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Most comic readers prefer to get their issues from a local shop instead of a faceless retailer. But there’s one series with a title so embarrassing, so shocking, that some sheepish fans would prefer the anonymity of Amazon over the discomfort of buying in person. That series is Image Comics‘s Sex Criminals, by writer Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarsky.
Soon, however, Amazon is going to spread the discomfort into the world of television. The streamer plans to adapt Sex Criminals to live action, produced by writers Emily V. Gordon and Tze Chun and actor/comedian Kumail Nanjiani, the last of whom will also appear in the show.
Sex Criminals follows a young woman named Suze, who discovered during adolescence that time stopped when she climaxed, literally. As she grew into adulthood and took a quiet job as a librarian, Suze just assumed that her weird trick was hers alone. But during a one-night stand with an actor called Jon, Suze learned that her new partner had the same ability. The couple decides to make money by sneaking into bank bathrooms, getting it on, and taking money during the time-stopping afterglow. However, their actions run afoul of a group of S&M-wearing secret police, who want to punish Suze and Jon for their crimes.
The series was a critical smash, regularly appearing atop best of lists and earning a Hugo Award nomination. Sex Criminals is a true dream team comic, as both Fraction and Zdarsky have done excellent work for the big two publishers in the past. Fraction wrote the classic Iron Fist and Hawkeye series for Marvel, and is currently writing a masterpiece in the making with Batman at DC, and Zdarsky’s Daredevil run may be even better than those by Frank Miller and Brian Michael Bendis.
With Sex Criminals, the duo have something truly special, a series that fully embraces the comedy of its high concept (just check out the special covers Fraction and Zdarsky did) while also keeping focused on character development. Suze and Jon are three-dimensional, emotionally rich figures, who feel like real and compelling people, despite its absurd presence.
That combination of high concept and nuanced character makes the production team behind the Sex Criminals show so compelling. Tze Chun broke out with his 2009 Sundance drama Children of Invention, a small-scale story about immigrants from Boston. From there, he has gone on to Nanjiani on big, wacky television shows such as Gotham and Once Upon a Time…. Likewise, comedian Nanjiani and his wife Gordon made the sweet indie comedy The Big Sick 2017, and they’re both big nerds, and Nanjiani has appeared in high-profile properties such as Eternals and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Together, the trio can bring Fraction and Zdarsky’s weird adventures into the mainstream, so that everyone can learn to love Sex Criminals. And, thanks to Prime Video, they can enjoy it in the privacy of their own homes, without embarrassment.
Sex Criminals is now in pre-production.
The post Amazon Will Adapt a Great Crime Comic With a Very Embarrassing Title appeared first on Den of Geek.
