Newsletter #35: #69
"Hey, I have an idea for a comic"
If you’ve ever heard me or Matt on a podcast or at a convention, then you know the story. I was working at a newspaper, but itching to make comics. Matt was winding down at Marvel, and itching to make his own comics. We were friends, we were fans of each others’ work, so why not do something together?
Sex Criminals was a joke at first. We’d be gross and funny and make a thing that no one would read. But after our late night phone calls talking through the characters and story, talking about our sexual histories, about the loves of our lives, it changed. It became a story about sex and relationships and real people punctuated by gross and funny. At the time, we thought we were making something that no one would read. If you came for the gross and funny you’d be turned off by the heartfelt; if you came for the heartfelt, well … you just wouldn’t show up in the first place. The book was called Sex Criminals after all.
Matt said to me one night, “You know we’re only going to get three issues, right? And that we’ll have to beg Image to get to five issues so we can have a collection?” Of course. That’s the only way it could have gone, I thought. A book for no one except Matt and myself, who’d both already fallen in love with our own characters before we even started on issue two.
And now here we are, seven years later, 31 issues later, both of our lives changed immeasurably because of this little comic we made for each other.
Matt and I have traveled the world together because of this book, met countless readers who were all filled with beautiful stories of their own. We went from being friends to being best friends, doing our damndest to make each other laugh with scripts and art. Matt taught me to write comics through giving me a glimpse at his process, through reading his amazing scripts issue after issue. I genuinely have no idea where I’d be without him in my life.
Today the final issue comes out. Drawing these characters for the last time was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but damn it was nice being able to send them off into the sunset.
In the final issue Matt handled the massive task of thanking everyone who made this journey happen, but I just wanted to take a moment to spotlight two of my favourite people in the world.
Tiffy and Alex didn’t know each other before Sex Criminals, but were both game to swing by my studio one night so I could take reference photos of them for my weird new sex book. Since then, our photo shoot nights were things I looked forward to more than anything. Some drinks, some takeout food, some compromising photos, and catching up with two of the best humans I know, issue after issue. So much of the characters come from these two beautiful people: their smiles, their gestures, their warmth, their ludicrous height difference. I love you Tiffy, I love you Alex. Thanks for everything.
And then there’s Matt, the greatest person I know. There’s a reason we all fall in love with his characters. It’s because he feels things and understands people on a level that would be scary to most of us if we were in his shoes. The love and care he gives fictional people is only dwarfed by the love and care he gives to those lucky enough to know him. He’s shown me how to be a better person, but in my heart of hearts I know I could never be as wonderful a human as he is.
Chum, I love you. Thanks for the trip.
Sex Criminals #69, the final issue, is out today.
photo by Ed Peterson