IDW has announced a new imprint to complement IDW Dark, the horror line they announced last year. IDW Crime will feature — you guessed it — crime comics.
The line will feature stories about “twisted, everyday acts of humans that we just can’t look away from,” and will launch with projects by Zoe Tunnell, V Gagnon, Joey Esposito, Amy Chase and more.
“Crime has a deep, often under-celebrated history in comics, from hard-boiled noir to social thrillers that pushed the medium to be bolder, sharper and more adult,” said IDW Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “With the IDW Crime imprint, we’re honoring that legacy while giving it a modern spotlight — elevating creator-driven stories that feel urgent, character-forward, and unapologetically human. These are stories about obsession, consequence and the ability to hold a mirror up to society, and we couldn’t be more excited to help bring them back to the forefront of mainstream comics.”
Here’s a look at the three titles IDW announced today:
Seven Wives
The first title, Seven Wives, will launch in May. It’s by writer Zoe Tunnell and artists V Gagnon and Tesslyn Bergin-Dicoi. Per the publisher:
Forty-nine witnesses, seven wives, one dead husband… Who’s the murderer? As two detectives investigate a death at a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints compound in remote Arizona, the dark mystery will unravel the horrors of brainwashing and deliver a compelling whodunit that will leave readers guessing until the very end.
The first issue will have a main cover by Mirka Andolfo, with variants by Gagnon, Matt Wilson and Serena Mercado.
Killer Influences
In July, The Pedestrian writer Joey Esposito teams with artist Valeria Burzo for a true crime serial killer saga called Killer Influences:
Melvin’s a serial killer who craves infamy. His problem? He’s so efficient and methodical that he doesn’t have a brand and no one has connected his crimes — except for Kylie, an aspiring true crime influencer who reaches out to him, hoping his story can help her become a star. The unlikely duo will make a pact to accomplish their dreams… and destroy their lives in the process.
David Baldeon and K.J. Díaz did the main cover, while Burzo and Iñaki Azpiazu did a very bloody variant:
Fixation
Finally, in September, look for Fixation by Amy Chase and Savanna Mayer.
When superfan Taylor Van Owens and her best friend win a contest to stay at the iconic house from their favorite hit vampire book-turned-movie franchise, the two expect a weekend getaway that will live up to every fangirls’ dream, especially with fans descending on the town and the cast reuniting to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the movie. But a young woman was found dead inside the house, and the killer’s taste for blood isn’t finished. The killer is ready to paint the town red to make sure they’ll go down in the franchise’s history. Everyone has a motive, and the most dangerous person in the room isn’t always who it seems…
Each of the three launch titles will be three issue miniseries.
“The titillation of being transgressive, of breaking laws and norms, of acting out and letting our more dangerous and wild selves take over is probably something everyone has felt at some point in their lives, so we all in some way can understand the allure of the outlaw,” said Senior Group Editor Jake Thomas. “But we are also hardwired to want order and justice, so we root for the hero to take down the villain. That’s why all my very sweet and sensible wife’s favorite TV shows involve murder, that’s part of why we named our kid after the great crime writer Dashiell Hammett, and that’s why I’m excited to be developing this new crime line at IDW. No other genre explores the warring impulses of humanity like crime, but it’s also a genre built on tension, pacing, character work, and crackerjack storytelling, all elements that are elemental to comics and build truly rip-roaring yarns.”