Sex Criminals, Vol. 3: Three the Hard Way by Matt Fraction

Sex Criminals, Vol. 3: Three the Hard Way Reviews

• 
  Baba

  You just never know where this book is going, which is yet another reason it gives me joy. What do you do if your girlfriend as had hundreds more sexual partners than you? What do you do as a comic book creator if you have an integral confrontation between two of your main protagonists but just don't quite grasp how you're going to write it? What do you do, if you don't want to rob banks anymore? What do you do when attacked by a monster made of human ejaculate? It's all astoundingly ground breaking, often very funny and throughout a phenomenally mega-meta, fourth wall breaking series. Don't believe me, read it and see. All the 9s out of 12, Three Star read.
  
  2019 and 2016 reads
• 
  Sam Quixote

  The third volume of Sex Crimz sees Matt Fraction have some kind of breakdown in the middle of the book – literally, as he writes himself into it having a convo with Chip Zdarsky - as he basically gets bored writing the series. What else happens? Jon and Suzie are being pursued by Kegelface and her cronies - still - with zero progression, and a lot of tiny, totally boring developments occur: Ana and Suzie don’t get along! Robert Rainbow’s intimidated by Rachelle’s sexual experiences! Kegelface is banging Jon’s shrink to get info on Jon! Yikes, that’s the best Fraction can muster?
  
  Looks like Sex Crimz is going the route of Chew. Chew once had an actual storyline and then as it went on each book became about new weird foodie powers only; in Sex Crimz, it’s now all about the new sex powers. Meet an orderly whose sperm takes the form of a sentient anime character and an asexual businesswoman who can jump off tall buildings and produces some kind of force field that keeps her from going splat...? I suppose they’re kinda interesting, the guys introducing more colours of the sexual rainbow but their intros do slow down an already glacial-paced narrative even further.
  
  There’s an overly long dreary lecture from Ana Kincaid on what’s “normal” that’ll put you to sleep; Suzie’s set up small stands - “mini libraries” - around the city filled with the books from her former library, a twee concept that feels like it would only work in a city like Portland, where Fraction happens to live; and Jon says “I love you” to Suzie - cue dramatic nonsense! Really? Since when did Sex Crimz get Friends-level sitcom bad? Oh, since now. Dear me.
  
  The meta stuff was novel at first but now it feels like Fraction irritably getting out of boring corners he keeps writing himself into. A scene where a character goes to a grocery store is just white text on black background explaining how tedious and unnecessary the scene is and let’s just move on - so why even have that scene in the first place? He uses this device again to get out of all the exposition needed to get Jon’s shrink up to speed on what’s happening in a scene. I get the convenience of it but it still makes the book feel lazy and tossed off.
  
  What annoyed me was the scene where Ana and Suzie confronted each other on their mutual dislike. I understand going all meta to get out of writing redundant dialogue, especially when this contrived antagonism is such a snoozefest, but why even have Ana dislike Suzie at all if you can’t be bothered to write the conflict in the first place? The theme of the book is supposedly about morality and who’s in the wrong but this key scene exploring this theme is blanked out with Fraction appearing in the comic going full-neurotic to Zdarsky on the phone instead. It comes across as pointless and self-sabotaging. Breaking the fourth wall was fun for the Queen sequence in the first book but this time around it feels like Fraction’s becoming more frustrated with the series rather than having fun with it. The frustration shows when Suzie decides she doesn’t want to be a sex criminal anymore… which is kinda the whole point of the series!
  
  Three the Hard Way sees Sex Criminals take an unfortunate turn for the dull. I still like the characters, the concept and the art, I just wish there’d been a story in this one rather than a load of directionless nothing. Kurtis Wiebe announced the weekend before last that Rat Queens was going on hiatus for the foreseeable future - maybe Sex Crimz should do the same until Fraction’s figured out what he wants from the series?
• 
  Trina (Between Chapters)

  3.5 stars
  
  What I loved:
  -Meta narration.
  -Amazing characters.
  -Diversity. An asexual character was introduced in this volume and her introduction was perfect. I love how even though this story is about a 'sex power,' there is still a role for an ace character that isn't tied to sex.
  -Expanding world.
  -Continued sex positivity, body positivity, feminism, discussions on mental health.
  -Particularly great discussion on the recent history of female sexuality.
  
