The following review is of an ADULTS ONLY book. As such, contents of this article are considered ADULTS ONLY. If discussion about sexual activity offends you, please stop reading now. Thank you…move along.
Just imagine, you are a young boy or girl, experimenting with your body, when suddenly, time stops. You have no idea that this is abnormal because it is the first time you ever “pleasured” yourself and are unaware of the effects. Sex Criminals tells the story of Suzie and how she met a man named Jon with the same ability….to freeze time by having sex.
I heard about this series when it was making headlines of being banned from certain distributors. I usually read a Superhero type of comic but this series had me intrigued. What was so bad about it? It’s just sex, right? I downloaded the first issue from comiXology and was left wanting more. I then read issues 2, 3 and 4 back to back to back. I was really enjoying the way the story was flowing. Now I’m just waiting for the climax to this story…pun intended.
Recap:
Suzie Down in the Quiet: In the first issue, it started off in a Quentin Tarantino type fashion with the end in the beginning. I had one of the raised eyebrow looks saying, “Uhhhhh?”. Then it started to make some sense. Suzie started to narrate a story of how it all happened. Her past, how she realized that when she orgasmed she stopped time…the whole mess. Next thing you know, she’s at a party and meets Jon. They hook up and realize that they both possess this ability to stop time.
Come, World (Cumworld): Book two picks up right where the last one left off. This one goes into Jon’s story. He is explaining how he discovered his ability to stop time and what he did with it. This is all getting explained during the night Suzie and Jon hooked up and into the next morning. The book ends with another flash forward into the bank.
My Sexual Errors and Misfortunes 2001 – Present: We are starting to see the pattern in how the books are laying out now. This book goes into more depth of Jon having sex for the first time and discovering what happened. Suzie and Jon shared similar experiences in their quest to find someone like them. Now comes the point where they have been talking for DAYS now and need to separate from one another. After some new relationship fun and one hell of a karaoke-esque experience, the plotting begins.
Sex Police: We start again with the flash forward. After a little test run at the local sex shop to see how the world reacted, planning begins for the robbery we have been seeing at the beginning and end of the previous books. Now we look into who this mysterious “Police” woman is at the bank. Suzie is having some concerns about using their time freezing ability for the wrong reasons. After some more persuading from Jon, tactics are getting ironed out…but someone oversees what is unfolding and makes an anonymous tip. Back at the bank we end up. At this point we can see how the stories are about to meet up in present time.
My Thoughts: I was skeptical coming into the series. Like I mentioned before, I am a Superhero fan and never really ventured away from books like Batman or Superman. You could say I was a virgin to these types of books. This was a complete change for me but I came into it with an open and clear mind. All I knew about this series was it was getting some stink from some people and that the characters could stop time by having sex…that’s it. I thought, why not? Let’s try something new.
I found the series thus far extremely easy to read and it flowed very well. Having 4 issues handy in the beginning made it a pleasure to just read them all at once. I enjoyed the way the story read. Part flashback, part present day, part flashforward. Seeing Suzie talk to the reader just makes me visualize this on screen. I liked the art in these books too. The style really fit the writing. Nothing over the top with visuals and the flat colors made for a nice appeal to the books. I have to give it to the team for some of the small things on the panels that make me really look into the art. For instance the flyers on the walls or the different Halloween costumes on the kids (I spotted my favorite!). I noticed a scene between books 1 and 2 flashbacking to Halloween. From both perspectives you can see Jon and Suzie walk right by each other, way before they knew each other! I wonder if this will come back later.
When it came to the sexual parts, I didn’t see it as over the top but the rating of 17+ is definitely a must. I wouldn’t see this as anything more than some of the romantic novels you see on the bookshelves. Now, because of the artwork that is involved in it, it can swing towards being pornographic. You do see some sexual toys and some nudity here and there but nothing extreme in my eyes. I think the Fifty Shades of Grey books are more explicit than this….or so I hear, I swear!
Conclusion: If you can have open mind and believe that the book is more than just about sex, pick up this series while it’s still young. The creative team on this title really has something unique going on. I am really curious to see where this series will go. Will it continue to thrive or will it just be frozen in time for good? Only time will tell.
Sex Criminals – Issues 1-4
Written by: Matt Fraction
Art by: Chip Zdarsky
Color Flatting by: Becka Kinzie
Editor’s note: Sex Criminals #5 is due out March 19th!
By Frank “The Saga” Arena
I’m a father, husband, tech lover and Bat-Fan! I like reading comics, digital art and playing with technology in my spare time…when I have it.
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