Mystery boxes and twist endings with “Jill and the Killers”

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Oh, what’s that? It’s a real crime? And we need to solve it? And we could be killed? Yeah, that’ll be fine.

In the Oni Press four-part series, “Jill and the Killers,” teenager Jill Estrada is dealing with the unsolved disappearance of her mother, a police detective, and trying to get back to a normal life. . . . even as her friends become obsessed with Box Killers, a true-crime subscription game where each month’s “unsolved case” is custom-tailored to the life of its player. There’s only one catch: Jill’s game seems to be all too real—and when her clues begin to connect the dots to a very real series of disappearances in her hometown, Jill and her friends must conquer their fears and own personal struggles to solve the case.

Series writer Olivia Cuartero-Briggs joins us to talk about its origins, as well as why she chose to use a subscription box as the vehicle for the story. Olivia worked with artist Roberta Ingranata on “Jill and the Killers” and we talk about how the two met and the collaboration process. Olivia’s worked on murder mysteries before and goes into how the past experience informed this new project.

We’ve gotten the chance to read the final issue (out on April 17), and while we won’t be giving out any spoilers, Olivia does share how she devised the end of the series and hints at a possible continuation.

Maggie Giles takes us on a “twisted” murder case

It all starts out with a simple jewelry heist…until things take a most unexpected turn!

When cracked open, the case morphs into a full-fledged murder investigation with an unknown drug that seemingly connects a string of deaths. Quite a story, eh? Well, buckle up, because in this episode, Curtis and I talk shop with author Maggie Giles for her new book, “Twisted.” Along with being a great crime thriller, the story explores the different sides of crime and mental health and asks the question: How much are we responsible for when we aren’t fully in our right mind?

Maggie shares the origin of this story and all the different changes she made from first draft to finished product. This includes cutting down the narration from multiple points of view to just a few. She shares the lengthy research she had to do and how her time with Women’s Fiction Writers Association—including being in charge of social media—benefitted her during the story crafting process and in promoting her works.

Maggie takes us into the minds of her characters, which run the gamut of personality types. She talks about who made the final cut and which names got left behind (and may come back in a future book?).

Frank Barbiere walks us through some “Astonishing Times”

What if you lived in a world full of superheroes? Would you be amazed every day to see people who can perform impossible feats or would they just be part of the landscape? In this episode, “Astonishing Times” co-writer and co-creator Frank Barbiere joins me to talk all about this new five-part series, which you can only get at comiXology Originals.

Noah Sans, a young reporter living in the shadow of his father, lives in a world full of superheroes—but no one seems to care. After a world changing event called The Cataclysm, people moved on, and now heroes are old news. But when Noah begins investigating a mysterious murder, he comes face to face with his most revered heroes and is forced to confront a secret past that could change the world forever.

We talk about Noah's character and his perspective on the world of heroes and himself, especially when compared to his father, a journalist who was friends with the greatest heroes. We look at the world creation and how he and co-writer Arris Quinones crafted the cast.

Frank also talks about working with Arris, who is no stranger to the world of comics (he's the host of YouTube's Variant) but newer to writing them. We also look at the rest of the team and brilliant work they did bringing this idea to life.

Author David Rohlfing returns with the prequel in his Sasha Frank detective series

It was seven months ago that writer David Rohlfing made his Citywide Blackout debut for his first book, “Deliberate Duplicity.” And now he's back with a prequel story, “Cold Consequences,” which sees Det. Sasha Frank five years younger and on the trail of a murderer following a drug deal gone wrong.

David and I talk about the quick turnaround from the first book to the second and how he learned from his debut novel. David takes us through the book (not everything though, you gotta get your copy to see how it ends!) and how different a person Sasha Frank is five years ago.

We also look at the return of in-person events and if David has any planned at this time. He's done plenty of virtual events as well as interviews with the media and we talk about how he's adapted to the electronic format of book releases.