experience with it. It took my friend and collaborator Tango approaching and asking if we wanted to team up and combine our love of vampires into a crime story before our tale began to take place. Both of us are huge fans of Buffy and wanted to blend that with some lighthearted heist hijinks. Once we started discussing the rules of vampire lore like silver, crucifixes, sunlight, and invitations inside a home, we could practically see an obstacle course taking shape.
Axur Eneas: I was lucky to be invited to the anthology by Ryan Estrada; we worked together on the series Student Ambassador (published by Iron Circus, too), and he thought I was the right person to do the art for his story. It’s always great to collaborate with him.
Bevan Thomas: Not immediately, no. I’m mainly an author of fantasy and horror stories, so I had to think for a little bit about what crime story would be a good fit for me. The theme of lighthearted crime suggested con jobs more than murders, some sort of con artist who’s in it more for the thrill than for greed or vengeance. After I got that basic idea, the story took shape.
Chuck Harp: I wish I could say, yes. But in reality I considered a few others and even dove into a notebook I keep of various ideas and story bits I could expand on. But I couldn’t be happier with the choice I made.
Henry Barajas: To put it simply: no. It took me a while to come to the conclusion of “Joke Thief.” It hit me like a getaway clown car. Shout out to Kel McDonald for giving me a chance to pitch and take my one clever idea. I have been an Iron Circus Comics fan for years, so I didn’t want to let this opportunity slip away.
Illuminated: Yes I did, in fact, I had planned on making and publishing it on my own like I usually do, and already had the thumbnails ready to show for when it came time to discuss it in detail. Crime and comedy are two elements I routinely like to mix, and it felt like this collection was made for me.
John Konrad: The story came pretty immediately — I knew I wanted to do a comedy, and I wanted it to be set during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The result is “Darling Doesn’t Know,” a story about a celebrity couple plotting each other’s murders to inherit a fortune that doesn’t exist.
Kit Mills: My piece is a collaboration with the writer Henry Barajas, so he was steering the boat while I was executing all the visual aspects. I think he came up with a great idea that takes a common creative practice (borrowing aspects of other people’s work as an influence on your own) to the extreme, and frames plagiarism as a con game.
Mariah McCourt: I did! I’ve wanted to tell a cozy mystery for as long as I can remember but never had the right opportunity to do so. The call for this anthology happened not long after a trip I took to the UK with my daughter, where I was particularly struck by Edinburgh’s literary and medical history. Which is what sparked the idea for “PRYM & BURN,” a historical mystery set in Edinburgh, about two strangers who use the unique layout of the city to plot a crime.
Nathaniel Wilson: No. I wish it was that easy, but I was tumbling a bunch of ideas around, and the one that collected the most gunk the fastest won the right to live. I did latch on to the suggestion in the original prompt, “acts of protest that are technically illegal.” Hostile architecture is an increasing problem in NYC where I live, and walking through a park near my home, I spotted a smashed bench. I thought, what if it lived and crawled and oozed?
Nick Mamatas: I’ve written several prose crime and noir stories, and when I saw the call for submissions, I shared a couple with the artist Jules Valera. “The Twenty-One Foot Rule”, as it is about teen girls and is also a bit dark and twisted, was the one Jules was most eager to work on.
Reetta Linjama: I’m mostly interested in illustrating over writing, so I was happy to draw any kind of story. But the lighthearted tone they were looking for seemed perfect for me.
Tayson Martindale: I did, actually! I’d been kicking around an idea about a detective who specialized in Mythical Homicide (think: Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc.) named Bruce Justice, and the timing was just perfect. (No pun intended. Well, a little.)
BD: Did you have a specific visual style in mind when given the opportunity to delve into the “criminal underworld” for this collection?
Amy Chase: The visual style of the story developed naturally out of Tango’s unique and energetic artwork. Her lineart is kinetic and playful, often accompanied by vibrant colors. When we decided what the heist was about – a vinyl LP from our vampire’s punk band – the irreverent rock-and-roll attitude quickly formed and everything else was up to Tango’s sense of action and pacing out visual beats. Everything got wrapped up in a monster museum mansion-shaped bow as we concocted a logical setting to house all of our supernatural obstacles.
