I love comic books. I love the medium, I love the format, I love the potential inherent in words and pictures, of stories bound only by the creators’ imagination. And right now seems to be a particularly good time for comics, with an absurdly diverse slate of titles on the stands – I go to my local shop each week, pick up a stack of things that look good, sit down to read through them, and fall in love a half-dozen times over the next hour.
And then I write about the books that I’m especially excited about.
Sex Criminals #1 (by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, published by Image Comics)
I was expecting Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals to be entertaining and fun – I’m a big fan of both creators, and this new series, hyped in advance PR as ‘A SEX COMEDY FOR COMICS’, was certainly one of my most anticipated comics of the fall. But what I wasn’t expecting was just how affecting it is. It’s not just funny, not just the heist story/R-rated farce that press releases led me to believe it would be; it’s filled with echoes of classic coming-of-age stories and eighties movies, one part The Last American Virgin, one part The Thomas Crown Affair, and a fair amount of John Hughes heart and soul.
There’s so much to like about this book. It manages to portray sexual activity as naughty and fun, not filthy or perverse. It conveys the difficulties of growing up, and the wonders of learning about life. The lead character is well-rounded and sympathetic, a woman who has real problems, but is admirable and positive. Zdarsky’s art is pure magic: fluid and colorful and emotive. Fraction’s dialogue is note-perfect, and the story… Well, this is only one issue of an ongoing series, but the plot gives all the background readers need, and poses enough interesting questions to set up an entire universe of stories to come.
This is a supremely confident and well-formed work by two of comics’ finest creators, mixing serious and funny in perfectly measured doses. It’s a story that’s sex-positive, woman-positive, smart-positive, and laugh-positive. It’s a comic for adults that’s full of childlike wonder.
Numbercruncher #3 (by Si Spurrier, P.J. Holden, and Jordie Bellaire, published by Titan Comics)
Numbercruncher is the story of an afterlife enforcer tasked with sending a brilliant mathematician on to his eternal rest. The catch? The mathematician in question has already died once, and figured out a way to game the system into acquiring a seemingly perpetual cycle of reincarnation.
The mathematician seeks to spend more time with his true love. The enforcer seeks to stop him by any and all means at his disposal. Mayhem, violence, and gallows humor ensues.
I reviewed issue #2 of this series last month for MTV Geek, and it’s only gotten better as the story rolls on – Si Spurrier, P.J. Holden, and Jordie Bellaire are in working in perfect synch, producing a fine, funny, and hugely compelling comic. I’m eagerly anticipating next month’s conclusion, and as I wait, I’m contenting myself with re-reading the first three installments, telling all my friends about it, and planning where on my bookshelf I’ll file the forthcoming collected edition. (I’ll need to wait and see the actual physical dimensions of the book, but right now I’m leaning toward giving it a place of honor with my all-time uncategorizable favorites – alongside Kyle Baker’s ‘Cowboy Wally Show’, Mike Mignola’s ‘Amazing Screw-On Head’, Marc Hempel’s ‘Gregory’, and Grant Morrison/Philip Bond’s ‘Kill Your Boyfriend’.)