From publisher's website: Suzie's just a regular gal with an irregular gift: when she has sex, she stops time. One day she meets Jon and it turns out he has the same ability. And sooner or later they get around to using their gifts to do what we'd ALL do: rob a couple banks. A bawdy and brazen sex comedy for comics begins here!

One Weird Trick

Sex Criminals

Vicky  Nuñez 

I loved how this story was told.
I went in expecting not much, mostly I read it because of the number of people who recommended it. 
Definitely recommend to those not creeped out by it.

menna

It was a little confusing at times, and I didn't like it as much as I expected. Not sure if I'll continue with the series

brianna

Jeff James

Sex Criminals is a bit of a phenomenon. It’s one of those books that I heard a lot about before I ever got around to reading it – the reprint covers in particular were everywhere on Tumblr, so I saw every variation a good million times. Luckily, the hype is actually justified in this case, probably because the story is far deeper and more nuanced than the raunchy joke it seems to be.

Volume One of Sex Criminals tells the story of Suzie and Jon, who meet at a party and hook up, only to discover that both share the completely bizarre ability to freeze time when they orgasm. Naturally, they decide to use this ability to rob a bank. What that summary doesn’t tell you is that Suzie and Jon are both carefully drawn, believably human and full of heartbreaking flaws.

One of the first things Suzie reveals as she narrates her story is that her father is dead, murdered by a gunman. As far as her childhood goes, things don’t get better from there. Her mother quickly sinks into alcoholism and Suzie uses her ability to freeze time as an escape from the world.

As for Jon, he seems less troubled at first until it becomes clear that he uses his abilities to act out in anger against the world, oftentimes in petty or childish ways. Heavy stuff, all of it, and yet the book is still incredibly funny. In fact, I’d argue that one of the main reasons the comedy works so well is that leavening of darkness, which makes the characters seem that much more real.

Zdarsky and Fraction might have been content with telling a fractured romance story with a few sci-fi overtones, but they clearly felt like that wasn’t nearly enough. Instead, they include things like an extended sequence where the lyrics to Queen’s “Fat-Bottomed Girls” are hidden behind apologetic notes because they couldn’t actually get the rights. Additionally, the sci-fi elements ramp up over the course of this first arc and we are given hints that there is a larger world of sexual absurdity surrounding Jon and Suzie’s more personal connection.

The art is great throughout – unique without being overly stylized or distracting – and the writing is hilarious and affecting in equal measure. I can’t wait to read more of Sex Criminals; I’m just sad that I’ll catch up to the current issue very quickly, and then who knows how long I’ll have to wait to read more. This is, of course, the downside of creator-owned comic books nowadays: they can and do publish whenever they feel like it, even if that means months between issues.

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Net Galley.

Raphaëlle

It'd be more of a 2,5 stars but definitely quite not 3. 
I like the premises and the concept is very original. On paper, it has everything I love, i.e. a Bonnie & Clyde couple + a heist + sex. However its execution is severely laking somehow. 
My first complain with this volume was the back and forth in the timeline. I know it's a common narrative device but it didn't work for me in this particular instance, it didn't add anything compelling to the plot or the narrative overall in my opinion.
It also tried too hard to be funny / crude and it felt forced most of the time. Nevertheless, I genuinely laughed a couple times! 
The characters I couldn't care for. I didn't dislike Suzie & John per se, I just found myself indifferent to them. I don't care for them individually & I don't care for them as a couple. The moment where they meet was lovely though. I'm a huge Lolita unrepentant fan, so I guess there's that. 
And, unpopular opinion, I'm not the biggest fan of the artwork... It's not awful or anything, I guess it all comes down to personal art sensibilities. I however really enjoyed the depiction of The Quiet / Cumland. 
Also, that moment where Suzie "bashes" Jon's favorite porn star was Yikes™. I won't even get into it because some reviewers already pointed out how problematic it was, and worded it much better than i ever could. Let's just say that it really was a deal-breaker for me.

That being said, I am still likely to give the 2nd volume a go though, because I enjoyed some bits of the 1st volume well enough.

Emelie

mevi

The past and present jump cuts were fluid, but the overall story was just okay. Nothing too special.

Nicki

I adored this! It was hilarious and I can't wait to watch this series! Thank you Keira!

Sarah Escorsa

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

Ugh. The dreaded meh review.



So. We all know why I read this right? 
  Anna
 said "Suze and Jon can freeze time when they're having sex" and I said "my reputation is ruined anyway, I might as well add this."