Axur Eneas: I went for a cartoon style to go with the comedy tone of our story, “Written Off.” In it there is a fictional Kaiju movie series, so I saw it as an opportunity to put little Mexican details. The monsters are based on animals common in the south of Mexico and some of them are painted in the style of Alebrijes, beautiful wood sculptures typical in my country.
Bevan Thomas: I’m just the writer. My wife Reetta Linjama is the illustrator, so I left that part up to her!
Chuck Harp: When I ultimately figured out the story I wanted to tell, it all seemed to fall into place. I wanted to work with my team, Luis and Rob, for some time now so I knew exactly how the artwork would come together in my head. And Luis delivered it perfectly. And Rob’s lettering was just the perfect icing on the cake.
Henry Barajas: I love noir and the inner monologues that you’re privy to when following along with the doomed narrator. But I was among the “criminal underworld” for years in comedy clubs and bars. I wasn’t a good comedian, but I wrote my own jokes. The worst thing you could call someone was a joke thief. Thems fightin’ words.
Illuminated: None other than my own. My strength and focus are character work and facial expression, which helps a story that is focused not specifically on the crime, but the people around it.
John Konrad: I knew this was going to be a noir-inspired 1950s period piece, so I wanted the style to be consistent with that era. Noir naturally suggests moody chiaroscuro shadows, and I associate mid-century comics with the dark, inky linework of adventure strips. I wanted to incorporate those elements, and then balance them against the bright glitzy colors of Hollywood.
Kit Mills: Yeah, I wanted it to feel a little bit like a dingy noir movie. I used a limited color palette to keep the visual emphasis on light and shadow, and the characters are all desert rats. Rats are underworld creatures (at least to me, a city-dweller) and it was fun to imagine them as humans going about their lives and plotting against each other. This was also my first time drawing anthropomorphized animals, and I really liked figuring out how to bring human aspects into rat physiology.
Mariah McCourt: I was just really thrilled when Jules Rivera said she wanted to work on it. Jules has such a fun, dramatic, clear style. I knew she’d bring so much to the story, elevated what could have been maybe a bit dour to something really epic and lighthearted in spite of the subject matter.
Nathaniel Wilson: Yeah, I’m typically more of a horror artist, and I’m usually working with heavier inks. For this story, though, the tone is a lot lighter, and the panels leap around to different settings and points of time. So, I wanted to use more ligne claire inking to define the world more with color and to use color to make all that setting hopping clearer to the reader.
Nick Mamatas: When I adapted the first-person prose story to the comic form, I wanted to take advantage of the polyphonic omnipotence of the comic panel, so I combined author narration, character thoughts, and a “ribbon” panel going across all the pages showing a duel in real time while the panels around it told the story of the lead up to the climactic event. Almost impossible to do in prose, but relatively easy in comics. I wanted to avoid the “indie style” straightforward voice-over character narration that just describes what the reader can already see on the panel.
Reetta Linjama: I like to suit my art style to the story and mood of each comic. Once I read the script I felt some scenes were slapsticky, yet it also called for subtle acting, which influenced the animation-like character designs. The overall plot and small town setting made me think a little retro, especially with the colours.
Tayson Martindale: My story is a silly whodunnit with colourful characters and eccentric motives, so I drew it in a cartoony style. The beauty of this collection is that there are so many different styles and tones of stories in this anthology. Something for everyone!
BD: How would you describe your shared creative process in bringing this story to life on the page?
Amy Chase: Tango served as co-writer for “Play It Again,” which made the experience a total blast! I’ve had a few opportunities to co-write stories with friends and it’s exciting when you bring different perspectives on the same subject, but ultimately find coherence in the goal you’re reaching for. Tango suggested this cool form of outlining that also helped speed up her artistic process, and we went back and forth on dialogue while she outlined the panels. We also worked with colorist Xenon Honchar to develop the right color scheme for the story, bringing some of that punk sensibility to the pages. Finally, Noah Stephens did the lettering, helping capture the different SFX and tones of voice our characters speak in.
Axur Eneas: I understand the humor style of Ryan Estrada and he is confident in my ability to translate his words and add some of the slapstick humor I put on my animation work. I think we work well together because we share the art references and understand the audience we are aiming for with our stories.
