IDW Crime Creators Talk Comics’ Hottest Growing Genre (And We’ve First Looks For 3 Great Series) [EXCLUSIVE]

While most people think of superheroes when they think of comics, the reality is the medium goes far beyond capes and cowls. When it comes to comics, you can find just about any kind of story that you can imagine, be it science fiction, action adventure, romance, comedy, horror, and more. One genre, however, has been seeing something of a renaissance as of late. While crime comics have long been a staple of the industry, they’ve grown increasingly popular in recent years and thanks to IDW’s crime-centered imprint, IDW Crime, that popularity is only growing.

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IDW Crime launched earlier this year, kicking off with Zoe Tunnell’s Seven Wives, followed by Joey Esposito’s Killer Influences, and the upcoming Fixation from Amy Chase. The three series couldn’t be more different; Seven Wives takes on a mysterious death on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints compound, while Killer Influences follows the dangerous pact between a meticulous serial killer and an aspiring true-crime podcaster and Fixation blurs takes fandom to a brutal level. But the three series are strong examples of just how wide-ranging crime comics really are and now, Tunnell, Esposito, and Chase have sat down with ComicBook to talk about the genre’s rise, how it differs from straight horror, and their hopes for the genre in the future. Oh, and take notices of the exclusives looks at Seven Wives #3,Killer Influences #2, and Fixation #1 throughout our chat as well.

Crime Comics Appeal Because of Their Relatability And the Emotional Journey

ComicBook: I feel like we’ve seen a lot of growth in popularity when it comes to the overall “crime” genre in recent years—be that through things like true crime or even just fiction and thrillers. How do you see crime comics as fitting into that overall shift in entertainment trends?

Zoe Tunnell: I feel like it is sort of hand-in-hand with the rise of horror as such a dominant genre. When the world is so grim and relentlessly depressing, it can be very cathartic to see a world even worse off. With crime, specifically, it has such a wide and varied net. In Seven Wives, readers are (or at least should be if I did my job right) never once mournful or sad that Matthew Dunn was murdered, he deserved it and worse for what he has done. Even though the aftermath is messy and complex, it is a little cathartic seeing such a powerful, awful man face consequences for his actions when so many in our real world get away without any.

Amy Chase: I think we’re in a time where every day now we’re watching absolutely absurd acts of crime occur on global and community scales. Things like social media, tech evolution, and systemic power abuse continue to change the way people interact with each other, the news, and the laws that govern their own lives. Comics satisfy both the narrative and visual elements that compel people to observe these things from afar and feel safely removed from the inherent danger, while still allowing them to grapple with the concepts on a personal level.

Joey Esposito: Crime stories tend to be grounded in a character’s day-to-day life, even when it’s a crime story set within a more fantastical world. I think that makes crime inherently relatable because it’s about the extremely nuanced dark sides of the human experience or the adrenaline that can come with testing its limits.

What do you think makes crime as a genre—and therefore crime comics—so appealing in an entertainment landscape that is very much one dominated by and anchored by major IP, like superheroes?

Tunnell: It provides a really distinct breath of fresh air, in a lot of ways. It’s a little ironic, because crime comics predate superhero ones in a lot of ways, but the modern comic market is so focused on existing IP and superheroes that stories that trade in darker and murkier waters can have a lot of appeal with readers looking for something else. It’s something television learned a long time ago, just look at the constant flow of prestige crime series, and it is nice to see comics realizing it applies here too.

Chase: Your mention of superheroes is exactly why I think crime comics are such a natural fit! It’s all power fantasies and wish fulfillment. Even with stories from the villain’s perspective and things like “good for her” revenge stories. Crime stories create a setting in which readers and creators can explore these dark and taboo subjects through the eyes of the killers, the victims, or the saviors. Even if it’s not your personal power fantasy, it captures the societal fantasy of exerting power – whether a lawbreaking sort or the power of justice and fairness.

Esposito: I think crime fiction flourishes during turbulent times, as does horror. Indulging in the dangerous underbelly of a fictional character’s life can give you some perspective on your own problems.

The Intersection of Crime and Culture Are a Big Part of the Rise of Crime Comics

Each of your individual comics—Seven Wives, Killer Influences, and Fixation—they approach the crime genre through something of a pop culture lens, in a sense. How do you see the intersection of culture and crime stories in terms of your own creative processes?

