It’s been six long months since we’ve been privy to the time-stopping sexcapades of Suzie and Jon. When we last left off, they had leads on other people with the ability to enter The Quiet after…well, y’know, and they’re preparing to find them. Is it good?
Sex Criminals #11 (Image Comics)
The issue opens on a new character, the bizarrely named Douglas D. Douglas (wonder what the D stands for?), who spends most of his free time taking care of his mom, buying weird Asian stuff, and furiously beating off in a strange ritualistic fashion when mom goes to bed, allowing him to enter what Suzie refers to as The Quiet. He seems like an odd fellow so far, but also seemingly harmless
We cut to Suzie and Jon, who are trying to track down the aforementioned Doug. We also catch up with Robert Rainbow and some of the other minor characters, naturally for this title, during and post coitus. Anyway, Suzie and Jon eventually book a bomb-ass first class flight to Miami with all the money they steal from Bancorp while in The Quiet to find Douglas D. Douglas.
Alright man, that’s fine. I don’t want any trouble. Would it kill you to put some pants on, though?
This issue was a great re-introduction to the story that we’ve been missing for half a year now. All the little touches you’ve come to love from Sex Criminals are in full force, from the self awareness to the filthy double entendres to the endless background gags Chip Zdarsky stuffs into nearly every panel. This issue’s actually so meta that there are a solid four panels of white text on a black background that interrupt Doug’s trip to “That’s Amasian: A Massive Continent of Goods” to explain that this would be the spot with a ton of visual gags, but Chip would have just gone completely overboard with it and had a million products in languages he doesn’t even understand.
The fourth wall breaking doesn’t stop with the authors addressing the audience—Suzie also directly addresses the reader in a Zack Morris-esque time stop. It’s highly entertaining stuff, especially in a comic like Criminals that play with the very meaning of reality so freely. And that’s not to say that there aren’t any background gags in issue #11—quite the contrary. Everything from the in-flight movie being “The Burt Locker” to a man in Miami wearing a shirt that just plainly says “Man fucking fuck Lebron.” There is no shortage of small, funny details in the background to analyze.
This issue is obviously the start of a new arc, and it sure reads like it. As I mentioned, writer Matt Fraction catches up with most of the characters and gives us something of a re-introduction to them. That’s all well and good, but by far the most interesting part of the story is being introduced to Doug for the first time. He seems like a strange guy, and by the end of the issue I think you’ll agree with me—if you couldn’t tell from his incognito trips to “That’s Amasian,” he’s a bit of a Japanophile. The dialogue is hilarious as always, and serves as the main device to progress the story. The ending of the book is funny, and leaves you wondering where the hell it goes from here. In other words, a well done cliffhanger for a comedy comic.
The art by Chip Zdarsky continues to be charming, bright, and a lot of fun to look at, even in an issue where there isn’t really much action at all. As noted before the background gags are a riot and the scenes that take place in The Quiet are distinct and vibrant.
Is It Good?
Don’t ever leave us again! Sex Criminals is one of the funniest books on stands today, and this issue only adds to its legend.
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