Bevan Thomas: When I first decide to submit something to a comics anthology, I’ll study the call for submissions carefully to see what ideas jump out. Then I’ll pitch my idea to an artist I think would be a good fit, see what they think about my premise, and if there’s anything they’d want to expand or change. Then I’ll sit down to write a full script. As I’m not a visual artist, I leave a lot of creative choices in the later stages of the comic’s development (such as the drawing and inking) up to my illustrator. It’s important that they consider the project as much as theirs as it is mine.
Chuck Harp: We had a great process with bringing it together. As a writer I’m always concerned with how my scripts will come across to the team. Will we all have the same vision? Did I not give enough description? Maybe too much description? But that’s where good communication comes into play.
Henry Barajas: My creative process was pulled from my own experiences as a stand-up. To be clear: This isn’t an autobiography. There are some painful truths behind the words. I wanted to tour the country and make people laugh for five minutes to an hour. You never know if the helping hand is just moving you from the stage to an early retirement. It’s hard to trust someone when everything’s a joke to them.
Illuminated: Extremely relaxed and pleasant. Editor Kel McDonald was extremely hands off, and the whole process moved smoothly.
John Konrad: My creative process involved a good amount of research — I amassed a collection of movie star headshots trying to get the characters to look how they did in my head. Eventually, you have to let go of the idealized version in your head and let the art look how it wants to look. I’ve learned that giving in makes the finished work stronger, and I’m very happy with the result.
Kit Mills: It was pretty straightforward — Henry delivered the script, and Kel McDonald, our editor, went over everything and gave a few notes. After Henry made some edits and sent over the final version, I made little thumbnail sketches of each page with the panel compositions and layouts in place, and after approval from the team I went ahead with drawing, coloring, and lettering the finals.
Mariah McCourt: Other than giving Jules some ref material about Edinburgh, I really stepped back and got out of her way!
Nathaniel Wilson: Well, I’m the sole creator of my story — writer/lineart/colors/lettering — because I’m a greedy goblin control freak. My process started with a lot of walking in a wooded park, mumbling to myself, and occasionally making notes in a little book. I continued doing this until I entered a fugue state and later came to with a finished, 20-page comic and a cooked-shrimp posture that I’ll be needing to take care of. I don’t know how other people do it, but that’s an accurate description of my journey.
Nick Mamatas: I emailed the script to Jules and then just sat back and marveled at the pencils, inked pages, colored pages, and lettering as they came in. Jules is just a talented and hard-working artist that all I needed to do was applaud and nod appreciatively.
Reetta Linjama: My spouse Bevan Thomas and I have been collaborating on comics together for ages. It’s how we met. Communication has become very seamless. Even though our efforts are split between him writing and me doing the art, we give each other notes after every draft/stage, so many ideas from both of us end up in the final comic.
Tayson Martindale: I start with the idea and some sketches and play around with those in my sketchbook, sketching out the big moments (the ones they’d show in a theoretical movie trailer for the story). Then I break it down into a synopsis and thumbnails and worked with Kel McDonald (the wonderful Editor for this anthology) to sharpen the flow of the pages, and then it’s on to inks and colours and the final product.
BD: What are you most excited for readers to experience with your upcoming story?
Amy Chase: I really hope readers get a kick out of all the homages and references to creature features, vampire lore, and a general love of monsters that permeate this piece. It’s a rare and fun opportunity to blend the supernatural and crime genres, and fans will even find a few other fantastical heist stories featuring witches and ghosts included in the anthology by other stellar teams.
Axur Eneas: Our story, “Written Off,” was inspired by the then-recent cancellation of finished movies at Warner Bros., just for a tax write-off. It was shocking to see that happening to animated movies like Scoob Holiday Haunt and Coyote vs. ACME. Sadly, that’s still happening and is spreading to all big studios, so I hope people enjoy our story and remind them of all the effort and labor behind every project erased just for a tiny tax write-off.
Bevan Thomas: I like to think my story perpetrates a little of the crime it describes, for it’s about a con job and it plays its own con on the readers. There’s a twist waiting for them, and I’m really excited to see what will happen when the readers encounter it.
Chuck Harp: I’m hoping that my story will really connect with readers. That’s one of the main reasons I chose a story that’s more down to Earth. I want my readers to be able to look at these characters and feel like they’ve met them before.
