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If the last issue focused on Jon and dealing with his feelings on the climax of the series, this one is Suze’s turn. We’re only one away from the final issue so things are heavy, and it looks like we will go out with a bang, a very emotional bang. Sex Criminals #30 is written by Matt Fraction, with art by Chip Zdarsky, who also provides the main cover.
The End Arrives… Kind Of
If there’s one thing I have learned going through this last arc, it’s that I too am not ready for this to end. Sex Criminals #30 is all about coming to terms with yourself, albeit through an incredible series of realizations while time traveling. By the time we hit the end of this issue, the only thing that’s left is basically just an epilogue. For all intents and purposes, I consider this to be the first part of the “actual end.”
Time Travelling In Sex Criminals
Time-traveling has its own rules here in this land of horny acts of illegality. While there are many stories throughout all of fiction that feature time travel, a common thread is that time can be changed, at the cost of starting a new timeline, or something to that effect. Here, however, you can’t actually change anything. Suze can see the future, as well as the past, but only what is, not what has the potential to be.
Your memories are absolute, as they are such a large part of who you are. They form the person that you become, so to change a memory, is to change a foundational element of your being. It may seem like an easy way out, to not have to worry too much about explaining the rules here, but I like the straightforward, bare-bones approach. It also assures the reader, there are no magic fixes here, or in real life.
Suze’s Journey In Time
Suze goes through many familiar scenes in her trip through time, seeing things in the recent past that we have seen in previous issues even, or even things from before the book started. You get a clearer picture of Suze’s journey from start-to-finish and why this trip is so significant for her. Sure, a trip through time would be significant for anybody, but framing it here in this context, where it leads to an emotional revelation of the highest order, really hits hard.
People can be, and often are even, self-destructive. That’s the point illustrated by Suze sticking herself in her own worst memory. It may be the one moment she would change, but she knows she can’t and still stays there anyways, trying and hoping frivolously. It’s a lesson in futility, and that just hurts emotionally.
The Quiet is at its core, a place for Suze to be on the outside and freeze everything. The world doesn’t matter anymore, nothing does. It’s a way of trying to hold onto that feeling and feel like you’re in control. Sometimes you just want to stop the world to really appreciate something or to just take a break. The Quiet is an escape (or a distraction, or both).
Becoming Sex Criminals
With Jon being sent to jail in Sex Criminals #29, for breaking the hell out of everything, he has really peaked as a sex criminal, in a way. Now Suze gets her time, post-time trip, to essentially drive around and burn down Badal’s banks to eliminate anything that could be used against her, Jon, and their friends, ever again. Naturally, she slips into The Quiet before she does it each time, which puts such a nice touch on the satisfaction that comes from her executing this plan. In their own way, Jon and Suze have both become sex criminals now more-so than ever before, I think.
Emotional Revelation
Opening yourself up to others and to new possibilities is Suze’s ultimate realization. She could stay here, forever, but she would never experience a new good feeling, only be stuck among the memories of good feelings long past. It’s a risk, as it always is when you really put yourself out there, but Suze finally comes to the conclusion that it’s worth it. And she’s right. Jon is her guiding light because she lets him be. It’s all on her to face that truth and come to grips with it and she does, opening herself up to the light, Jon’s light. She needed him to guide her, and he needed her to find him. Their relationship is symbiotic.
I come away from this with the reading that we should be wary of nostalgia and reminiscing. They are the memories, a ghost, of a good feeling, but aren’t a replacement for the feeling itself. You can’t survive and thrive off the positivity in your past that you can remember, or in this case, revisit. You have to forge a path ahead where you feel positive, at the moment. The past is what you got here, and the future doesn’t matter yet, so just be in the moment and doesn’t take it for granted.
Wrapping Up Sex Criminals #30
Badal is just kind of gone, never to be seen again. There’s not much else to that thread and it doesn’t even really bother me. This was never about some grand superhero showdown in time to stop the evil capitalist from controlling the world and time. No, this was about going on a journey of self-discovery and emotional realization. Honestly, it’s just about living with yourself and getting to that point. You’re not broken, you can be fixed.
I gotta say, even when not taking into consideration the letter column, putting yourself out there as Fraction and Zdarsky have with this book is really no joke. There is some intense self-assessment throughout the series and now that we’re coming to ahead, it’s really starting to sink in. Being this open with a reader-base that is traditionally filled with toxic masculinity sounds downright dangerous to me. But then what happened? The letter daddies column happened.
Turns out folks are willing to be a lot more open and honest if you give them a space where a meaningful and insightful dialogue can take place, free of judgment. The encouragement to share when the creator has already stripped themselves bare so much is easy to buy into, and it truly has flourished since its inception. And of course, the sex tips are great. They level it out and make it feel more accessible as a whole for the letter daddies.
Art Thoughts
Zdarsky is sparing no expense for this last arc, going harder than ever before. The panel structure is nothing too crazy, but the way that Suze is able to travel between them and almost interact with the page itself is brilliant. She glides over a double-page spread that looks simply magical and is easily one of the most impressive-looking sights since the book’s inception.
It is clear above all else that not only is this a labor of love for Fraction, but it also’s the defining work of Zdarsky’s art career, and the effort really shows. The pink panel borders look wonderful next to its vibrant panels. It’s an incredible amount of work he’s doing by himself, being the sole artist on the book, so it’s not something I expect to ever see the likes of again. Treasure it, folks.
Should You Read Sex Criminals #30?
If you’ve come this far, I would be shocked if you bailed on the series right before the end, but that being said I do think this is a very solid issue of comics. I had goosebumps the first time I read Sex Criminals #30, when the realization hit me that it’s all just about learning to live with yourself.
It’s such a simple, yet meaningful and profound truth, that sometimes you just need to see someone else state it to realize it for yourself. This book has been there for me for several years now, going on the emotional journey of a lifetime, and I can’t believe we only have one more stop before this ride is over. “No more going backward.”