GRAPHIC JANOTATIONS (comic reviews and discussions by Jan. Get it?)

SEX CRIMINALS VOL. 1: ONE WEIRD TRICK

“Yes They Were Kegels.”

Matt Fraction does did it again.

I know I’m late to the show, but Matt Fraction is one of my favorite comic writers. I was reminded of the Image comic Sex Criminals by recent headlines, and after a brief interweb search, found it was by Fraction. I love Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon, and his current run on Batman, but how would he handle have handled a non-superhero comic that came out over a decade ago?

Answer: Quite well. 

Sex Criminals: One Weird Trick (compiling issues 1-5) is a fantasy romance heist with a twist. Suzie stops time whenever she, um, rubs one out, flicks her bean, tickles her taco, er masturbates. Not just a metaphor, she really stops time. She feels alone until she meets Jon, who has the same power, and they stop time together. 

No spoilers, but the two explore their sexual pasts while making a romantic future together. The climax builds until they come up with an illegal plan to save the library where Suzie works, and run afoul of the time-fuzz (um, dick-police?). The story is well written, funny, original, and sexy all at once. Chip Zdarsky, who I assume does the art (the credits aren’t specific), has fun with the panels, including easter eggs in the background, and Benny Hill chases scenes, while Fraction uses wall-breaking, talk-to-the-reader storytelling, squeezing it inside a wholly original plot until it explodes all over the page.

There’s a scene that jokes about using a Queen song as part of the story, but because they couldn’t get the rights, they have to use Post-it notes over the text. I’m not sure if it differs in the original comic, but it is beyond clever and unique either way.

Anyway, Sex Criminals is published by Image, and the collected edition is super low in price, retailing at 9.95 for 5 issues.