Henry Barajas: I’m so excited for folks to experience the art by Kit Mills. He is a killer. Kit took the script and gave it life. Unlike Jessica Rabbit, Rusty Nails is bad. And that’s because Kit drew him that way.
Illuminated: I just hope they get the jokes, and if they don’t, that they laugh anyway out of sheer confusion.
John Konrad: There’s an unexpected romantic element to my story I’m excited about. Like all good celebrity couples, the two protagonists are arrogant, greedy narcissists, and you can’t help but love them together. I think it’ll be fun for readers to root for a doomed marriage.
Kit Mills: Our narrator, a comedian named Rusty Nails, is not a very likable character. I always think it’s interesting to go along for the ride with a narrator whose perspective you disagree with — there’s something delicious about inhabiting their mind so intimately, and also hoping that their schemes will bring about their downfall.
Mariah McCourt: A very satisfying story about the odd circumstances that can make lifelong friendships, and the fact that justice may not always look the way you expect.
Nathaniel Wilson: Truthfully? The first page takes place on a pleasant, sunlit Spring morning on a bench in the park. Nothing about the vibe of that page sets the reader up for what I drew happening on a dirty subway platform on page ten. If I get a few horrified gasps and some giggles, I’m happy.
Nick Mamatas: The whole thing! Though ultimately I was interested in creating a sense of dread with a countdown to an inevitability as opposed to a sense of suspense by suggesting a twist at the end.
Reetta Linjama: “The Good Word” has quite a few laughs and twists. The characters are so determined even though things can (and will) go wrong at the drop of a hat, so from my point of view, it’s also a jocular reminder to keep honing your chosen skill and you will reach mastery!
Tayson Martindale: I’m excited for them to try and solve the mystery along with our intrepid detective, Bruce Justice. The suspects, the clues, the red herrings – it’s all packed in there. See if you can figure out who the murderer mastermind is before the final panel!
BD: What makes Iron Circus the perfect home for this collection?
Amy Chase: Iron Circus has built a great degree of trust from their audience with these curated anthologies. They’ve done a wonderful job assembling and platforming a wide range of creators, both well established and up-and-coming. I am excited to be a part of the project and am grateful for them using their resources to create publishing opportunities like this.
Axur Eneas: I love the wide variety of art styles and views in their anthologies; this is my first time in one of them, but I have always been impressed by the names in each book. I think the strength of a collection of shorts is in the differences between stories, to always have a surprise with the turn of the page. I’m also very happy to not be the only Mexican in this collection, my friends Ale Green and Fanny Rodriguez are also representing our art community.
Bevan Thomas: Iron Circus has long been the gold standard for innovative comics anthologies. I remember many years ago when I read through The Sleep of Reason, its horror anthology, and was shocked by its fresh creativity. No vampire, werewolves, or other traditional monsters – but instead a host of bold new terrors that explored frightening areas most horror anthologies don’t. Iron Circus always manages to collect a marvelous menagerie of cartoonists with a wide range of striking, unique ideas for their current theme, and Perfect Crime Party’s pack of criminals is no exception.
Chuck Harp: Iron Circus always is looking to change things up. They have such a wide variety of stories that almost anything seems at home for them. And a crime anthology filled with great creatives is certainly a great fit.
Henry Barajas: Anthropomorphic rats. I feel like Iron Circus publishes a lot of stories with anthropomorphic characters, so I didn’t want to break the tradition.
Illuminated: Well, Iron Circus anthologies are a staple at this point. They made a name for themselves helping all sorts of genre fiction to thrive and survive in an industry that is often way too focused on a very specific section.
John Konrad: Iron Circus is a great venue for alternative voices that don’t fit in with mainstream publishers. This collection is full of misfits operating outside the law, so it’s only appropriate that misfits are writing and drawing those stories.
Kit Mills: Iron Circus has been the goat of cool anthologies for a long time! Starting with Smut Peddler, they’ve always been into curating collections of stories from a diverse array of creators, highlighting different perspectives on storytelling and artistic styles while also maintaining a really fun energy. Also, the books themselves are beautiful objects!
Mariah McCourt: IC always does amazing collections, and I’m really just thrilled they wanted this story from us. Getting to play in a genre I have loved since I was a kid with a friend and co-creator, and a publisher who lets you just have a good time, was fantastic.
