Creator Matt Kindt has a list of stellar collaborators such as Keanu Reeves and Jeff Lemire, but now he may have added the biggest star to his roster: his mother. Margie Kraft Kindt joins her son for Gilt Frame, “an eccentric and electrifying crime thriller starring the most unlikely detective duo in the history of murder mysteries.” The three-issue whodunit comic will debut on August 7 from Dark Horse Comics and Flux House.
The pair will also be on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con alongside bestselling crime novelist Gary Phillips (Cold Hard Cash: A Martha Chainey Escapade), colorist turned comics writer Lee Loughridge (MidState), and writer Curt Pires (WYRD, Money). The panel, titled Crafting the Perfect Crime Comic on Saturday, will be on July 27 from 6-7 PM in Room 28DE where the panelists will discuss their new comics series, reveal their real-life inspirations, and what it takes to plan the perfect crime. Award-winning crime writer Alex Segura (Blood Oath, Secret Identity) will moderate.
“Although it is a privilege and thrill to collaborate with someone of Matthew’s caliber and of his generation, the real joy and value is personal,” said Kraft Kindt. “What a bonus at this time of life, the gift and pleasure of so many hours and days in the company of a grown-up son, sitting across from each other at our partner table, settling into our chairs as we brainstorm plot twists. Each of us takes on the roles of our characters. I develop the energetic persona of the star of Gilt Frame, the take-charge Meredith Pearson — Aunt Merry to her beloved nephew and best buddy, Sammy — while Matt shoots out dialogue for him. We toss around how they would play off each other — so completely immersed in the exhilarating work we are both passionate about, that every once in a while, we stop and ask each other, ‘Are you getting this down?’”
Read details from the publisher here:
A classic whodunit that spans the globe from Paris to Hawaii to Montenegro, Gilt Frame stars Sam, an orphan in his early twenties, and his well-off Aunt Merry who has an outsized appetite for antiques, travel, and solving crimes. Sam was adopted by his aunt years ago and together they have solved some of the most notorious murders in the world. Now their latest Parisian adventure is cut short when they stumble upon a murder scene so bizarre that only a raging psychopath could have produced it. To solve this crime, Sam and Merry will have to wrestle with jewel thieves, art-forgers, gun-runners, the century-old ghost of the woman in black, a lost puppy, and a master French detective who just might solve the crime before they do.
“Sam, the young nephew in Gilt Frame, is really the star of the show here,” said Kindt. “The voice of reason who generously gives old Aunt Merry just enough screen time” not to embarrass herself. He’s always looking out for her as they solve a real puzzle of a murder. It’s not a locked-room murder mystery. It’s more of an unlocked…UNHINGED murder mystery.”
Ahead of the SDCC panel and the August release, check out an exclusive preview pages below!
Stay tuned for more SDCC ’24 coverage from The Beat.
