Chip Zdarsky Writing, "Captain America," Sounds Promising

Chip Zdarsky is a skilled writer who, "Hits," a lot more often than he, "Misses." He had some recent runs on, "Daredevil," that drew a ton of admiration and is wrapping up a generally-liked take on, "Batman." He's done art on comics such as, "Sex Criminals," with Matt Fraction (I liked the art, but oddly was cold on the actual story) and written such bangers as, "Avengers: Twilight," and, "Spider-Man: Life Story," pretty recently. He's got plenty of great indie books too such as,  "Stillwater," "Public Domain," and my point is he does a lot of comics and many of them are great. Now, he's going to be taking on Captian America. In that, he will be writing the series, not fighting Steve Rogers. That would be awkward to witness.

First off, yes, Chip is a Canadian and generally, only Americans have written Cap in his own book. Plenty of folks from different nations have used Captain America in comics, however, so it isn't a huge deal, but it is kind of a fun little tidbit. There is a run of, "Captain America," finishing in a bit with J. Michael Straczynski plotting and it started pretty well before getting a bit too fantastical and otherworldly for my tastes. Still, at least Straczynski is seeing a comic through to its end as he often has a tendency to start a series strong and then go in weird directions/trail off, or outright quit a book to go do something else. Having Chip writing Captain America sounds promising and I didn't even mention yet how the artist will be Valerio Schiti! Schiti's work is always fantastic and I can't wait to see what this upcoming run of, "Captain America," will be like with such a stellar creative team. I look forward to the book's launch this July!

Confession: I Don't Really Like "Sex Criminals" That Much

I Have A Dirty Secret To Confess....

There is a comic that should be right-up my alley. It is funny, but has serious moments, contains a wacky concept, and discusses sexuality, like, a lot--plus it's an Image book, which means I can feel happy that the creators aren't getting screwed-over by the publisher on IP rights. Yet, having read some of, "Sex Criminals," I find I just don't really like it. There is no good reason for this besides how I maybe am a monster who pisses a mixture of coffee and rage, ruining all the things you like in my desire to be iconoclastic. I don't think I purposely want to be a contrarian asshole though because I love plenty of stuff that that is popular and well-liked by everyone (I love me some, "Saga," as does everyone else). Why then, don't I like, "Sex Criminals?"

I seriously don't know what my problem is. I am generally a fan of Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky is a stellar artist (and not a bad writer either), the concept sounds so amazing--people who stop time when they orgasm rob banks and then other madness ensues--and the silly 4th-printing cover for the comic where the creators pose whilst holding the first-printing has to be the most adorable thing ever:

How come I'm not head-over-heels in love with this series? I read the 1st trade and just felt this overwhelming sense of indifference. It has occurred to me that perhaps I should read the 2nd collection but if I don't enjoy that it will only confirm what I suspect--that, "Sex Criminals" just ain't for me. This is a hard thing to admit because when I state that to people who know the weird kind of comics I like their eyes go wide and they say, "What? Isn't that exactly your kind of comic?" which I believe means they think I am a weirdo, but I understand where they are coming from. The answer is that when described aloud, "Sex Criminals," does seem to sound like what I'd love, but after the pen has been put to paper and I've read some issues...yeah, just not feeling it.

I feel better having confessed this, and hope you don't judge me too harshly. After all, I bet you too have a comic that folk tell you is perfect for your tastes, yet upon reading it you found it unimpressive. Even if I can't place what exactly the problem is with, "Sex Criminals," that results in me feeling horribly uninterested in the book, I know that is how I feel, and being honest and open about it has really helped just now. Plus, if I want to read a book that discusses sex a lot I always have the amazingly weird, "Sex," by Joe Casey and Piotr Kowlalsi to turn to.