Nathaniel Wilson: They’re extremely creator friendly in their contracts, and their catalog embraces weird, interesting material. Even among many indie US comics pubs, you find so many examples of I.P. rights hoarding, shady contracts and bland, trend chasing books. Iron Circus has been very fair in the two anthologies I’ve been a part of (go buy 2018’s FTL Y’ALL: Tales from the Age of the $200 Warp Drive right now!), and that’s very attractive to storytellers wanting to do their best work.
Nick Mamatas: It was their idea? I’d say that Iron Circus takes the crime genre seriously, even as they publish stories that are more whimsical. That’s a hard combo to find in publishing.
Reetta Linjama: They’re clearly a publisher encouraging experimentation. It makes sense to me that after so many varied anthologies they keep expanding their list of genres. I identify that with my direction — I want to expand the list of genres I’ve worked in, which made a crime comic anthology very appealing. This was my first time working with them but they were as ’creator-forward’ as I could have hoped.
Tayson Martindale: Iron Circus produces some amazing books and they work so hard to promote and get those stories out there. That’s a huge thing for creators. It takes so much work and effort and time and heart to finish a comic, and then you have to find a way to get that story into the hands of readers. Having a publisher like Iron Circus there to work hard to make that bridge is very appreciated.
BD: Has this anthology inspired any plans for future criminally related adventures in your creative work?
Amy Chase: I’d definitely like to continue experimenting with the crime genre in my work! My last time doing so was with Fabian Lelay for our one-shot, “Loaded Dice,” that was published as a backup story in Chip Zdarsky and Jacob Phillips’ Newburn series. That combined light fantasy and crime as a group of tabletop roleplayers conducted a heist using their game to run simulations. It’s a lot of fun, and I certainly think adding unconventional twists makes it more fun. I personally don’t have a mind for standard procedurals.
Axur Eneas: I’m just proud that this is another professional art project I made on cracked software.
Bevan Thomas: No particular plans yet. Right now, I’m more interested in returning to the tales of magic and monsters that are my regular focus; I’m currently working on a YA adaptation of an old Welsh King Arthur story. However, Reetta really loved drawing the main characters of “The Good Word,” and asked me if I’d be interested in exploring their further adventures. They are a lot of fun, so there’s a good chance I’ll write a sequel.
Chuck Harp: This anthology has certainly got me thinking about more crime stories. Especially those that are a little more everyday crime. Something relatable that people can recognize. We don’t all live life like a Tarantino movie!
Henry Barajas: That’s a good question. I do plan on working on a crime comic soon. I do plan on there being a crime happening in a future Gil Thorp story. You didn’t hear it from me; Milford’s rival football team may or may not have plans to kidnap the live peacock and school mascot. But you didn’t hear it from me!
Illuminated: Crime, criminals, and all in between are a constant in the genre work I put out, so, the topic never truly leaves my thoughts.
John Konrad: I’ve always loved cons, scams, and schemes, so I wouldn’t be surprised if similarly conniving characters show up in my future work. I just love the audacity of characters like that. I’m excited to read the collection in its entirety and see what kind of schemes other creative teams have cooked up.
Kit Mills: I’m no criminal mastermind, but I’m savvy enough to keep my mouth shut.
Mariah McCourt: I would 1000% write more cozy mysteries in a heartbeat, and yes! That’s actually been a goal of mine for a long time now. This is just the first one!
Nathaniel Wilson: I suppose so. I’m drawing away right now on some various horror work that often involves transgressions of one kind or another. Crimes against nature, crimes against airline courtesy, crimes of betrayal, crimes of someone feeding another person to thousands of carnivorous — well, that one would definitely be a real crime crime. So, yes. The answer is yes then.
Nick Mamatas: I write crime fiction fairly regularly; I am hoping that this leads to more opportunities to write comic scripts, though!
Reetta Linjama: There are so many different tones to be found within the crime genre, and just within this anthology, that I would happily illustrate many more stories in that landscape. It was also easy to imagine the characters in “The Good Word” encountering some further twists, so I would love to draw more of them!
Tayson Martindale: Ooh, I would love to do more stories with Bruce Justice. Following his investigations of some other mythical homicides and puzzles. He still hasn’t discovered the identity of the Two Front Teeth Thief…