Tunnell: For Seven Wives, it definitely ties into the modern voyeuristic popularity of your cult docudramas and the fringe religious groups. They are often treated like a spectacle and something to watch like car crash TV, but the lives damaged and lost by those groups are very, very real. One of my main focuses of the series was ensuring that we treat every member of the Dunn family as A Whole Person, so that the damage caused by Matthew and the elders hits with the appropriate impact. 

Chase: Fixation was both one of the hardest and easiest books I’ve ever written, haha! I find crafting crime narratives to be challenging, because I feel like you have to be smarter than the law in order to break it convincingly. But the fandom element of Fixation came so naturally – the concept has exploded in notoriety recently, with many “toxic” fandoms exhibiting terrible behaviors and kind of self-cannibalizing in ways that seem mind-boggling to outside viewers. Fandom gets a bad reputation and is seen as inherently lesser (and often more feminine), but if you’ve never been in one, you really miss a lot of the intricacies. Fixation doesn’t condemn fandom in the least but seeks to show the ways in which a “love of media” can logically push people into crimes of passion, which are absolutely still crimes. Even in the name of your favorite fandom ship.

Esposito: Killer Influences is about the pop culture-ification of true crime and how that compromises the ethics of the whole endeavor. True crime walks a very fine line between reporting and exploitation and when fame and money come into it, things get messy. 

Crime And Horror Go Hand In Hand — Just Don’t Mistake Them For the Same Thing

There are some people who look at crime comics and the “crime” genre in general and dismiss it as just a type of horror. How do you see these stories and this genre as differing from straight horror—and how do you see comics as especially making that differentiation?

Tunnell: I think they are like…two halves of a Venn diagram, y’know? They are distinct but there’s absolutely overlap in the middle. When both genres deal with the darkest parts of life–death, murder, pain–so often, it is impossible to not see the similarities. But I feel like crime is often a lot more focused on digging into the details, the who’s and why’s of the story. Horror often thrives in the shadows, leaving questions unanswered and monsters half-unseen. Crime is a genre where you need those details, or else the emotionality of your story completely falls apart. No one wants to read a crime tale that’s just violence for the sake of violence.

Chase: Funny enough, I come from a horror background, so a book about vampire movie fandom was never going to avoid that association. Artist Savanna Mayer and colorist James Fenner also have been crafting gorgeous (and occasionally gory) visuals that play with the more surreal parts of the setting to emphasize the characters losing the boundaries between the movie and reality. But the reason Fixation is under the IDW Crime banner and not IDW Dark is because at the end of the day, there is no fantasy or supernatural element, and it’s not presented for the sheer horror factor. These situations occur in the ‘real’ world with characters who are overstepping social and legal boundaries in the name of obsession and passion.

Esposito: I think one difference is the reader tends to be less participatory in a horror story. Crime fiction thrives in the anticipation of or the aftermath of a crime, often tied to unraveling the how or the why, investigating their own moral compass, which gives the reader a more active role in the story.

With IDW Crime just starting out, what would you say your hopes are for crime comics if we were to come back and have this chat again in a year, or five years from now?

Tunnell: I’d hope it continues to thrive and grow! I think our launch line-up is so exciting both from a series-level perspective and a creative one. Tackling three very distinct flavors of crime tale with three creative teams featuring a lot of up-and-coming talent is such a thrilling way to launch a line and set a ton for what’s to come. If IDW Crime keeps going under that philosophy, I think having this chat a year or two from now seems extremely likely.

Chase: I’d love to see crime stories continue to play with setting, scale, and execution. A strong murder mystery or detective beat is always going to be popular, for good reason. Let’s see some immensely small-stakes crimes, or crimes outside of the modern setting. Crime story creators shouldn’t be afraid to play in the morally grey spaces as well. And readers shouldn’t be afraid to experience challenging narratives as well. Even in real life, it’s not always a perfect case closed

Esposito: I hope crime comics continue to thrive and cross pollinate to other genres to tell stories that only comics can contain. 

Killer Influencesis Issue #1 is on sale now; Issue #2 goes on sale August 19. Seven Wives is Gagnon and Tesslyn Bergin-Dicoi. Issues #1 and #2 are on sale now with the finale, Issue #3, available August 18. Fixation, from writer Amy Chase and artist Savanna Mayer, sees issue #1 go on sale August 3

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