Sex Criminals #28: The Cruelty in the Kink

Sex Criminals #28 finally begins to bring the overarching narrative to a head, as many long-standing questions are at last answered. Kuber Badal’s schemes – and, ah, full-frontal nudity – are all laid bare. There may not be much Suzie can do to stop this deluded madman, nor even talk sense into him.

There’s not much of an emotional arc this issue, although Suzie wrestling with the implications of Badal’s plan comes closest. Not much is made of Badal killing her father, but at this point, she’s so bewildered, she’s scarcely had time to process the revelation. The real star of this issue’s story is Badal himself, who, through sheer determination, becomes one of comics’ all-time great creeps. His entire world is build on inflicting cruelty – usually sexual, sometimes not – on those around him, for the furthering of his own ends.

Having somehow seen a vision of Suzie during his revelatory climax in the past, he believes her to be God (capital G or not), who delivered a message to him. Suzie, of course, isn’t a god – but that doesn’t stop Bidal from believing it anyway. It’s a surreal turn of events, one that puts Suzie on a collision course that started with a simple closed library and is ending with the top of a skyscraper exploding.

Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky are the kinky-comics answer to Lee and Kirby. Despite Zdarsky’s rising star as a writer and Fraction’s retreat from the spotlight, there’s an undeniable creative energy between these two. Together, they’ve produced one of the most unique, complex, and emotionally resonant comics to come out in the last decade. It may be almost closing time for this book, but it’s never been a better time to check this book out!