  What I didn't like:
  -What's so frustrating to me about this series is that it has some GREAT moments. Truly great messages. But then you turn the page to find the most childish adult humor. I feel like it undermines itself, and at 3 volumes in I'm getting kind of bored of that. I think this is too serious for people who just want an adult sex comedy, but too graphic for people who want the more serious side. It's a hard mix. I think I'm too much of a prude for it to be honest. I find myself living for the social commentary of this series, but cringing at how many penis drawings I have to wade through to get it.
• 
  Ivan

  2.5 stars.
  Sex criminals started as cool ultra liberal graphic novel with strange premise but it's slowly losing it's charm.This volume had some seriously weird moments and not in a good way and story makes practically no progression.It's still ok-ish but overall volume 3 felt like filler between two more interesting volumes.
• 
  Artemy

  Sex Criminals has been through a rough patch in the past year and a half. Most importantly, Matt Fraction's father passed away during that time, which obviously affected his work. The guy was smitten.
  
  Also, the comic itself had some problems — all of the issues in this arc came out with alternative, very NSFW covers by superstar guest artists, like Brian Lee O'Malley, Kate Leth, Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez. Each NSFW issue had to be polybagged, and their polybagging machine broke like fifty thousand times, which also resulted in huge delays.
  
  A lot of other stuff happened, but what I am trying to say is, the book has been on a long hiatus after a long hiatus with huge pauses in between, and all of these things inevitably affect the story. There is even a scene in this book where the fourth wall completely breaks, and we see a dialogue between Fraction and Zdarsky, where Matt is being miserable about himself and about the book, and Chip is being a dick that he is, haha (sorry, chum). The whole scene is pretty funny, but it's also kind of worrying and depressing.
  
  
  
  No, don't get me wrong, the comic is still brilliant, clever and funny as hell. The plot doesn't move a ton in this volume, focusing more on characters. And those are some great characters, they always feel like real people. And real people go through shitty stuff, sometimes. This is kind of the main theme of the arc.
  
  Anyway, I still love this series to bits. It's one of the books that got me properly into comics a couple of years ago, and I am eternally grateful. It still has some of my favourite characters ever. And there is still nothing like it. I thought I would criticise this volume a bit in this review, but damn, I love Sex Criminals too much. Yes, this volume is nowhere near as good as the first two. But I will stick with it to the end. And I really hope Fraction's life gets better. The dude deserves it.
• 
  Michelle Morrell

  Now that they know they're not unique in the world, they're off to find others of their kind. Man, you really don't want to know some of the manifestations of others's secret sex world. Nope, no you don't. Still funny and irreverent and clever. I will have to own these eventually.
• 
  Dannii Elle

  This series has continued to go from strength to strength in both plot and the density of topics covered. I stated in my review of the last installment that I liked the depth of the subjects covered, and this third volume has completely upped the ante in that department! This still has scenes that vary from the hilarious to the sexually promiscuous, but these are offset with more atmospheric and text-dense scenes, that focus on more hard-hitting topics. I loved everything about this, from the meta narrative and the complex character construction to the ingenuity of plot and the positivity it dedicated to sex and sexuality. My only grievance is that this created more questions than it answered. I have so many things I need to know! *eagerly awaits volume four*
• 
  Kayla Charisse

  I've been looking forward to reading this volume for over a year, but honestly nothing really happened in this installment. The series has always been a bit self-aware, but this volume was meta to the point of crappy writing. I did appreciate the concepts of sexual judgment presented in this arc, but not much else. It's unfortunate, I was really loving this series. I will still be continuing with volume four for sure, I need to know what happens to the characters at this point.
• 
  Ashley

  Vol. 3, or the one where Sex Criminals goes even more meta than usual.
  
