Here’s an episode we’ve wanted to have for a while. Zoe Tunnell joins the podcast this week to discuss her new IDW Crime series Seven Wives and examine how easy it is to fall into cult-like behavior. As massive fans of (fictional) crime, we’re excited for Zoe Tunnell and her comic book collaborators to launch the new IDW Crime imprint with a locked-room mystery. It gives us an excuse to rattle on about Agatha Christie, Knives Out, and our devilish, guilty pleasure, True Crime.

Seven Wives’ murderous opening features the Dunn family patriarch receiving forty-nine stab wounds at the altar of his Fundamentalist temple. The suspects, the titular wives, and maybe an offspring or two. Detectives Aguilar and Halwell get to work interrogating everyone on the compound, granting Seven Wives a killer structure, and a thrilling excuse for Zoe Tunnell to beef up her three-issue mini-series with a meaty, messy character study.

We’ve followed Zoe Tunnell for years, enjoying her comics criticism and her plunge into comic-making. We discuss how one skill prepared her for the other, her passion for crime stories and locked-room mysteries in particular, and the empathy required to understand cult stories. While we couldn’t have imagined the subjects we’d explore, we always knew Zoe Tunnell would find her way onto the show.

Seven Wives is written by Zoe Tunnell, illustrated by V. Gagnon and Maria Keane, and colored by Antonio Del Hoyo. IDW Publishing drops the comic in shops on May 20th. FOC (Final Order Cutoff) is Monday, April 13th.

Follow Zoe Tunnell on Instagram, BlueSky, and her Website.

This Week's Sponsors

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Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

Previously on CBCC: Klaus Janson

A SKTCHD Guide to Pronouncing Creator Names, Vol 1

Read The Beat, Friends!

Comic Book Club: My Boyfriend is a Bear at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 2/1 at 3:30 PM

Comic Book Film Club: Paying For It on 4/26 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia.

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

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