Writer: Matt Fraction / Artist: Chip Zdarsky / Image Comics
There’s a rap track called “Truth or Truth” where Royce Da 5’9 pays homage to those in hip-hop he considers the greats — the best of the best. Royce states, “Jay-Z is God to me, Nas is God to me! Eminem is like B.I.G. and Pac to me, and if you disagree I hope you bleed hypocrisy!” It’s important I state this so you can understand the depths of passion, hype, and truth in my following sentence for this review of Sex Criminals.
Matt Fraction is Gawd to me, Chip Zdarsky is Gawd to me! Sex Criminals is like B.I.G. and Pac to me, and if you disagree I hope you bleed hypocrisy! Are you fucking kidding me, man? Are you fucking kidding me? This issue is pure uncut raw straight-from-literature-mechanics crack. I put that on all 99 of my Contra lives, man. Fraction is an incredible storyteller when it comes to re-visting a story from multiple angles with the Zack Morris stop-time, and Chip Zdarsky is able to translate that visually with stunning grace. Sex Criminals #14 drops like a crisp hundred dollar bill stacked on top of another in a stainless steel briefcase… this comic is money.
We’re catching up with Suzy (at her new job) and Jon helping Ana Kincaid. The issue flourishes as the confrontation we’ve been waiting for is about to come to blows between Ana and Suzie. This is where the genius is found, as Fraction displays the discomfort in this fight that was bound to take place. Fraction highlights concerns of what the fight will put on the table, the biggest issue being sex shaming and judgement.
Fraction is confessing everything we need to know before its translation onto page as Chip plays the comic relief before letting his partner in panels know how simple the solution is. They just show the conversation. Listen man, these artists are fucking geniuses — anyone can break the fourth wall, but the skill of which bricks you use to disassemble the wall piece by piece like Jenga, allowing the reader to peer through is a rare talent. We see the depth at which the writer is invested in his characters, as well as the artistic approach to preserving their care while conveying the message to move the story forward.
The fourth wall doesn’t overshadow the dialogue as we are eased back into the regular happenings taking place. I won’t detail everything going on, but just know that it’s fuckin’ gold as we see the questions Kegel will have to face, as well as a revelation Suize reaches at the end. What more do you even want me to say, stop reading this review and go read the book. If you read the book already, go back and read that shit again, man. I’m serious. what are you still doing here?
What, you want me to tell you that Zdarsky does his damn thing yet again? Has he ever not done his job? No, because the man is tag-team partners with Matt Fraction for a fucking reason. This creative team is the World Tag Champs in the comic book industry as far as I am concerned. Zdarsky’s artwork reflects how this book continually outdoes itself. Sex Criminals is Diamond Dallas Page back in WCW saying there are over 150+ ways to hit his Diamond Cutter finisher, and we’re going through each and every way, and gasping at their difficulty and innovation. That’s what the fuck this book is. I’M DONE. I CAN’T EVEN TALK ABOUT THIS ANYMORE.
WHERE THE TENS AT?! THROW THE TENS ON THIS REVIEW. DO IT!
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Show Comments
Bruce
The 4th wall break was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in a comic. Absolutely terrible, unfunny, jarring, cringe worthy, and just plain lazy. Dropping the series after that. Like you don’t have an issue for months and you give us an unfinished book? I don’t pay for 18 pages of a comic plus 4 pages of commentary from writers too lazy to figure out how to work their own book.