Luke Owen reviews the third issue of Sex from Image Comics…
There are a million stories in Saturn City, and Simon Cooke’s is just one of them! His future may be wide open, but the past is hot on his tail! The Old Man can still get it up! No two ways about it — this is the perfect time to pay for SEX! It’s even better than you think!
The seediness, brutality and nudity of Saturn City continues in Joe Casey’s Sex #3. This intriguing noir-esque comic has a fantastic pace, is beautifully drawn and features some really interesting plot threads. In short – it’s really good.
In this issue, we see Simon Cooke be questioned about his business, The Old Man acquiring the help of The Operator, Keenan show off his latest find and (in the issue’s highlight) The Alpha Brothers take care of one of their crew who just isn’t cutting it anymore. It may sound like a lot of plot threads for just one issue, but Casey’s superb pacing of each scene never makes you feel like you’re taking in too much. It’s so perfectly balanced.
If you’re a fan of Frank Miller’s Sin City (which is the obvious comparison I know), then you’ll find a lot to like about Sex #3. Despite it’s completely blunt name and pun-tastic synopsis, Sex #3 is actually a very serious and well thought out comic. It furthers each story forward but leaving enough intrigue in there to make you want to read the next issue. Casey deserves a lot of credit for just how good this comic as even if this is your first issue, you can dive in and follow what’s happened before hand – the mark of any good comic.
And while it’s easy to give Casey all the accolades, a lot credit for the comic’s brilliance should be given to Piotr Kowalski’s art. His mood and tone perfectly fits this type of story and, although the colours are rich, it would work brilliantly as a black and white art piece. He captures time and memory changes with the simplist of ease which never leaves the reader in the dark.
I’ll be honest, this did take me two reads to really get into – but the fact that it drew me in for a second time round is testament to how intriguing it is. It has so much interest and suspense and every single panel is a joy to read. A really, really great comic.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published May 22, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