You'll have to agree that this is a great premise. I mean, even if you're not into the whole sex with (view spoiler)[or without (hide spoiler)] a purpose thing (if you don't know what that is, just ask 
  Liz
, she'll be more than happy to enlighten you), you'll have to admit it's a pretty original idea. 

The problem is, as original as the premise is, Sex Criminals is a bit disappointing.



♦ I didn't connect with the characters. It's not that they weren't interesting but they just felt terribly flat. Suze & Jon's relationship is just, I don't know, there. They have sex, they freeze time. I never felt any real connection between them. And NO I am not saying I wanted more romance here. Are you people crazy?! *shakes head*

♦ The storyline is pretty much paper thin: have sex/freeze time/rob a bank while time is frozen/use stolen money to save Suze's library from financial disaster. Meh. Worse, the authors sometimes stretch the story as much as they can: 4 pages of Suze not singing a Queen song in a bar? Does that add anything to the plot? No. It's just boring. A great premise but the story falls kind of flat.

♦ The story keeps going and back and forth in time and although I liked that multi-layered aspect of the plot I think it was poorly handled. The story was all over the place and suffered from the lack of continuity.

BUT it's not all bad. I did like some of the things I saw here.



♦  Great concept: the whole having sex = freezing time idea is one of the most original ones I've come across in a long time. I like the idea of the sex police too. It's all pretty cool.



♦  Great graphics: I love the art here, especially the way time freezing is rendered. And the colouring is simply fantastic. I'm a sucker for strong, vibrant colours and Zdarsky did an amazing job here. The graphics pop right out of the pages.



And look at this:



♦  Great humour: lots of sarcasm here, which I obviously couldn't resist. Oh, and if you're looking for cutesy humour, this isn't the right comic for you. Stay away from it. There is a whole page page of crazy sex positions that is absolutely hilarious. I wouldn't want GR to kick me out just yet so I resorted to black squares to hide the supposedly offending bits and pieces *sighs*



So this was a bit of a hit and miss for me. Still, I think it might benefit from a reread. Especially since I love the concept so much. Will I read the second volume? Believe it or not there's a good chance I will. I think some of the weaknesses of One Weird Tricks come from the fact that it is the first volume in this series. I see lots of potential here so I'm willing to give the authors the benefit of the doubt. And I want to know more about the sex police. That pretty much clinches it.

Sheila

bahahahaha I enjoyed this crazy story, even if the plot is a bit thin! Love the art, love the sarcasm, but now wish I too could stop time when I orgasm...

Yoomi

I passed this one up at my comic book store but when NetGalley offered this ARC, I thought "why not?" It's a fun read, nothing like anything I've read before. Suzie and Jon grew up thinking that they were different and all alone in the world. So when they find each other, what else is there to do but rob a bank?? Suzy narrates her back story and discovery. Usually an older version of herself is hanging out at the edge of the scene, like she's having an out of body experience, not unlike what happens when she stops time. It takes a strange turn at the end, with an appearance by the sex police. This could be an interesting turn of events or a really cheese, bad one. I like the characters enough to read the next volume to find out.

Pam Sartain

I would give this 3.5 stars! it was an interesting idea and very different

3.5

This was definitely interesting. I am intrigued to see where the series goes from here.

This book has everything; great graphics, brilliant and incredibly unique story, giggles galore, coming-of-age, crime and passion. I could go on and on. This is the best pick me up books for adults. 

Fun and flirty, it has all the butt-stuff without being as crude as an Adult Swim cartoon.

There were definitely key moments that made it for me:(view spoiler)[ glowing penii and kegalface (hide spoiler)]. Oh and keep an eye on all the miscellaneous type in the background of the graphics. Some of them really cracked me up.

Definitely recommend and definitely following the series.

b.andherbooks

I'm happy I wasn't reading this arc issue to issue, because not a whole lot happens and there was way too much jumping around between characters. Still a fun read, but I'm hoping the plot will come together a bit more in Volume 4.

Yasmin S.

Not really what I expected. 

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

 Bruna Acioly Leão

This was really weird and messed up, but also kind of of fun.
I want to know what happens next, so I'll be picking up the next volumes!

Gretchen Gomez

4.2/5 stars.

I found this graphic novel to be hilarious and something out of the ordinary. I can't wait to pick up the second volume to see where it leaves off. I thought it was a little rushed in the beginning with both characters meeting one another but then again this is a graphic novel. So I'm not too bummed out about that.

Sex Criminals One Weird Trick

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