What is the perfect crime... and could you get away with it? That question lies at the core of Perfect Crime Story, a new comics anthology from Iron Circus Comics.
Edited by Kel McDonald, comprising 300+ pages, and spotlighting 25 lighthearted crime stories, Perfect Crime Story is now crowdfunding on BackerKit! Daily Dead previously revealed the creative teams for three of the anthology's stories, and to celebrate the launch of the new collection on BackerKit, we're now thrilled to exclusively unveil preview pages from those three stories:
You can check out the exclusive previews below, as well as the official press release with additional details and the anthology's cover art by Jeff Smith! To learn more, visit:
Press Release: (August 26, 2024) Spike Trotman’s Iron Circus Comics — the premier publisher of award-winning, critically-acclaimed graphic novels in the American Midwest, which has raised nearly 5 million dollars via crowdfunding — is launching a BackerKit campaign to publish PERFECT CRIME PARTY, a full color 300+ page anthology containing 25 light-heart tales of criminal activity from over 40 incredible creators as well as a cover by Jeff Smith (Bone). From club-style murder mysteries to anxious teens hijinx to acts of protest, PERFECT CRIME PARTY asks the immortal questions: What's the perfect crime? And what do you think you could get away with?
"PERFECT CRIME PARTY is the platonic ideal of the Iron Circus anthology,” said Iron Circus Founder Spike Trotman. “A cool idea, tossed at incredibly creative people, who are left to do with it what they will! The results are always so fun and unexpected."
PERFECT CRIME PARTY has quite the wanted list in its lineup:
- Bluedolph the Dead Nose Reindeer by Tayson Martindale – Someone has murdered one of Santa's Reindeer and there is only one detective who can find out which perp belongs on the naughty list!
- By The Horns by Malcolm Derikx & Brenna Baines – Teens in ancient Greece plan to save their favorite bull for a sacrificial alter.
- Darling Doesn't Know by John Konrad – Two celebrities think murder is an easier solution to their problems than divorce.
- Grand Theft Octo by Kate Ashwin & Claude TC – This set of thieves is gonna rob the most expensive casino in the galaxy!
- Joke Theft by Henry Barajas & Kit Mills – A joke thief makes the perfect set.
- Play It Again by Tango, Amy Chase, Xenon Honchar, & Noah Stephens – A vampire wants to recover memorabilia of his old band for a music collection.
- Polyphonic Funk: My Outlaw Melody by David Brothers & Alissa Sallah – A delinquent plans a car heist with the help of her dead father's ghost.
- Prym and Burn by Mariah McCourt & Jules Rivera – Without easy access to divorce, women in Victorian London need to find other ways to free themselves from abusive husbands.
- Psikotika Will Strike At Midnight by Illuminated – A detective tries their best to stop a grand theft they were warned was coming.
- Racked by Chuck Harp, Luis Santamarina, & Rob Jones – When your crimes need art supplies, the answer is more crime.
- Reap What You Sow by Ale Green & Fanny Rodriguez – Gorilla gardening is the best solution to beautify the neighborhood and help native plants.
- Sideswiped by Chris Sebela & Kendall Goode – A sap finds out his first date was a set up.
- Sincerely A Lady by Molly Muldoon & Caitlin Like – A new wardrobe reveals a history of sneaking, spying, and gossip.
- Smugglers Abroad by Michelle Gruppetta & Fleur Sciortino – A family tries to get the best chocolate over the border.
- Spirit Duplicator by Rodrigo Vargas & Coni Yovaniniz – Fraud and theft are the only ways to stop this card-playing bully.
- The Cloud Thief by Erin Roseberry – A witch needs to steal some clouds to make it rain.
- The Crime Beat by Van Jensen & Neal Obermeyer – An underpaid journalist takes revenge on their boss.
- The Good Word by Bevan Thomas & Reetta Linjama – A snake oil salesman meets his match in a small town.
- The Heist by Amy Chu & Anderson Cabral – In a world where paper is rarer than gold, a thief must break into the most heavily guarded building in town: the library.
- The Ninth Life of Tabitha Tuxedo by James F Wright & Jackie Crofts – Tabitha Tuxedo conducts an elaborate jailbreak for their partner in crime.
- The Plague of the Living Rest Benches by Nathaniel Wilson – Scientist and unethical experiments have led to the sidewalks of the world being deadly.
