The first and second issues of this hilarious and frank new series got us all excited. With this third issue, “Sex Criminals” shows it’s in it for the long haul, overflowing with humour and heart and a well-developed sense of fun.
Written by Matt Fraction
Illustrated by Chip ZdarskyHow did these two end up in that bank, with those guns? Because they seemed like such nice kids, right? Well, THE SEX POLICE have the same questions and descend on Susie and Jon. And we get the rest of Jon’s gory story — if you read ONE weird sex and time comedy comic this year, make sure it’s “My Sexual Errors 1998 — Present!”
Up here in Montreal we have a weird storytelling event. Performers drawn from a hat come up on stage and tell a tale from their own sexual history, usually with bracing honesty, leaving in every awkward detail. The stories wind up skewing more heartwarming and hilarious than Penthouse-forum-y, and there’s a giggly, conspiratorial feel to the room by the end of the night.
That’s the same feeling you get after an issue of “Sex Criminals”. There’s the same let’s-dish-the-dirt-over-some-beers atmosphere; rather than depressing, hearing about the missteps of the characters is weirdly heartening. There’s something about taking a thing as universal as sex, and talking about it with candour and humour, that just works.
If this is the driving appeal behind “Sex Criminals” as a series, the way this tendency continues to come across in fresh new ways in this issue is pretty damn impressive. As before, we’re learning more about Jon’s history as he tells it to Suzie, our narrator. But there’s just so much gold here: the odd element that distinguished Jon’s virginity-losing experience, the one-sentence summaries of his exes, and let’s not forget Jon’s peculiar workplace pastime. Throw in a dildo fight, and the amount of fun and humour surrounding this story is almost overwhelming. But still the central emotion of what is, at heart, a pretty sweet love story, comes through.
All of this said, one of the best moments in the issue is actually something incidental. There’s a scene where Suzie sings “Fat Bottomed Girls” in a bar, but the lyrics are blotted out by an explanation from Matt Fraction about how the creative team hasn’t gotten permission to use the lyrics yet. The sequence goes on at some length, but rather than looking sloppy, it’s all handled in such a lighthearted manner that it adds all the more to the experience of the issue.
Meanwhile, the plot continues to take a few steps back every time it moves forward, with Suzie and Jon’s flash-forwarded bank-robbing predicament still not fully explored. It’s a neat way of keeping the suspense going while still working in some character development, and while the ending leans on this aspect of the narrative a little too hard, it’s still a pretty compelling part of the plot to look forward to.
It took me a little time to come around to Chip Zdarsky’s art in the beginning, but now it’s more than apparent that his playful but economical style is the only way to tell this story. The crisp colours (courtesy of Becka Kinzie) and clean lines create an inviting and absorbing world that seems to have endless capacity for interesting – or hilarious – little details, from scene-setting flourishes to hilarious sight gags. I’ll admit, I laughed out loud at one of the porn posters at Cumworld, and you’ll probably have a favourite background detail of your own.
Along the way, the sheer inventiveness of Zdarsky’s storytelling never ceases to impress. A sequence involving Jon and Suzie texting each other comes across vibrantly – no mean feat – and the aforementioned sex shop romp gets across the movement, energy and humour of the scene in a way that looks completely effortless. The musical number, absence of lyrics notwithstanding, is laid out with an appealing music-video sensibility; it’s an exuberant moment done unapologetically, with Suzie entirely failing to come across as a picture-perfect Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
Let’s just get into those characterizations for a moment, actually. Using few lines, Zdarksy gets across two interesting and likeable people who enjoy each others’ company a whole lot, all without being cloying. You never forget that (as sappy as it sounds) we’re watching two people fall in love; while the actual narration doesn’t delve into this aspect too deeply, it’s all there in the visuals.
Continued belowFinally, it’s hard to deny that the overall impact of “Sex Criminals” is something entirely unique. Beyond the particular strengths of Fraction’s writing and Zdarsky’s art, there’s that central appeal, that giggly, collegial candour. It’s entirely unsummarizable and unquantifiable, but it distinguishes “Sex Criminals” as one of the most creative and enjoyable comics on the shelves today.
In conclusion, in sum, all told, overall, “Sex Criminals” is fantastic, continuing to amaze with its unique mix of sexual frankness, humor, emotion, and that little touch of mystery. I don’t know how Fraction and Zdarsky do it, but they do it. Hard.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – UNF
