Throwback Thursday: Sex Criminals Volume One
When I first introduced Throwback Thursday, I said we’d be talking about comics that have been out for decades alongside comics that came out a few months ago. So far, the latter hadn’t happened.
But today, I want–I NEED–to talk about Sex Criminals.
On January 1, 2013, the first issue of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals was released. It made a splash, whether the response was positive or decidedly not so. The title will tip you off that this is most definitely not an all ages comic, and the first scene will definitely turn you away if you have any issues with nudity. Or Sex. If you hadn’t figured that out from the title.
Here’s the story.
Suzie and Jon are our sexy pair. They don’t just have sex because it’s fun–though there is that. They both have a…distinctive gift.
They can make time stop when they orgasm.
So, they have sex.
And then they rob banks while nothing else is moving.
Thus the “criminal” bit.
But hey, it’s for a good cause. (Did I mention Suzie LOVES libraries and is trying to save the books at her local library, which has been shut down and prepared for sale?)
The glory and wonder of this story is not just the fact that these guys came up with the idea. It is in the way that it is executed, with humor and color, as well as depth.
(I would show you more of some of the brilliant art, but…you can probably figure out when it’s the coolest.)
I have very little shame, so being in a crowded room when I break out a trade featuring people making out on the cover and in which the first spread involves naked bathroom sex doesn’t particularly phase me. If you have a little more consideration for the feelings of others than I do, maybe read this one at home. By yourself.
But read it. You shouldn’t(?) regret it.
