I have been real up and down on this title for many months with some areas being real good and others being not so good. I just haven't been able to make you my mind. The one thing for sure that I know after reading issue eleven however, is that there is one really big thing missing from this issue. That missing thing is sex. There are some before and some after, but no actual in the act sex scenes here. And, I think that is what makes this issue really good. It is possibly the best of the series so far. At least, that is how I came out feeling when I finished reading it. Usually, I feel. Just dirty. Not this time. It was good. Without all the shock value, you focus on the story. And there is beginning to be a good story in there behind all the boobs, butts, and penises. I'm starting to see Sex as a sad tale of the fall of a superhero as well as the fall of a man. That man, being one Simon Cooke aka The Armored Saint. Cooke has traded in his spandex for leather and has been exploring his freaky side since leaving the crime fighting world. The reader has been sent down one seriously lubed up wormhole of decadence, repression, and thoughts on what it means to be a man whether criminal or good. Apparently the two sides aren't too terribly different. Maybe the bad might be a little crazier, but not much different. All the people here have jobs time do and all deal with hazards of said jobs. During this issue, Cooke confronts his former sidekick after running into him in the last issue. The exchange is heated and Joe Casey writes a wickedly good script here. Further along, exchanges occurring after some incidents with our resident bad guys and with Cooke's staff. Being displayed all through are some deep and heady issues involving city control in one way shape or form. Seems like all of our characters have a stake.
I really enjoyed Casey's script in this installment as we are beginning to see directions in which all of our characters are heading. Their destination has been ambiguous for the most part. But with each issue, clarity is being tuned in, and a big collision course is being set up for the future. Piotr Kowalski is blowing up the art blending the majestic world of good and evil. The action is well done and and I think he goes into a deep level where the best looking and the charismatic are the ones who look empty. While the disgusting ones (i.e. The Old Man) look horrible, but they exude an inner strength compared to our much more polished persons.
Sex has had me on the post for awhile, but I am starting to turn to the positive side on my thoughts. I'm getting into it and am ready to flow down that lubed up wormhole some more.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Joe Casey Artist: Piotr Kowalski Publisher: Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 2/26/14