Sex Criminals Volume 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
Suzie suspected she was different but she couldn’t be sure until she lost her virginity, then she had it confirmed, not everyone could stop time when they had sex. A pretty awkward thing to discover when your partner is paused mid-action right on top of you.
She tries with a few other men, even experiments with a woman but no one seems to have her gift. She ends up treating the frozen time as her own space, her private hideaway. Then she meets him…
When she meets Jon, there’s instant chemistry and as they end up in bed together the last thing they expect is to see each other alive and well as the rest of the world is frozen around them. They both thought they were alone but now everything’s changed, they’ve got each other in their own private world.
Even though Suzie’s been campaigning to keep the library open, the bank is set to foreclose on it. Soon they decide to commit the perfect crime and who would be around to stop them in their own private world?
When I started reading this graphic novel I had MASSIVE doubts. The title, the sexual theme, I thought this had the potential to be a creepy and cheesy graphic novel full of drawings of women in various states of undress. But I’d seen some great reviews and noticed it was one of Time Magazines top ten graphic novels of 2013, so I decided to give it a go…and I’m so glad I did.
After a couple of pages of Suzie’s honest and humorous narration, you really start to fall for her. You’re not going to have a comic called Sex Criminals without any sex in it but it is nowhere near the over-the-top nudity-fest I was expecting. When the couple discovers they share each others secret you really feel for them and even though they may be planning on breaking the law, it’s for a good reason and you can’t help willing them on. Unusually, this graphic novel is also written from a female perspective which possibly adds to the reason I enjoyed it so much and instead of her being used as the sex symbol of the piece Suzie’s just as much in the action as Jon. Overall, Sex Criminals was an absolutely brilliant read. It’s drawn beautifully, is great fun to read and leaves you wanting more. Bring on the second volume!
If you like this check out my review of I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin.
Buy Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky