PORTLAND, Ore. 01/24/2024 — The New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award winning Sex Criminals by writer Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarsky will be collected—in its entirety, issues #1-30 and the one-shot special issue #69—into one massive paperback compendium edition, Sex Criminals: The Complete Edition this March from Image Comics.
This beloved, critical darling will now be available in one bingeable, door-stopping format for longtime fans—and new converts—to enjoy.
“Sex Criminals is the book that changed my life. Matt made me draw a lot of penises and now I write Batman,” said Zdarsky. “I’m genuinely excited to have the entire story all together in one volume. Finally, it’s a graphic novel and not just some filthy comic!"
Sex Criminals first hit the scene in 2013. Hot on the heels of Fraction’s breakout work reinvigorating Marvel’s Hawkeye and showcasing Zdarsky’s debut talent, the pair’s offbeat series description took the publishing world by storm.
Perhaps best described as Bonnie & Clyde meets The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Sex Criminals follows the heartfelt, yet laugh-out-loud romance of Suzie and Jon. When Suzie and Jon have sex, time stops. Literally. So they have lots of sex, fall in love, and eventually start robbing banks. Until they find out they’re not alone…
Fraction added: "Sex Criminals became a phenomenon. To have the entire story collected in one handsome—and not just handsome for Canada but really handsome—enchiridion will commemorate the long strange trip it took us on while inviting new readers to take the same journey just as their local libraries ban it from shelves. Probably because of all the penises I made Chip draw."
Upon launch, Sex Criminals sold out and went back to print dozens of times, was translated around the world in a half-dozen different languages, and was banned and praised in equal measure. It went on to become TIME Magazine’s "Comic of the Year" and won prestigious Eisner and Harvey awards for "Best New Series." Sex Criminals dominated the mainstream media's “Best of” lists—including that of TIME and Entertainment Weekly, Fraction appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to promote the series, and the title has since maintained a top ranking amongst regularly reordered titles and remains one of the most popular and buzzy comic book series of all time.
Sex Criminals: The Complete Edition (ISBN 978-1534397484) will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, March 27 and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Indigo on Tuesday, March 26.
Sex Criminals is also available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
Select praise & accolades for the Sex Criminals series:
* Eisner Award winning Best New Series *
* Harvey Award winning Best New Series *
* #1 New York Times Bestseller *
* #1 Amazon Bestseller: Literary Graphic Novels *
* Entertainment Weekly’s Must List *
* Publishers Weekly Bestseller *
“Fraction’s best work yet. It’s a precision-tuned screwball comedy on its surface, and that surface is gorgeous, thanks to Zdarsky’s ace sense of design and inventive color technique.” —TIME
“An honest, heartfelt story about relationships that was more John Hughes than John Holmes.” —USA Today
“Sex comedies usually focus on the pursuit of orgasm; the writer Matt Fraction and the artist Chip Zdarsky have devised an ingenious one about the stillness that follows it. Zdarsky’s fluid, brightly hued artwork is dense with smutty gags, but this is a deeper, more understated comedy than it initially seems.” —The New York Times
“Wildly imaginative, randy and true with characters whose sexual satisfaction freezes time and facilitates crime. Artist Zdarsky’s staging, storytelling and character designs make this even crazier. Great fun!” —The Miami Herald
“A sex comedy with a splash of crime thriller, the title is a fascinating examination of the pleasures and pitfalls of intimate relationships, using the central fantastic conceit as a metaphor for the way sex distances people but also, under the right circumstances, brings them together.” —The A.V. Club
“I wouldn’t trust most comic creators to turn a sexual awakening into compelling pulp fiction, but Fraction and Zdarsky pull it off masterfully.” —PASTE
“Sex Criminals is just amazing. If this isn't on your pull list you have to get it.” —io9
“Sex Criminals is not just one of the best comics I’ve ever read, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read, period.” —Wil Wheaton, actor
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