  This series is probably the weirdest ongoing thing I read by quite a large margin, but it's so kindhearted and earnest and willing to take chances, I just very much want everyone to give it a go. I'm trying right now to get my book club to read the first volume, so we'll see about that (I think some of them might read it with their hands over their mouths in a state of perma-shock, and the thought makes me giggle).
  
  (I'm sorry, now I'm just picturing my one very proper friend getting to the panel with the Dildo Throne.)
  
  This trade is basically the living embodiment of identity crisis.* I mean, it's just an extended meditation on how finding out who you are isn't enough, if enough people are constantly trying to tell you that who you are is wrong or monstrous, or abnormal. The first two volumes of this series were a celebration of sex as something that shouldn't be hidden behind closed doors, as something natural and magical. This one goes further, and if doesn't quite get to celebratory, it's only because it's not possible to do so and remain true to its subject. This comic's thing (and it's a thing I agree with) is that there is no "normal." Normality is a myth, and a prevalent one, and when someone deviates at all from the perceived norm, a lot of harm can come from trying to squash the monstrous deviation and fit in.
  
  *After writing this review, I read that Matt Fraction's father died while he was writing this, and that's partially the reason this one turned out the way it did. YMMV.
  
  And that's just the plot. Fraction and Zdarsky go all meta, as noted before, questioning their own premise. What to do about a series called "Sex Criminals" when your two main characters no longer wish to commit crimes?
  
  This one has gotten mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. I liked the way they used their art to work through some stuff, instead of attempting to do the norm and possibly fail miserably, they did something new that felt right, and I think it worked.
  
  And now once again, I wait.
• 
  Ashley Cruzen

  Definitely not my favorite of the series. There seemed to be a lot of filler in this one and the story didn't really progress all that much. However, this is easily still one of the most entertaining and bizarre comics I've read.
• 
  maria

  
  
  
  Warning: May contain spoilers if you have not read Sex Criminals Volume 1 & 2.
  
  —
  
  Okay. This was fucking hilarious…excuse my french. I don’t think I’ve giggled that hard while reading anything in recent memory.
  
  The story basically picks up where we left of at the end of the second volume. Suzie and Jon have discovered that they are not the only two people who can freeze time when they climax. Yeah, you read that right, Sex Criminals is a comic about people that can literally stop time when they orgasm. The premise alone was quirky enough to get me to pick up the first volume almost 3 years ago now, but I can assure you that there is so much more to this story than a great premise.
  
  It’s hilarious and honestly one of the funniest comics I have ever read. On top of that, there are also a few more serious moments in which Jon and Suzie deal with relationship issues and moral dilemmas.
  
  In typical Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky fashion, we get a little bit of fourth wall breaking hilarity. In one amazing scene Chip Zdarsky actually illustrates a conversation between himself and Matt Fraction in which they are discussing how a scene is going to play out and it is literally comedic gold. I’ve never seen that done within a comic before.
  
  While this volume felt a bit like a filler, to connect a few story lines and introduce new characters, it made up for it in honest to goodness comical genius. This volume introduces a new mysterious character. The only thing that we know about her is that she’s asexual and that she has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything with asexual representation before, so that should be exciting in upcoming issues/volumes.
  
  Also, am I the only one that felt as though this volume was a lot more rated R than previous issues? I mean…maybe it was just me but, there was a lot more full frontal this time around right?!
  
  This comic series is definitely one to read if you’re looking for a few laughs mixed in with some serious drama. Sex Criminals, Volume 1 was the first ever comic bind-up I had ever purchased and read and it definitely paved the way for my current comic and graphic novel obsession. I can’t wait to continue with this series!
  
