Sex Criminals vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop, Matt Fraction (writer) Chip Zdarsky (artist) - 2015
(Once again, though I am now even more aware that Fraction and Zdarsky work collaboratively, as I will never know whose idea was whose, I am still attributing the layout and artwork to Zdarsky and all writing and characterisation to Fraction) (Also, not bothering with referencing, as the volume doesn't have page numbers!)
For those just joining us now, when Suzie and Jon have sex, time stops. Literally. When either orgasm they enter a state (The Quiet to Suzy, Cumworld to Jon) of neon swirls and JJ Abrams style lens-flares, where time stands still and which lasts until they are ready to go again. And Suzie, desperate to save her local library from foreclosure, and Jon, desperate to get back at the soul crushing bank he works at, decide to use the Quiet to steal the money needed from the bank. When they do so, however, they are interrupted by the white-clad Sex Police, led by a woman dubbed 'Kegalface' by Suzie, from whom they barely manage to get away. More details: https://takeareadonthedark-side.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/sexcriminals-volume-1-2014-matt.html
Back with Jon and Suzie, as Jon succinctly states, 'honeymoon's over'. Having been deeply shaken by their encounter with the mysterious Sex Police during their disastrous burglary of the bank, Suzie and Jon are laying low. However, Jon's mental health issues begin to cause problems as he develops hypochondria and paranoia, specifically that they are being continually monitored by the Sex Police, and though Suzie attempts to support him, eventually he uses the Quiet to break into the leader of the Sex Police's home. They take a break, and begin to recover, Jon through meeting a new therapist and Suzie by visiting her new gynaecologist Robert Rainbow (yup…) who asks her out for coffee. Robert is also, it turns out, one of Jon's childhood friends, and when the three, along with Suzie's friend Rachael, all collide by accident, what could have been an awkward and ugly encounter actually helps to heal everything. That is, until they turn the corner, and see the library being demolished by order of the Sex Police, of whom the owner of the bank is a member. After a furious and much-needed second argument, Suzie and Jon, reunited at last, decide it's time to 'fuck with the Sex Police for fucking with us'. And, using the files that Jon stole from Kegalface about other people like them who are being monitored by Sex Police, they start recruiting Nick Fury-style, starting with a Dr Ana Kincaid, aka Rae Anne Toots, aka Jazmine St. Cocaine, former porn star and leading light of Jon's teenage years…
All rights to Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky and Image Comics
If all of this sounds considerably heavier than the previous volume, that's because it is. For the whole first issue of the anthology Jon is coloured only in monochrome, a perfect visual representation of his disconnect and growing depression, and his mental health is one of the most keenly explored elements of the book. In giving Jon's problems the spotlight, Fraction and Zdarsky not only present someone dealing with their mental health, and often in a mildly unhealthy way, such as self-medicating with the drugs he used before, but do so in a warm and non-judgemental manner. Indeed, they subtly demonstrate several important factors in managing mental health issues, such as the benefits of exercise (without suggesting it is a magical cure-all) and that if therapy is not working, chances are that a different therapist is needed. Fraction and Zdarksy also poignantly show how it can be to live with such issues, and how difficult it is for Suzie trying to deal with her own problems, as well as support Jon. Even as Jon recovers, he struggles both with the idea of loving Suzie and of telling her that he does, stating to his therapist that 'I'm in no shape for something like that…A few months ago I was off my meds, freecycling all over the goddamn place between mania and full-bore panic attacks'.
Having said this, though poignancy rather than joy may be the dominant emotion throughout most of Volume 2, this is still Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarksy. From the dick-pics that Rachael has received that horrify Robert, to the multiple awful parodies of porn, to the note stuck on Dr Kincaid's door, each issue in the volume has at least one laugh out loud moment, and dozens of sniggers interwoven with the darker elements. Even during the massive shouting match that will either end, or reconcile, Suzie and Jon, Fraction himself keeps chipping in with increasingly frantic comments like 'Really, Jon?' or 'Ooph. C'mon, Suzie', which his characters are obviously unable to hear.
Indeed, though the tone is more serious and mournful this time around, Fraction's deft touch never wavers. The depiction of Ana Kincaid's life from Rae Anne Toots, by way of Jazmine St. Cocaine to university professor, which contains an injury that killed much of her genital sensitivity (making it difficult for her to orgasm), porn performing and drug addiction – as well as an uproariously funny nod to another excellent comic, the Wicked and the Divine – is handled excellently by Fraction. One element of this is allowing her to narrate her own story, in her own terms, and Fraction manages to pitch her voice, intelligent, practical and only slightly bitter, exactly right. In a superb touch, he also allows a far more educational element into the text, as when Suzie speaks to Robert regarding the unfortunate effects the pill is having on her, he responds with an entire page of advice on contraception taken straight from Planned Parenthood. It is made interesting and engaging, and wonderfully shows Fraction's socially responsible (to sound very grown-up about it!) attitude to writing about sex superpowers. Alongside this, is Robert's own backstory, in which we are reminded that everyone, no matter how nice or normal, has their own sexual hangups and baggage.
Zdarsky's contribution is also magnificent, and never more so than in the quiet moments. Although once again he creates some beautiful images and colours for the set-pieces, particularly the final pages, it is his drawing of the space, literal and metaphorical, between Jon and Suzie as they grow apart and closer again, that gives these moments such power. Also, once again the man's phenomenal talent for facial expressions is on full display, most of all on the beautiful two pages of the pair sitting on a park bench, where Jon concludes 'It's hard, but it's probably worth it'. Zdarsky is also responsible for the image of Jon, having broken into Kegalface's house and facing off against her husband, wielding a double-ended dildo like Darth Maul's lightsabre, which is, I hope you'll agree, a thing to be cherished.
Sex Criminals Vol. 2 is a beautiful, poignant and utterly life-affirming read, and, as with the first volume, the overwhelming urge is simply to scream 'BUY IT! READ IT!' at the top of my lungs.
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