Contains a preview for Jill and the Killers #1!Screen Rant is excited to share an exclusive excerpt for Jill and the Killers #1 from Oni Press, as well as an essay from comic creator Olivia Cuartero-Briggs. This teenage thriller that blends true crime and gaming will feature a double-sized debut issue. It will also kick off Oni Press’ creator-owned projects for 2024.
Jill and the Killers has the creative team of Olivia Cuartero-Briggs, Roberta Ingranata, Rebecca Nalty, and Haley Rose-Lyon. The first issue is slated to be released on January 31, 2024. Oni Press’ lineup for next year also includes Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods, Cemetery Kids Don’t Die, Invasive, and Night People.
Cuartero-Briggs’ previous works include Mary Shelley Monster Hunter, while Ingranata has worked on Witchblade and Doctor Who comics. Bringing this team together is resulting in a dangerous new game for titular heroine Jill Estrada.
Jill and the Killers is a Fun, New Story About Teen Struggles for the LGBTQ+ Comic Community
The preview from Oni Press above introduces Jill Estrada, her friends, and a new girl prepared to steal her thunder. The series sees Jill returning to school after the unsolved disappearance of her mother. When an opportunity to stay in sync with their interests pops up, Jill readily agrees to subscribe to the true crime subscription game, “Box Killers.” It seems like the majority of her school is hooked on true crime, and to maintain her friend group, she will have to find a way to participate in the genre – even if it means facing macabre topics head-on.
Each month’s installment of the Box Killers game features an “unsolved case” that is tailor-made to the life of the player. However, when Jill joins in, her game seems all too real, with her clues seemingly connected to a series of disappearances in her town. The thriller follows Jill and her friends as they work to solve these mysterious disappearances before one of them becomes the next victim.
Olivia Cuartero-Briggs, the series writer, has shared an essay with Screen Rant titled Identity and Crushes in Jill and the Killers on LGBTQ+ representation:
I’m not that old – unless you’re talking to my kids. Then I’m ancient – but even when I was growing up, there weren’t many mainstream depictions of queer kids just…being. And I don’t mean just being queer. I literally mean just being.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but it seemed as though identifying as anything other than straight meant being very clearly recognizable. Speaking a certain way, interacting with certain groups, believing in certain things, with whatever specific brand of non-straightness the person ascribed to, being the central focus of their person.
My interpretation back then was, of course, based entirely on dramatic depictions of ‘gayness’ and not gay people themselves, but I remember the representation feeling alienating. Like a club you either had to be all in with, or entirely out.
It wasn’t until I was into my 30s that I remember looking around and thinking, ‘Hey, why didn’t I get to see any gay characters just…I don’t know…living their lives?’ Not in a boring, wake-up-and-go-to-the-supermarket way. That would be silly. But in ways we tell stories about hetero characters. Sure, they wake up. Maybe they even go to the store. But then, some crazy stuff happens that spurs an adventure that changes them forever – the ‘they’ just happens to not be straight.
So, when the folks over at Oni Press started to get excited about the idea for Jill and the Killers, I took a shot. I pitched a young, badass, female lead, who becomes a serial killer hunter, all while struggling with grief, and an unrequited crush on her one-time best friend, who just happens to be…a chick. And I mean that, guys. She just happens to be a chick. There’s no coming out party – though, I love those! – no fanfare, no ‘Wait, Jill’s gay? Bwah!’ nada, zip, zilch. Jill is just Jill. A seventeen-year-old snarky skateboarder with a slight inferiority complex, who just happens to – when she crushes – crushes on chicks. And you know what? Oni Press didn’t bat an eye.
And this means something to me. It means a whole lot, actually. Because, as it turned out, even though I never saw myself in any of those 90s mainstream depictions of non-straight people, and I don’t belong to any cool clubs. I’m not entirely straight either. I’m not sure which ‘box’ I fall itnto, or if I fall into any at all. I’m pretty sure I’m just Olivia doing whatever Olivia does. But I do know that if I had gotten the opportunity to experience a character like Jill when I was younger, that I would have gotten to Olivia a whole lot sooner.
Jill and the Killers #1 from Oni Press will be released on January 31.
