SEX CRIMINALS! DAREDEVIL DESIGNS!
A brand new collection for Sex Criminals' (jesus christ) 10th anniversary??
You (perverts) asked for it (begged like dogs), so here it is! Finally, after ten long years, all of SEX CRIMINALS is being collected into one big ol’ floppy bad boy!
SEX CRIMINALS: THE COMPLETE EDITION!
The Image press release is here, but obviously the most important part is my quote:
“Sex Criminals is the book that changed my life. Matt made me draw a lot of penises and now I write Batman,” said Zdarsky. “I’m genuinely excited to have the entire story all together in one volume. Finally, it’s a graphic novel and not just some filthy comic!"
I joke, I joke, but for real? I really wanted the story all together in one format, like a novel. There’s no muss, no fuss in this edition. It’s just the story and a small afterword interview between me and Matt. I know there will be some people who want an OMNIBUS with a fancy hard cover and every little thing associated with the book, but we have the three volumes of BIG HARD SEX CRIMINALS for that.
This edition is for READING. Something you can hand to someone and say “here’s the whole story from these two morons.” It’s 720 pages and, while I haven’t seen a copy yet, I’m assuming this is how it looks:
But wait! That’s not all! Retailers can also order SIGNED BOOKPLATES when they order a minimum of five gargantuan copies!
Obviously I’m very happy that this edition is coming out. I’ve done all right for myself since SEX CRIMINALS, but nothing I’ve ever done has come close to this book. Matt and I worked incredibly hard on it, it connected with people more than anything I’ll ever do, and I think it’s actually a really good book?? I think also it’s easier for me to love a book when I didn’t write it?! Something to talk to my therapist about maybe??
The only upsetting thing about this coming out is the horrific passage of time:
That’s ten years of comics right there.
Anyway! Tell your retailer you want one and maybe they can order enough to get bookplates! Orders are due on MONDAY!!! AHHHH!!
Oh, also, how did it take us ten goddamn years to come up with this tagline:
We’re idiots.
YES
Hey! Our idiocy pays for your therapy!
Okay! Enough of that “indie shit”!!! Here’s some DAREDEVIL RETROSPECTIVING!
I’ve talked before about how amazing Marco Checchetto was on the book. His beautiful rendering, his awesome action, he’s the real deal. But his character designs are his true superpower! When we started on our second volume of Daredevil, I gave him this task in the script:
3.1 CLOSE on DD, looking at us, in a BLACK ROOM. We’re going to be updating Matt’s costume design for the RED FIST stuff, so let’s start thinking about that here. We don’t need to stray too far from what we have, but he’s a leader now, with a bit more armor parts, not enough to slow him down though. Maybe he has a bit of fabric somewhere like Elektra does. The big update should be that he has some black parts to his costume now. Maybe his nose is covered now?
This is our big chance to create an amazing Daredevil design that will live forever!
Anyway, back to the panel: If we can put enough of the DD helmet in shadow here so we can fully reveal it at the end, that would be great. As long as we get DD’s RED EYES still. Also, do we want a beard on Matt? I think that would be good. It’ll help cement that this is the future.
And, in no time, this was his response with first attempts:
Some studies for the new DD.
- Look similar to ElektraDD with some black parts: DD symbol, lateral body, fists bandages (they will be very choreographic in black), and belt.
- Removable black mask (the same mechanic of Elektra’s scarf). He looks more menacing.
- The batons could be a staff with retractable blades or two Katana (just to fight and kill Hand’s undead), now we are in Elektra’s territory, right?
- Matt with long beard and no sunglasses.
Incredibly cool and dark! And my response:
I love the idea of using the Elektra elements! That’s super cool! I’d prefer to not cover his mouth though, as we’ll need him to yell a lot, and we want to show off his beard! I know it’s removable, but I’m not sure that makes as much sense, unless it dangles around Mat’’s neck like a covid mask when he’s not wearing it!
So let’s push the helmet part some more, and the neck, maybe some longer horns. Overall the costume should feel slightly more armored. He’s the leader of The Fist now. It should feel like the guy you follow into battle!
Instead of murdering me, Marco sent this:
Costume update:
I’d like to avoid armor like Batman/DD TV series/DD 90years.
Something like this?
Urban/Ninja and I really like the idea of the baton/spear it looks cool for a battle commander.
Like, he NAILED IT. Amazing. I had one small suggestion with a doodle though because I can’t help myself:
Yes!! Agreed! This is great!
Maybe the arms could be black and the arm wraps red? (I may be wrong!)
Marco liked the idea of the bandages staying black, so in the end he did them as a bit of a red/black mix, which looked great. With that he went to the final design:
It’s so damn good. It feels both classic and modern, which is a hard thing to pull off. Seeing fans dressed in both this and the Elektra DD costume at conventions is surreal and awesome. I think Marco should be in charge of all costume redesigns. He can do anything! I mean he even made Doc Ock cool!
Amazing.
UPCOMING BOOKS
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #2 — Jan 31
BATMAN #142 — Feb 6
BATMAN #143 — Feb 13
BATMAN #144 — Feb 20
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #3 — Feb 28
NEWBURN #15 — Feb 28
BATMAN #145 — Mar 5
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #4 — Mar 13
NEWBURN #16 — Mar 27
BATMAN #146 — April 2
UPCOMING SIGNINGS
EMERALD CITY COMIC CON — Feb 29 - Mar 3
I was going to go buy the sex criminals book - but you put a picture of doc ock at the end of the post and now I can't stop buying marvel books, please help, the store is running out of books and I am deeply in the red
Finally sat down with Avengers: Twilight and, well, it shook me some. I once joked with you a while back that you should write Captain America and, at least in issue 1, you did. And it's great. But it really got to me, for reasons maybe too long to go into in a comment, so here's a very sloppy, condensed version:
I know this is a safe space where we can talk about penises and vibrators, but politics tends to be trickier? I wear my left-leaning proclivities on my sleeve, so it's unsettling that Hydra and Red Skull are no longer stand-ins for Nazis; there's no need to be metaphorical or allegorical. We're actually talking about Nazis today. We're talking about history being re-written/re-framed.
Anyway ... Captain America, like Superman, is just one of those characters onto whom we can project how feel and act. This first issue felt real, and not in the way way Bendis would do real but actually contemporary and relevant. (J.M. is doing similar smart things on the main Captain America title, but this hit close to home.) Maybe because I've had these eerily same conversations with my wife (minus, you know, super-soldier serum!), but this didn't exactly feel like projection but a mirroring. A salient take on a lot of private conversations probably already happening -- even though you pitched this like eons ago! So, yeah, good stuff and thanks.
Oh, and Daniel's art! Can't say enough, though I probably just did! :)