CBR has an exclusive preview of Dark Horse‘s new murder mystery comic series, Gilt Frame, which went on sale today. The series involves an unlikely murder-solving duo who work together to take on some of the most notorious murder cases in the world.

Sam, an orphan in his early twenties, was taken in by his well-off and eccentric Aunt Merry, and the two formed a crime-solving duo. In Gilt Frame #1, a Parisian vacation is cut short when the pair stumble upon a vicious and bizarre murder scene that will have them wrestling jewel thieves, art forgers, gun-runners and more as they try to solve the case before a competing French detective. The series is written by bestselling creator Matt Kindt and his mother, Margie Kindt, and both took the time to talk to CBR about the creation of the new series below. Gilt Frame #1 is available now from Dark Horse Comics.

Written by MATT KINDT & MARGIE KINDT Cover Art by MATT KINDT On sale Aug. 14

CBR: For those who are unfamiliar, can you explain the premise of the upcoming series?

Matt Kindt: It starts as a locked room murder mystery – but that locked room is…unhinged. Maybe the craziest crime scene you’ve ever seen. An odd-couple crime-solving duo stumble into the scene, and it’s a race to see who can solve the crime first – between the French master detective and the aunt and her great-nephew who, while bumbling and eccentric, have apparently solved many crimes before this one. It’s a fun, classic whodunnit with an emotional gut-punch at the end that will have you re-reading the story again with a deeper understanding of what was going on beneath the surface.

Margie Kindt: Although Gilt Frame is a murder mystery that starts when a pair of gilt-framed French chairs are won at an auction house in St. Louis, the scene soon shifts to Paris where, by malchance, a motley slew of suspects finds themselves corralled and detained in an antiques’ gallery where a lifeless body is still warm. Since none of them have an alibi and because some of them hold long-standing grudges against a few of the others, they soon point fingers and set about the intense business of either confuscating or cracking a grisly murder. Though his superiors shelf the languishing case, Chief Inspector Vaillant is determined that this unsolved, brutal slaying will not be chalked up as his first failure, even if he has to fly halfway around the world on the off chance that he can finally make his case.

What inspired the story?

Margie: Matt and I have been solving mysteries together since his childhood, so it is no surprise that the idea of a collaboration was dished up during one of our weekly family dinners. As usual, table talk started with the latest true-crime story or a courtroom scene one of us was following on television, and then turned to one of our favorite mystery programs, Only Murders in the Building.

Matt challenged everyone around the table to come up with our own solution to the murder in the building before the season’s final episode — I, too, live in a cooperative and many of the program’s characters also live in my building, so I have learned a bit about how shareholders roll. Matt liked my resolution better than the ending that actually unfolded on the program and said, “Mom, we ought to write a mystery together.” And so… although I generally write nonfiction, about twenty years ago I wrote several mysteries when I needed to relax and have fun, but they were shelved and forgotten until now. After blowing off the dust, we did have material as a starting point, though Gilt Frame is a far more lively, intricate mystery with lots of clashes and plot twists, thanks to the curious and compelling character, Sam, that Matt created and wove into the story line — Sam brings out the best, depending on your viewpoint, in his Great-Aunt Merry.

Matt: My mom’s amazing twist-ending was the real seed that started us up… but the real inspiration was kind of a lifetime in the making. My mom would make “crime scenes” for us when we were kids — footprints and drops of who-knows-what planted around the house for us to follow clues and make deductions. My mom was a teacher and I think her teaching mode never turned off — even in the summer. Her genius was making it feel like you weren’t learning — you were just having fun. And I think that’s carried over into this book. It makes you feel like you’re having fun, solving a mystery… but there’s something else going on with this book. There’s definitely another layer that’s working on you without you realizing it.

What was it like to work together as mother and son for a comic?

Margie: Because I grew up as a comic lover, my attachment to the genre started early and never waned — Little Lulu was my girl and when my grandmother could be talked out of two dimes, there were the misadventures of the Beagle Boys in Scrooge McDuck. When I noticed, as a youngster, that my parents never read the funny pages in the newspaper, I promised myself that when I grew up I would read the comics, even if I had to make myself — I knew what my parents were missing… look for humor and have fun, I guess is the takeaway.

However, never did I imagine that I would one day be on the other side of the comic book, co-writing with a son who never forgot, either, the value of comics. So, through a life-long love and appreciation for the genre and through a collaboration with a son who not only shared the sentiment but made it his life’s work, it was a project made to order.