- The Swinevald Pearl by Ben Coleman & Cat Farris – All the security in the world won't stop this otter from getting his pearl.
- The Twenty-One Foot Rule by Nick Mamatas & Jules Valera – A fake and deadly duel turns out to be not so fake after all.
- Trevor n Derrick Le Debacle de Fromage by Matylda McCormack-Sharp – A mouse is determined to get its favorite cheese all to itself.
- Written Off by Ryan Estrada & Axur Eneas – A movie crew aims to steal the rights back from the corporation that is ruining their movie.
The campaign will feature multiple tiers for backers, including a digital version of the book, a print version of the book featuring additional art, and a bundle featuring all of Iron Circus's previous general anthologies, including Sleep of Reason, New World, Timrous Beastie, FTY Ya'll, Failure to Launch, and the Eisner-award-winning You Died!
To support the campaign on BackerKit, visit this link: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/iron-circus-comics/perfect-crime-party?ref=dailydead
For updates, follow Iron Circus Comics on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
About the publisher
C. Spike Trotman (she/her) - C. Spike Trotman was born in DC, raised in MD, and lives in IL. An artist and writer, she founded Iron Circus Comics in 2007, which has since grown to become the region's largest comics publisher. Her notable work includes the webcomic "Templar, Arizona," the Smut Peddler series of erotic comic anthologies, and Poorcraft, a graphic novel guide to frugal living. A Kickstarter early adopter, she pioneered the widely-adopted bonus model that's since completely reshaped the pay system of the small press, jump-starting the current renaissance of alt-comics anthologies. Iron Circus is also the first comics publisher of note to fully incorporate crowdfunding into its business model, inventing one of the single most effective uses of new media in comics publishing today.
About the creators
Alejandra Green and Fanny Rodriguez are a pair of artists from Mexico who love to create and illustrate stories. Ale is a freelance illustrator and comic artist. Fanny is a freelance writer and illustrator. Both have worked as artists for videogames and now create their own comics, hoping to inspire others through their work like Fantastic Tales of Nothing.
Alissa Sallah is a cartoonist from small town Ohio and creator of the graphic novel WEEABOO (Oni Press, 2021). Most recently, she is the writer of RICK & MORTY: The Manga (Oni Press) and created the comedy sci-fi short B&B for the XINO anthology (Oni Press). In addition to her own works, she edited and contributed to the Bonfire anthologies (STRATOS, TOPIA, SILK & METAL), has been featured in the YAKUZA 6 SONG OF LIFE artbook and was the colorist/editor on the Image comic series SLEEPLESS.
Amy Chase is a comics and prose writer from Southern California who specializes in tales of the fantastic, horrifying, and supernatural. She has officially written for properties like Dungeons & Dragons, My Little Pony, Archie Horror, and Ghostbusters, and has worked with independent publishers like Avery Hill and Cloudscape Comics. Outside of writing, Amy is an avid tabletop gamer, a frog mom, and a roller derby player who skates under the name Tuffy the Vampire Skater.
Amy Chu is a writer for comics, graphic novels, and TV, currently working on projects for DC, Marvel and Netflix. She has written popular characters such as Wonder Woman, Deadpool, Ant-Man and Iron Man. She wrote Poison Ivy’s first solo mini series, and is the first woman to write the Green Hornet series created in the ‘30s. She is also the author of children's graphic novels including Sea Sirens and the sequel Sky Island, published by Penguin Random House. Amy is the co-founder of the imprint Alpha Girl Comics and enjoys non-profit work, creating comics for the New York Historical Society, Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Museum of Chinese in Americas. She studied Architectural Design at MIT, East Asian Studies at Wellesley College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Amy is a frequent speaker at conventions around the world. You can follow her on amychu.com, twitter @amychu and on Facebook/iwritecomics.
Anderson Cabral is a Brazilian artist with several works published in Brazil and the USA. He has been working as an illustrator, colorist and character designer for companies like General Electric, HBS Magazine, Image, IDW, Titan Comics and Heavy Metal.
Axur Eneas is an artist for animation and comic books born and raised in Mexico City. He's the author of two graphic novels, Este cómic no es Arte and Dibuja una Casa, this last one won the 2017 National Graphic Novel Award from the Mexican Secretary of Culture. He was the creator and showrunner of Toontorial, a show of Cartoon Network that runned for two seasons and was transmitted in Latin America, UK, Poland and France. As an artist he has collaborated with international publishers like Océano Travesia, Storm King, Scout Comics and Iron Circus Comics, currently he is the artist of the middle grade series Student Ambassador.
