Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s creator-owned
comic Sex Criminals is a filthy, hilarious heist story about a couple
who discover that they can stop time while orgasming, and keep it frozen
until they become horny again – so they use their power to rob banks
in order to rescue a library from foreclosure (naturally). The first two
series of the comic are collected in Big Hard Sex Criminals, a fabulous hardcover whose plain pink wrapper comes off to make it look like you’re reading a book on DIY pet euthanasia.
The premise of stopping time is a well-worn one in science fiction, with
a fairly even split between those who use their powers to commit daring
robberies and those who use them to be creepy sexual predators. By
making sexual arousal the origin of the protagonists’ powers – but also
its downfall – Fraction and Zdarsky mostly take the latter motif off
the table.
So we live the stories of Suzie, a librarian who is desperate to rescue
her local library from a rapacious, foreclosing bank that wants to knock
down the building and sell the lot to high-rise developers; and John,
an actor whose confused sexual history got a lot weirder when he learned
that he could freeze time every time he rubbed one out.
Zdarsky is a prolific, compulsive visual gag-maker, and the backgrounds
and incidentals of Sex Criminals have more jokes than an average Mad
Magazine parody; this sets the tone for the whole story: raunchy and
bawdy, but not really porny (though porn naturally plays a big role in
the lives of Suzie and John).
Naturally, Suzie and John’s crime spree attracts the attention of other
time-stopping orgasmers, and plunges them into sex-conflict with
orgasmic vigilantes who track down rogue time-freezers and neutralize
them to keep the secret safe. The fuck-wars that follow are intensely
logistical, though not exactly erotic: one adversary has the power to
kegel herself into orgasm, a huge tactical advantage; but John and Suzie
are well-practiced at attaining simultaneous orgasm, giving them the
power to fight as a team while their adversaries are frozen in normal
time.
Zdarsky and Fraction use all this lewd business to make some shrewd
commentary on sex and shame, gender and the sex-trade, and the
relationship of mental health and SSRIs to sex drive in a work-driven
modern world.
In other words, Sex Criminals goes well beyond a crude gag and
becomes a thoughtful – and still hilarious and sexy – story about
health and dysfunction in sex and life. The omnibus edition of the first
two series makes for a fantastic read, and will leave you panting and
begging for more.
Highlander was a bit of a box office flop that became a cult hit with a very specific demographic of 80′s fantasy fans who didn’t mind most of the movie taking place in a modern setting, but had such a solid hook and reputation (immortals kill each other by chopping their heads off, There Can Be Only One) that it got a bunch of sequels and a tv series. Most people are aware OF Highlander and know the broad strokes of what it entails, but it’s not uncommon to find people who haven’t actually seen the original and don’t know the specifics of what happens in the movie itself.
Which is honestly understandable because the movie has kind of jilted pacing and Christopher Lambert isn’t… particularly charismatic or good at acting, but it has a handful of exceptionally solid story beats, a phenomenal Queen soundtrack, and Clancy Brown giving the performance of his life, so it’s a movie that’s easier to know about and remember scenes from than go back and watch again and again (not saying there AREN’T people who go back and watch it again and again, just that it’s one of those movies that kinda shows it’s age and isn’t as accessible for new viewers who aren’t 100% Here For Highlander)
The International Space Station is a microgravity laboratory in which an international crew of six people live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second (or 17,500 miles per hour), orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.
The space station has been in orbit for over 17 years, and during that time, over 1,922 research investigations have been performed. More than 1,200 scientific results publications have been produced as a result.
Important studies like the VEGGIE experiment, which is working to grow plants in microgravity, and the Twin’s Study, which is studying the impacts of microgravity on the human body, are helping us on our journey to Mars. Using this unique orbiting laboratory as a place to conduct research is helping us learn important things for future deep space missions.
There have even been 222 different people that have visited the space station. This includes the current crew that is working and living on orbit.
Did you know that the space station is the third brightest object in the sky? If you know when and where to look up, you can spot it on your own! Find out when and where to look up HERE.
I'm Stephen. I'm a 21 year old bisexual engineering major, socialist, and feminist. I read comic books and play D&D. I am secretly a robot with a thin veneer of human skin concealing the mechanical underpinnings that control my every action and thought.
he/him
