Luke Owen looks at Sex Criminals from Image Comics…
Suzie’s a normal girl with an extraordinary ability: when she has sex, she stops time. One night she meets John… who has the same gift. And so they do what any other sex-having, time-stopping, couple would do: they rob banks. In the vein of THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN and BRIDESMAIDS, Image Comics invites you to come along with MATT FRACTION (Hawkeye, SATELLITE SAM) and CHIP ZDARSKY (Prison Funnies, Monster Cops) for the series that puts the “comic” back in “comics” and the “sexy” back in “sex crimes.”
While the previews of the comic claim it to take influence from Judd Apatow comedies like 40-Year Old Virgin and Bridesmaids, Sex Criminals has more in common with the likes of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang when it comes to movie comparisons. Matt Fraction has not only used the medium of narration very carefully, but he’s also created a character the is incredibly endearing – much like the Shane Black cult favourite.
A lot of movie critics will tell you that narration is the laziest form of story telling but it’s seen as a more acceptable gimmick in the world of comics. But while many comics (probably 95%) will just use a box with some text, Fraction has his main character narrate us through her childhood in person – interacting with her past environments not unlike Scrooge in A Christmas Carole. And while this is an effective tool in engaging its reader, it’s the self-aware humour (hence the Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang comparison) that really brings the comic to life. Suzie has an incredible dry sense of humour and her straight-talking persona that doesn’t dance around the subject of sex and masturbation makes her very enthralling. She’s the sort of character that you could see Zooey Deschanel playing if they were to ever do a live-action adaptation.
While that might sound appealing to some, it could be quite irksome to others. Deschanel is the perfect comparison piece to the comic as she’s an actress people either love or hate. You either get on board with her quirky and kooky style of acting or you find it utterly infuriating. Sex Criminals is a lot like that. It is a very well written book and it has a good sense of character, but it is not a comic that will appease everyone. Many might pick this up based off the title alone as think it will be along the lines of Image Comics’ SEX, only to be disappointed to find a self-aware comic that even tries to make jokes around an innocent father being gunned down.
But if you can’t get on with the style of comedy or its eccentric lead character, there has to be a level of appreciation for Chip Zdarsky’s artwork which beautifully matches Fraction’s script. Sex Criminals creates a “post-orgasm” world for our lead character to live in and Zdarsky illustrates this without the need of Fraction to spell it out. It would be far-fetched to call it “ground breaking”, but it’s very effective and it does the job it needs to do.
Matt Fraction is a not a bad writer and those who have loved his runs on Marvel comics such as Iron Man and Hawkeye will probably already be on board with this. But even if you’re not aware of Fraction’s work, Sex Criminals is a marvellous comic with some brilliant writing, engaging characters and a story that offers just enough to make you want to pick up the next issue.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published September 26, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
