Sex Criminals Volume 1: One Weird Trick

by Matt Fraction

Chip Zdarsky (Artist)

“Great fun!” - The Miami
Herald

Named one of Time Magazine's top 10
graphic novels for 2013!

Suzie's just a regular gal with an irregular
gift: when she has sex, she stops time. One day she meets Jon and it turns out
he has the same ability. And sooner or later they get around to using their
gifts to do what we'd ALL do: rob a couple banks.

A bawdy and brazen sex comedy for comics begins
here, by Matt Fraction (Satellite Sam, Hawkeye) and Chip Zdarsky
(Prison Funnies, Monster Cops).

"On the surface, this is a
hilarious story of two people, Suzanne and Jon, with the power to stop time
after they orgasm, and then rob banks while (almost) everyone else is frozen in
time, which is an amazingly original idea. But underneath that, this is a story
of the beginning of a relationship: its exciting newness, its terrifying
possibilities, its ups and downs, its secrets and understandings, and, of
course, its sex." - PW

• ISBN10: 1607069466
• ISBN13: 9781607069461
• Publish Date: 29 April 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Image Comics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 128
• Language: English

Reviews

[celinenyx]

Summary: When Suzie has an orgasm, she stops time. This made having sex a rather lonely affair, until she met Jon, who has the same ability.

What I liked:
- Although this book is about sex, and it has plenty of sex scenes, it was never pornographic
- There is plenty of naked body, but they all looked anatomically correct. No legs that go on forever and ever in Sex Criminals
- I can wholeheartedly say that I've never read anything like it

What I didn't like:
- The art looks so smudgy and ugly and cartoonish and blah. I didn't like it at all. It was almost like reading a Garfield cartoon without the cat
- Y'know, you kind of assume this is going to be about sex. It's in the title, it's in the description, it's in the cover. But I felt like there should be a warning that this comic has no other subject than sex. The story has the main characters meeting and having sex. Then we learn about how Suzie masturbates for the first time. And how she had to jump through ten hoops to get the sex talk. And then it's about Jon masturbating for the first time. And him looking for porn. And more fapping. And then sex jokes. And then they have sex again
- When Suzie likes someone, she expresses this by saying "This guy. This fucking guy." Later in the story we have countless variations of this theme including "This kid. This fucking kid. This fucking place."
- Constant breaking of fourth wall. The main character basically narrates the story and it's terribly obnoxious
- The story seemed to be so sex-positive, but when the best friend comes into play, our main character tells us with a smile: "She'll call me a slut later and make fun of me but really she's jealous. Basically, there's no one left in our circle or our circle's circle that hasn't at least fingerblasted her, so." So not only does your friend call you a slut, basically you're saying that's nonsense because she's a slut. Fantastic
- The best friend has no other role than being jealous and calling the cops on her friend without saying anything. She's only there to provide conflict
- My favourite is when Suzie says to her mom that she has sex questions. Mom's answer is "Great. Now I'm raising a whore." Now, I get that sex isn't a topic that is openly discussed in plenty of families. However, when your 12-year-old daughter says she has sex questions, wouldn't your first question be something along the lines of "Why? Did anyone ask you to have sex? Did anyone hurt you?" instead of assuming you're raising a whore?

Verdict: This book is about sex, sex, sex, sex, with sex jokes and a sex police thrown in. Only recommended for people who grew up in a sexually repressed society and if you don't mind slut-shaming

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Suzie thinks she is a regular girl, living a normal life with typical teenage problems, but she has a very unique gift; when she has an orgasm time stops for a while. She calls this ‘The Quiet’; it is a time where she reflects on her life and the world without any interruptions. She can do anything and it soon becomes a solitude for her to escape the world around her. After having sex at a party she soon discovers her gift in not so unique, she finds herself in ‘The Quiet’ with her recent sexual partner Jon.

The two become close as they discuss their shared ability; no longer are they the only one that can stop time. As you can imagine they have so many questions but both are still trying to work out mysteries of this power. As they spend more time together, eventually they decide they could use this ability for personal gain. They can freeze time and rob a bank; there would be no one to stop them, or so they think.

I first discovered Matt Fraction when I read Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon and find his writing style appealing. He explores the more human side of a superhero or one with the ability to stop time. Sex Criminals had gotten a lot of good reviews and it sounded wacky enough to try. It is a bawdy and brazen sex comedy with a rather dated aesthetics. Artist Chip Zdarsky really brings a very seventies vibe into the graphic novel. The fashion and hair remind me of the era and ‘The Quiet’ has a technicolour vibe to it.

I suspect they (Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky) are paying homage to the 70′s as an era of free love and sexual freedom or they are both products of that generation. Either way, it seems to work well with the story. Sex Criminals is a rather odd series but I do enjoy the way it explores the world of these characters through sex and stopping time. It is pushing the boundaries of the comic world, exploring real life people and sexuality in a superhero kind of way. It did earn a banning from the Apple store for its efforts but was also named one of Time Magazine’s top 10 graphic novels for 2013.

This review originally appeared on my blog: http://literary-exploration.com/2014/06/04/sex-criminals-one-weird-trick-by-matt-fraction/

[inlibrisveritas]

So if you haven’t guessed this is not your normal run of the mill graphic novel…it’s weird and it stands out. It also has a high focus on sex, which I’ll be honest was interesting at first and then became kind of boring after a while. Sex Criminals has a lot of potential but I think in the end it’s just not for me.

Our story follows Suzie, a woman who can stop time when she has an orgasm. After discovering this on accident she has searched her entire life to find someone who understood what was happening to her, and she finally finds that in Jon. I liked Suzie for the most part, she’s sort of geeky and isn’t the best at socializing. However once Jon is introduce I think her personality when out the window in place of crazy places and sex. Jon has done much of the same as Suzie, including the experimentation and soul searching…but one thing that differs is his desire to do highly inappropriate things during the time freeze. It’s sort of funny at first, and totally understandable…but then it sort of becomes stupid as you realize he’s still doing this petty stuff as an adult. I really loved the idea of time freezing and them robbing banks, and we do get some of that mixed in with how their relationship develops as they plan things out. I’ll just be honest and say that I became extremely bored with it, and some of the things I found funny previously just didn’t pan out for me again.

I also wasn’t fond of the art style and felt the faces changed shape/features. I’m sort of picky when it comes to comic book art, which is a flaw of mine, so this one just didn’t meet my standards of appealing artwork.

Overall it’s a unique concept that might be better read in single issues instead of full volumes. I personally will not be continuing this series, but if you enjoy reading graphic novels that are way outside of the box then go for it!