Bevan Thomas is an award-winning author with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He is best known as a writer and editor on numerous anthologies for the Vancouver-based publisher Cloudscape Comics. Most prominently, Bevan created Through the Labyrinths of the Mind, a diverse collection of comics about mental health issues, and Epic Canadiana, a series that pays tribute to classic Canadian superhero comics, and which won Cloudscape the Gene Day at the 2016 Joe Shuster Awards. Bevan lives in Vancouver, BC with his partner and frequent collaborator, the cartoonist Reetta Linjama. www.bevanthomas.ca
Brenna Baines is a comic creator and TV animator who loves drawing ancient history, robots, and occasionally those subjects combined. You can see her art in three Toronto Comics Anthologies, and she lives in Toronto, Canada with her pet rats.
Caitlin Like is a cartoonist from Portland, Oregon. They live with their one-eyed cat Pandora and have drawn a lot of comics to trashy crime dramas. They have worked in the comics industry in nearly every form or fashion since 2014 and their writer/artist debut graphic novel The Hundredth Voice was published October 2023.
Cat Farris is a native Portlander, an artist, and pretty sure she's just making this up as she goes along. She is supported in this venture by the world's most beautiful husband, the laziest greyhound, and an all-star cast of Helioscope studiomates. She has done art for various comics publishers, including Oni Press, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, and HarperAlley. Her most recent books are THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR and UP TO NO GHOUL, written by Cullen Bunn and published by HarperAlley.
Claude TC doesn’t leave the house because he spends all his time drawing comics for various age groups. Like “children” and “adults”. They generally have a bunch of slimy things in them and many jokes. He’s developed and drawn Rex Power for Monster Fun in the UK, and his creator owned stuff (sci fi adventures, nightmare sitcoms, Leda and the swan adaptation) can be found at gronkcomics.com
Coni Yovaniniz is a comic artist and Astronomy MSc based in Santiago, Chile. Previous works include the webcomic Postcards in Braille and the middle-grade graphic novel The Do Over (with Rodrigo Vargas). They’re currently working on the sequel to The Do-Over, so look forward to that! You can find more of Coni’s work at kurisquare.com
Chuck Harper is a writer of various forms and winner of the Mad Cave Studios Talent Hunt. He’s published comics independently and with the likes of Mad Cave Studios and Markosia. When not scripting stories or crafting poetry, he’s scribbling about skateboarding or editing manga volumes.
David Brothers was born in Georgia, found a new home in Oakland, edits Japanese manga for a living and American comics for a change of pace, and writes fiction for fun when he's not sitting by the dock of the bay.
Erin Roseberry is an indie cartoonist and Risograph printmaker living in New York, New York. Her comics have also appeared in ShortBox Comics Fair, Dirty Diamonds, and Iron Circus Comics's own Failure to Launch. You can find more of her work at roseberrycomix.com.
Fleur Sciortino is a freelance illustrator and designer who currently works in the Tabletop RPG sector and has previously worked in fields ranging from book and board game publishing, video game development, storyboarding for film, animation, and design agency work. Her work has been published in international publications and has worked with clients like Penguin Random House and Scholastic.
Fleur is also an avid gamer, high fantasy fan, and obsessed with tabletop RPGs.
Henry Barajas is a Latinx author from Tucson, AZ. He is best known for his graphic memoir La Voz De M.A.Y.O. Tata Rambo, TMNT: Splintered Fate, Helm Greycastle, Batman: Urban Legends, Project Cryptid, and Historias de Resistencia: Dolores Huerta and the Plight of the Farm Workers for the New York City Department of Education. Barajas writes Gil Thorp for the funny papers in Los Angeles, CA.
Livio Baggio is an Italian cartoonist working under the name Illuminated. He makes comics for a living, in the sense that he wouldn't be living if he didn't make comics.
Jackie Crofts is a cartoonist based in Indianapolis. She‘s the co-creator on the culinary coming-of-age crime comic, Nutmeg, with James F. Wright. She also teamed up with him again on "Okaeri," as part of Iron Circus's Eisner Award-winning anthology, You Died. She also works on various self published comics and art. She loves playing story based games, watching 80’s and 90’s action movies, and her cat Momo.
