SEX is good. SEX is very good! Puns not withstanding, it truly is. Joe Casey’s book is a great read with great characters who are all a bit off and deeply complex. With a story based around sex, or at the very least, the very unabashed approach this title takes toward it, is interesting and exciting if at times a little ambiguous.

Official description from IMAGE:

Simon Cooke’s future may be wide open, but the past is hot on his tail! This is the perfect time to pay for SEX! It’s even better than you think!

By issue number three writer Joe Casey is hammering home the base of all the characters. Simon is growing ever deeper into depression, isolation and regret. He hates where is life is going and the constant reflection on his superhero past makes him increasingly distant. Annabelle reveals the true excitement and passion she has for her villain/hero battles of the past with Simon in more ways than one and in explicit detail. The Old Man is, simply put, dangerous and violent with zero moral compass plus a taste for torture. Keenan holds information that puts not only himself in danger and but is deadly to others as the Alpha Brothers demonstrate mere pages later. Where the story goes next is the big mystery. We know the players well so what’s the overall game?

Casey writing is bold and unflinching. He treats sex with the same as a board meeting. Part of life and without shame. So while the sex and violence is graphic it also suits the tone of the book and doesn’t use either for cheap shock value. Truly great writing rises above the gratuitous and SEX is that good. Piotr Kowalski’s art is as above the fray as the writing and is gorgeous to view. The lines are clean and slick making even the most violent of acts palatable while clinging tightly to the edge of darkness that this story skates.

SEX is ready for it’s next act and based on what’s come before it’s going to be big, intriguing and complex. While that may seem daunting it will also be as much fun as SEX can possibly be. With Casey and Kowalski leading the way your satisfaction is guaranteed.

5/5