We set up the kitchen table like a partner table, with Matt on one side and me across from him, our computers and resource materials spread out around us. He roleplayed the persona of Sam and I took on the character of his great-aunt, Merry. We imagined a scenario, and he invented Sam’s quirky dialogue and mannerisms while I provided snappy retorts from his gutsy Great-Aunt Merry—sometimes we laughed so hard that we had to remind each other that one of us needed to be getting down this material.

Matt: It was priceless. I wasn’t really sure how it would be. It’s tricky with parents and kids –- and I’m both –- and so was my mom –- so we’ve both now been through most of the stages of what that relationship can be. The power dynamics shift and change and as you get older you have to constantly be adjusting -– as parent and child. Then there’s a point where you’re both adults at different stages in your life, and it just gets even more interesting. Not even working together – just hanging out – comparing notes on life and having kids and what it all means. Your perspective on each other shifts as you hear what it was like for the “other side.” For me, it was great to share this process with my mom – something she and my dad have been so supportive of for my entire life. So getting to take her behind the scenes and put her to work was fantastic. I think she got to understand the colossal amount of work that making comics is…and I got to realize why I never was able to lie or get away with anything as a kid. She is too smart for you. Do not try to fool my mom – (laughs.)

Were there any challenges when it came to working with your parent/child?

Matt: I work at a very particular pace. With art and writing and production. When I say “particular” I mean –- very quickly. A lot of what I do is instinctual. I think that the faster you work, the more honest the work will be. You don’t have time to second-guess or mask your real self. That would seem at odds with my mom’s more deliberate pace –- not slow –- but more thoughtful. Considered. But I think that kind of contrast ended up being super productive. I had a safety net. If the outfits were wrong, she already had the research done to fix them. My mom’s memory is famous in our family — another thing I lack — so it was great to just be able to tap into her encyclopedic knowledge of the true-crime part of our book. There was an unsolved jewel heist at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis and my mom knows all about it. So she was the best research partner you could ask for.

Margie: The only challenge was to remember that Matt needed to be treated not as a child I gave birth to, but respected as a highly-competent adult son to work alongside. Actually, our roles reversed — though I once nurtured and supported him as he grew to reach his potential, he now encouraged me, folding me into a writing project that showed me new possibility [sic] and promise for myself. That makes me a most fortunate mother, and that makes this collaboration not a challenge, but rather a joy and fun-filled relationship come full circle.

Thinking back, we did have a minor, differing viewpoint on the daytime dress of the 1904 woman in black. Matt drew her in a splendid, sparkly gown that a turn-of-the-century woman would have worn only for a formal occasion in the evening. Matt’s gown was beautifully drawn and made an appropriately fetching scene for an imaginative graphic novel, but it niggled at me that it was historically inaccurate…when my friends in the 1904 World’s Fair Society saw it, the scene would be ruined for them, and I would get phone calls.

So I told Matt that he could keep the dress — it was already in the can — but it would be wrong. He put down the stylus and said, “Well, show me some pictures, then.” Because years ago I had put together a lecture series on the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. I had several thousand photographs at my fingertips, taken by the Fair’s official photography team and printed from the original glass-plate negatives. Almost every photo had figures and the women were usually dressed in white blouses with black skirts, or all in black or dark colors which hid soil.

In Gilt Frame, the woman in black is now appropriately and drably dressed for daytime, though I do from time to time envision how appealing she was in her original silky, spangly ballgown garb. Every time we recount what I would call “fun friction,” we laugh through the retelling and each of us fight for our lines… so while no team always sees eye to eye, there are ways to work it out that strengthen the partnership and make it a good, satisfying and fun experience.

What are you the most excited for readers to see?

Matt: The ending. This is one of those books with a resolution that will make you go, “ooooh.” And then flip to the first page and start reading it again, looking for the clues and subtle hints that we’ve seeded it with. And I’m not talking about the whodunnit twist — but something bigger and more character-driven. The murder twist is there too — but this book is definitely a character-driven story. It just happens to have a fun murder mystery in it. Also! The cut-away views of the murder scene(s) — most difficult things I’ve drawn in a while., but some of my favorite pages ever. And Aunt Marie — so funny — so much of my mom in that character. If you read this, in some ways, I feel like you’ve met my mom. I love it.

Margie: Besides experiencing an exciting, innovative mystery with impressive art, we hope that readers develop an interest in the characters, not only in their background and why they are who they are and why they do what they do, but in what they will get up to next — Sam, Merry, and even Chief Inspector Vaillant.

Gilt Frame #1 is available now from Dark Horse Comics.