James F. Wright is a writer based in Los Angeles. He co-created the culinary coming-of-age crime comic, Nutmeg, with Jackie Crofts, and later teamed with her again for the Japanese ghost story, "Okaeri," as part of Iron Circus's Eisner Award-winning anthology, You Died. He recently completed work on a Godzilla: Rivals one-shot at IDW with Phillip Johnson, and the girl-raised-by-a-wolf saga, Lupina, with Li Buszka at Legendary. He likes knitting, movie matinees, and ramen on rainy days.
John Konrad (he/him) is a cartoonist based in Tucson, Arizona. He was the founding Comics Editor at the Daily Wildcat and has self-published comics and zines and things. Most people think he’s a pretty alright guy.
Jules Rivera is a cartoonist and graphic novelist based in San Diego. She’s most well-known for her work on the long-running comic strip, Mark Trail, as well as several graphic novels. She’s also done work on the Eisner award-winning Puerto Rico Strong anthology and the Ringo Award-winning Where We Live. When she’s not doing comics for industry, she’s working on her own cartoons and animation with her webcomic, Love, Joolz.
Jules Valera is a Glaswegian comic artist, prepress tech, zine enthusiast, and lifelong lurker. They get on with their sister just fine.
Kate Ashwin has drawn and written comics for the internet since 2002, her most current project being the award-winning Victorian-era adventure story Widdershins, which can be found at widdershinscomic.com! Kate has also contributed to and co-edited the Cautionary Fables and Fairytales books, and has artwork appearing in UK kids comics The Phoenix, and The Dandy Annual. She loves cats, plants, and never having to draw a horse and carriage ever again.
Kendall Goode is a comic creator and illustrator with work published by First Second Books, DC Comics, BOOM! Studios, and Oni Press. He’s the artist of Dirtbag Rapture (written by Christopher Sebela) and the penciller of Books of Clash Vol 3, 5, and 6 (Written by Gene Luen Yang). He lives in Richmond, Virginia with his partner Paulina, their dog and two cats.
Kit Mills is an illustrator, designer, and comic artist. Their clients include The LA Times, Eater, Vice, The Village Voice, Instax, The Harvard Business Review, and Substack, and their comic work includes Dame from the Dark (TKO Presents, 2021) and Surrender (Image, 2025). Kit lives in New York City with a small cat named Esmé.
Luis E. Santamarina is a family man and a comic book author. He’s been published in several independent Argentinian publishing houses starting in 2012. Since 2019, he has been working as a penciller and colorist for foreign markets as well, such as Canada, the US and England. With comic book author and writer Davy Lee, he published “Benigno!” under Scout Comics. He’s also published “Spectro S.A.” under Panico Press and will be publishing “Mold” under Paranoid American.
Malcolm Derikx is a writer/editor based in Ontario, Canada, and general practitioner of word-smithery in multiple mediums. They have written and created comic anthologies, tabletop games, and short films. Some of their most notable projects include the Toronto Comics Anthologies, collections of short comics written/drawn by creators from around Southern Ontario.
Mariah McCourt is a New York Times bestselling writer, artist, editor and hedgehog enthusiast with a long list of titles and projects. She spends her days making weird crafts, momming and amazing daughter, and trying to find ways to put cephalopods in everything.
Matylda McCormack-Sharp is a UK based artist who studied illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She enjoys working digitally and traditionally, in ink and watercolour. She finds illustration to be one of the most valuable forms of communication, and aims to create art that is playful and engaging across generations. Her previous works include illustrations for “What’s Happening to Me Now?”, an illustrated book about peri-menopause written by Heather Wright, “Yawa the Adventurer”, a mid-grade comic series written by Bernard Mensah, and “A Garden of Flowers”, a children’s book written by Michael Rosenblum.
Michelle Gruppetta is a Maltese story artist based in Copenhagen. She graduated from The Animation workshop in January 2021 with a BA in Character Animation. She is a previz artist by day, and a printmaker and comic artist by night! Her skills include hand cramps, fudging DnD rolls and drawing gay comics.
Molly Muldoon is a former scholar and bookseller, current librarian and writer, and always demisexual fanfiction enthusiast. Her works include A Quick and Easy Guide to Asexuality, The Cardboard Kingdom, and Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her ridiculous cats, Jamie and Rosie McKitten.