  --
  
  Initial post reading thoughts:
  
  This was hilarious. There were so many moments that actually had me giggling out loud. I love the fourth wall breaking hilarity within this volume! The only minor issue I had was the introduction of new characters without any real explanation as to who they were leaving us with a cliffhanger. I felt like this volume was more of a filler, but it made up for it in comedic hilarity.
• 
  Julie Ehlers

  That was weird. I wonder where all this is going?
• 
  James DeSantis

  Man I love this one as much as the others, though I can see why some won't.
  
  This has a lot of forth wall breaking, a weird issue inbetween about A-Sexuality which may not appeal to everyone, and also a lot of fluff without things moving forward in the main story.
  
  However all the relationship stuff worked really well for me in this one. I loved the forth wall breaking scene as well because the writer/artist are funny as hell. I also LOVED some moments like magical anime vagina monster or the dick pic moment. I also enjoyed the Asexual story even if it felt like a odd placement for it.
  
  On the flipside the stuff with the therapist is kind of lame I'm just not feeling much of that. Even if it has funny moments.
  
  So yeah this remains one of the funniest series out and I will continue reading till it's over!
• 
  Sad Sunday (Books? Me?!? NEVER!!!)

  Volume 2 was a bit of a bore, but this one is great! Characters are back to normal (as close to normal as possible), some fun stuff happens, and I really laughed while reading some of it. Somehow I really dig the vibe and story they are creating. It's both weird, funny, absurd and completely real-life related. Having fun reading this, pun intended.
• 
  Dimitris Papastergiou

  It's sad but this series is getting worse and worse, issue after issue...
  
  I like both creators but they lost control of what's happening what was happening.. or they seem that they're pretty bored with the title and don't even try anymore.
  
  Let me say that it has lost its premise. It's gone. Anything and everything that was "promised" on volume 1 and anything that was interesting and made volume 1 SO good is.. gone!
  
  The artwork stays great. The story is gone. I may be interested to buy the next volume on sale just cuz I'm curious but that's it. Sadly, the main plot is going nowhere for the last 10 issues or so. The couple was getting ready to form a team or some shit and we were getting these stupid flashbacks and stupid filler with new characters for so many issues and now Suze is BORED. She just don't wanna rob banks anymore and shit.
  
  Great stuff huh?
  
  Anyway, a joke here and there that makes you exhale through your nose.. and that's it. When your letters page is funnier than your book, you have a problem.
  
  I'd say I hope it gets better but it's not interesting to me anymore.
  
• 
  Kyriaki

  Τελικά τη φάση με τις ληστείες δεν την παρατήσαμε!! αλλά χμμ...εντάξει δεν το διαχειρίζονται και όπως το φανταζόμουν και δεν του δίνεται ιδιαίτερη έμφαση, οπότε είναι το ίδιο.......Κατα τα άλλα γνωρίζουμε και νέους χαρακτήρες και γίνεται ακόμη πιο weird!!
  Το κακό είναι ότι όσο αναφορά την πλοκή δεν γίνεται και κάτι ιδιαίτερα συναρπαστικό.
• 
  Punk

  And I'm done. Not only does this span the spectrum of sexual assault, from the casual rape joke on the second page to coerced sexual contact, but the whole volume suffers from lazy writing.
  
  The conversation Suzie and Ana were about to have about Suzie's slut-shaming just doesn't happen. Instead, the story cuts to a phone call where Fraction complains to Zdarsky about how hard the conversation will be to write. These tools know they wrote themselves into a corner and instead of fixing it by writing a difficult scene, they chickened out. They wrote a five-page lecture—literally—on cultural attitudes about sexuality but couldn't rouse themselves to tackle a similar subject with their own characters? Fuck that. They came up against a subject that made them uncomfortable, and they ran. That's male privilege. They don't get points for being cute about it.
  
  They did a better job of handling the tension between Rachelle and Robert—based on the same idea that if you have a lot of sex you're...you know how the rest of this sentence ends—because they, you know, actually wrote those scenes instead of writing about them. Odd how both of the characters who get shamed for having sex are women. Almost like it's baked in.
  
