EXCLUSIVE: Meet three creative teams on ‘Perfect Crime Party’

• Kendall Goode: “Sideswiped is about how easy it is to be manipulated by someone under the assumed pretense of mutual attraction. More specifically, a master criminal taking advantage of a couple of lonely guys through different dating apps. It showcases how crime fiction is always changing with technological advancements. Always being ‘online’ allows for a lot of new ways to take advantage of people or to be victimized.”

– The Twenty-One Foot Rule by Nick Mamatas & Jules Valera – A fake and deadly duel turns out to be not so fake after all.

• Nick Mamatas:

  “The twenty-one foot rule”, the rule, is a semi-dubious claim that a knife-wielder within twenty-one feet of someone armed with a gun will be able to rush and stab the gun-wielder before the gun-wielder can get off a shot and stop the stabber. Frankly, it is used to justify police shootings of unarmed civilians.”

  “The Twenty-One Foot Rule”, the story, is a noir about two teen sisters testing the claim for equally dubious reasons. It first appeared as prose in the first issue of the crime fiction magazine Dark Yonder.”

  “The Twenty-One Foot Rule”, the comic, is a slightly less noir and slightly more sprightly version of the story, brought to life thanks to Jules Valera’s amazing art and letters. It was challenging to adapt into a script, but a thrill to see revealed on the page.”

• Jules Valera: “Who hasn’t dreamt of battling their sibling to the death? Even better when it’s really a battle of wits — to the death? That’s what I thought when I first read Nick Mamatas’s brilliant short story, ‘The Twenty-One Foot Rule’, and the vivid wit of his deft script adaptation was a pleasure to interpret for the comic version.”

– Joke Theft by Henry Barajas & Kit Mills – A joke thief makes the perfect set.

• Henry Barajas: “One of the most disregarded crimes is joke theft. If it were to be punishable by the law we would have overcrowded prisons filled with horrible open micers and Dane Cook—and thank goodness it isn’t! But working with the incredible Kit Mills on our story was one of the funniest experiences I’ve had making comics.”
• Kit Mills: “Rusty Nails isn’t funny enough to be a stand-up comedian. Luckily, he has Sherry to help him out. The thing is… Sherry doesn’t know that she’s helping him, and she never will. ‘Joke Theft’ is a heist story about the pursuit of laughter, at any cost.”