Nathaniel Wilson is a comic artist and illustrator in NYC. He is currently working on the first batch of pages for an online horror comic which should be available to read by the time Perfect Crime Party comes out. His work can be found at www.sourflesh.com. If the comic isn’t available there, it’s only because he probably lost his drawing fingers feeding those rat-size beetles under the sink. Too bad. He certainly knew better.
Nick Mamatas is the author of several novels, including The Second Shooter, I Am Providence, and the forthcoming Kalivas! Or: The Washed-Away. His short fiction has appeared in McSweeney's, Best American Mystery Stories, Tor.com, Weird Tales, Asimov's Science Fiction and many other venues. Nick is also an anthologist; his most recent title is Wonder and Glory Forever: Awe-Inspiring Lovecraftian Fiction. Forthcoming is 120 Murders: Dark Fiction Inspired by the Alternative Era. Nick's fiction and editorial work have been variously nominated for the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, Locus, and World Fantasy awards.
Dredged from the murky depths of Louisiana, Noah Stephens is here to share tales of intrigue as comics letterer. However, he's been known to draw or write from time to time as well. Above all else, Noah enjoys being able to create art with others.
Reetta Linjama is a Finnish artist dedicated to character performance in animation, comics and illustration. She has contributed to comics anthologies of wide-ranging genres, such as the Sequential Magazine Award -winning all ages anthology 'Fantastic Frights.'
Currently Reetta works as an animator in Vancouver, BC, where she lives with her partner, writer Bevan Thomas. behance.net/kelipipo
Rob Jones (He/Him) is primarily a letterer and sometimes writer of comics. He has lettered for Image, Harper Collins, Scholastic, Penguin, Humanoids, Heavy Metal, Titan and many more. He works out of his small office in Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK and shouts nonsense into the void on social media @RobJonesWrites or shouts obscenities at the local ducks out of his window.
Rodrigo Vargas is a comic artist and writer based in Santiago, Chile. His work explores counterculture, adventures, and humor. For the past years he’s been working with Coni Yovaniniz on the middle grade graphic novel The Do-Over and its sequel. He would be too scared to commit any crimes, but you can follow him on Instagram at @letsgorodrigo where his daily comics might steal a laugh or two, or his website at rodrigomakescomics.com
Ryan Estrada once hacked the firewall at the world's largest financial institution after discovering a weakness that could be used to pull off the biggest heist in human history. But he only used it to secretly read comics at work. His books have been banned in several states, so reading his work (like Banned Book Club, Occulted, Student Ambassador, or No Rules Tonight) is the perfect crime. You can find him at ryanestrada.com but don't tell the cops.
Tango is a writer/artist and New Yorker on the move. Previously published with Dark Horse/Secret Stash Press, Archie, IDW, & even more rad indies.
Tayson Martindale is a cartoonist and graphic novelist from Edmonton, Alberta. He loves storytelling and his favourite way to tell a story is through the medium of comics. On most nights he can be found in his studio making comics, accompanied by his many cats (they make drawing difficult sometimes, but they have lots of good ideas!). His first graphic novel 'BOX BOY' was released in 2018 and his latest 'THE KEEPSAKERS' released in 2023. When not making comics Tayson loves to share his excitement for comics storytelling by leading workshops for kids and young creators. You can reach him by email: tayson.martindale@gmail.com or on Instagram: @tayson_martindale
Van Jensen is an acclaimed novelist and comic book writer. His debut novel, Godfall, is in development as a TV series with Academy Award-winner Ron Howard attached to direct. Jensen began his writing career as a newspaper crime reporter, then broke into comics as the writer of the award-winning Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer trilogy of graphic novels. He also has created titles including ARCA (IDW), Two Dead (Gallery 13) and Cryptocracy (Dark Horse). Jensen has written characters including Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern and James Bond. In 2016, he was named a U.S. State Department Comic Book Ambassador. He is known for character-centric stories with fresh and surprising takes on genre fiction.
Xenon Honchar is a comic colorist / illustrator originating in the dark depths of somewhere in New Jersey. Xenon has worked notably for IDW and Titan as well has some incredible indie projects over the very exciting first year of their comics career! Outside of comics Xenon can be found playing cozy games, doing improv and making zines!
The Crime Beat by Van Jensen & Neal Obermeyer:
Psikotika Will Strike At Midnight by Illuminated:
Darling Doesn't Know by John Konrad:
Cover Art by Jeff Smith:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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