Luke Owen reviews the latest issue of SEX from Image Comics…
Simon Cooke’s night out has disastrous consequences! And not just socially. But, hey, at least he’s trying! Meanwhile, life in Saturn City’s criminal underworld rolls on… just not as smoothly as expected.
I complained in the review of the last issue of SEX that the story wasn’t progressing forward fast enough. We’re currently 5 months into this story and we know as much about our leads as we did when it first started. However after finishing SEX #5, you suddenly realise that this is sort of the point. It’s a noir-esque novel that is a slow burn to an eventual climax. That may not sound particularly ground-breaking, but most comic burns are not this slow.
SEX #5 sees Sam Cooke get drunk. Very, very drunk. While Warren tries to get him in with two girls by pretending that they work with children, we finally get to see what Keenan is getting up to with his stolen computer – namely that of screwing over the Alpha Brothers. And while Sam is doing everything in his power to get over his past, Annabelle might be feeling the effects of her past more than she’d like to admit.
It’s hard to review a comic that runs this slowly. What else is there to say that wasn’t said in last month’s review? The artwork is great and Joe Casey’s script is incredibly engaging – it was true in issue one and it’s still true now. The story, though slow, is really gripping and it works well at making its audience want more. This becomes a problem however when the issue comes to an end and you’re left feeling dissatisfied. Nothing gained, nothing earned. If you were reading this as a trade paperback you’d get a lot more more out of it, but as a single issue comic it sadly becomes pretty forgettable.
Imagine reading a book that is full of detail, character and backstory that requires a lot of attention, but you only read a couple of pages every month. It’s hard to become invested in the story or the surroundings because nothing is moving forward. SEX has been a great series so far, but Casey has spread two, maybe three issues worth of material over five. There is no doubt that when put together it will be a fantastic series, but for now it’s hard to recommend picking up.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published August 1, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
