Sex #11: "Something in the Night"

[superboyprime]

"That kind of 'endless narrative' that typified the superhero comics we grew up on doesn't exist in the same way at all anymore, that kind of random ebb and flow that monthly comic books would provide over a long period of time. I love that stuff so much. Recently, I've been re-buying the Denny O'Neil/Luke McDonnell run of Iron Man from the early 80's. . . . I'm sure that sort of mid-list dependability doesn't fly at the big publishers anymore. It's not a desirable thing. The economics of it don't make sense to them (or their shareholders). Not to mention, it's not sexy. But, goddammit, it is to me. It's sexy as hell." - Joe Casey, lamenting how today's superhero comics exclusively use a TV-like 'seasons' structure, as opposed to the 'endless narrative.'









Meanwhile, journalist Juliette Jemas continues her investigations into Simon Cooke:





The series's Joker analogue, the Prank Addict, has found himself kidnapped.

Comments

[freezer]

"I DIDN'T give up... And I WON'T."

That's code for "I'm about to fuck up and/or die horribly" isn't it?

[mrstatham]

Jesus Christ, Joe, give it a fucking rest. We get it. You're so special and smart because you're reading old comics no-one else has read and you think you're being terribly innovative and interesting. In actuality you sound like the biggest hipster in all of comics, bleating like a little baby because other comics are getting read and not yours.

[northstarfan]

That crack about the mid-list is tying my brain in a knot. Publishers would LOVE to have that kind of stability in an ongoing! Peter David's X-Factor, for example, wasn't allowed to hang around forever (and then given a second volume!) because it was setting the charts on fire, but because its sales were practically static for a while. Publishers reboot every third month and put out books in seasons not because they don't want that stable mid-list title, but because it's an increasingly rare phenomenon.

Am I alone in this feeling?

[7dialsmystery]

For a comic entitled "SEX" that features orgies and, well, a lot of sex and nudity, this is painfully dull. It takes a real special lack of talent to make sex this incredibly boring.

Re: Am I alone in this feeling?

[leoboiko]

Yep. At first I was curious to see whether it would even acknowledge the existence of gay sex at some point, but I simply couldn't endure the effort needed to keep reading it.

[halloweenjack]

I find Casey's remarks to be ironic in a couple of ways. First, he's letting his nostalgia blind him to just how much crap was put out in the name of getting a comic out every month, do or die; I started reading comics in the mid-late 1970s, and even though it was a remarkable if not giddy time to get into comics (Kirby and Ditko were still doing work for Marvel, albeit much less often; Perez, Byrne, and Miller were just starting their careers; the X-Men were beginning their dizzying rise in popularity), there was still a lot of stuff being put out purely for the sake of those spinner racks in the drugstores getting filled. Casey actually supports this by naming, as his example, the specific run of Iron Man which was picked by the first movie's writers as the basis (along with the origin story, of course) of much of the script, out of the decades' worth of material before and after that run.

Also, WRT the posted scans, they look very much as if the writer and artist had just finally gotten around to reading Watchmen, one of the best arguments for a finite story arc.

[ap0cryphal]

honestly I wait for these posts just to see what fresh hot garbage joe casey's saying about NOSTALGIA and THE GOOD OLD DAYS and how he's the one true avatar of bringing sexy back

[sadoeuphemist]

Well this certainly feels like an endless narrative alright.

[monkey12]

These posts are the only exposure I've had to this title, but I'm still confused: Why the hell is it called "Sex"? Every once in a while there will be a quasi-risque panel or two, but overall I'm not really seeing the tie-in. Is it clearer when reading the whole comic?

[sadoeuphemist]

You know how in Moby Dick it's just a hundred chapters about whaling and talking about whales and how nuts Ahab is, and Moby Dick only actually shows up after like a hundred chapters? Sex is this dude's Moby Dick.

[monkey12]

So, thousands of words lovingly devoted to one man's obsession leading up to a climax that leaves everyone worse off than when the journey started? Sounds great. At this point, after everything I've read about this title, I'm wondering why Casey didn't just name it "Midlife: the Crisising".

As far as comics oriented around non-standard premises go, I'm glad I picked up Sex Criminals over this.

[sharky_chan]

Hey, at least Ishmael is consistently entertaining as a narrator! :P:P:P.

ps - love your icon :D:D:D.

[superboyprime]

"The thing about the title [of the book]... I fully admit there's a deliberately provocative aspect to it. This is a commercial endeavor, after all. We want reader to pay attention, and in a marketplace that's overstuffed with its share of white noise, you do what you can. But beyond those considerations, that word is so... loaded. In our culture, especially. It evokes so much in people, it just seemed like the right title to encompass the emotions, the intimacies, the struggles with basic human connection that this series deals with." - Joe Casey

[zapbiffpow]

Wait, is this quote from a comic book interview, or a podcast, or something?

Because I tried Googling this quote, and the trail leads back to here.

[superboyprime]

It's from the book's letter column.

[zapbiffpow]

Ah. Good find.