  This volume does introduce an asexual character! But I'm not sitting through another book of this.
  
  Contains: slut-shaming, unsolicited dick pics, references to sexual assault, tentacles, suicide, and infuriating meta commentary.
• 
  Jedi JC Daquis

  Matt and Chip are definitely having a crazy fun time with Sex Criminals volume three. But sadly, the charm and uniqueness of the material does not really connect with me. Is it just me or Sex Criminals has lost it? Muddled with metas, 4th wall breaks, and disjointed back stories, reading the book just became a lazy routine foreplay that doesn't reach the climax rather than an orgasmic one-of-a-kind experience.
• 
  Liz Janet

  His therapist is just as bad as he is.
• 
  Julia Sapphire

  3.5
• 
  Albert

  This series just keeps getting better and better. Though I will admit that the sailor moon vagina with tentacles is a bit much. Still, another well written addition to this comic series. Funny and disturbing!
• 
  Shadowdenizen

  I love both Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarksy. (In a platonic way, of course, never having met either of them.)
  
  And I love Sex Criminals (the comic.)
  
  But, this arc kinda left me feeling underwhelmed. The first 2 arcs laid out the basic premise, and escalated that premise. This arc didn’t really especially add anything to the saga (IMO), and it feels like we’re losing momentum as the stated premise begins to wear a bit thin.
  
  And I totally didn’t get the “Creator-Conversation” bit in the middle. I’m not a fan of breaking the 4th wall, and this just seemed too “High-Art” for me? [And this, from someone who struggled through all 16 volumes of [book:Cerebus|198462]!]
  
  I’m sticking with the title for now, however, in the hopes that we get a creative resurgence in Volume 4. (And it anyone can do that, it’s Fraction & Zdarsky!)
  
• 
  Valéria.

  Začínam si to fakt podstatne viac užívať, ako prvé čítanie. Keď už viem po prvom kto je kto a čo mám očakávať, tak mi ani toľko nevadí ten nával nových postáv. Suzie a Jon mi prídu podstatne viac sympatický. Kresba už od minula patrí k srdcovkám. 4,5/5
• 
  Reg Mars

  These comics are ridiculous and I enjoy that but this one just fell flat for me. I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other 2 volumes. There was one point in this where the authors were talking to each other and it really took me out of the element of the actual story. I found myself skipping through it cause I just didn't care. Overall it was okay. I'll be waiting for the next volume to come out.
• 
  Pam's Shenanigans

  This comics. This. It explores the many facets of sex and sexuality with humor and just the right amount of slaps of truth in between pages. It is a hilarious series, I'm telling you. But it's more than that. Need Chapter 16 ASAP.
• 
  BookCupid

  This is the first time I see an author write himself in a comic book. As well as some boxes simply asking me to visualize things...
  
  When I first started the series, I was thrilled to see sex as a superpower. Since discovering that Jon and Suzie can freeze time whenever they climax, they decided to save their precious library by robin banks. But in this volume, we see them squander away money in lavish hotels, and lose interest in their goals.
  
  I can feel the series drift away and have no clue in which direction it's going.
• 
  Elizabeth A

  This graphic novel series should be great, but it's hit or miss for me. I continue to enjoy the art, the character development, the premise, the diversity, and the sex positivity of this series, but the story didn't move forward at all in this volume. Very meta, and while that is cool, I need more. The weakest installment so far.
• 
  Ignacio

  Entrega muy irregular. Deslumbra cuando se pone superloco (el enfrentamiento con el vaginamonstruo) o refleja actitudes hacia el sexo fuera de la norma (brillante su retrato del personaje asexual) y se embarulla cuando rompe la cuarta pared y cae en un exceso meta referencial.
  
  ¡Tocado!
• 
  Mike

  Nice to get back to find out what Jon and Suze have been up to - like long-lost friends who you realise are weirdos up close, but are entertaining to tell your other friends about.
• 
  Queen Ophilia III

  I found this to be one of the better books I read in the series so far.