Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick Are Bringing ‘Sex Criminals’ to Television

Few comic book writers are as hot right now as husband-and-wife team Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick, so it’s not all that surprising that the couple has signed a deal with Universal to develop their work into television shows. What is a little surprising is that this duo found their success creating deeply personal and wildly experimental comics, which means that some of the best comic book writers working today are going to adapt some of the best comics currently being published. This could be something special.

The news comes to us via Deadline, who say that Fraction and DeConnick will also develop original concepts alongside adaptations of their work. First on their plate, however, is an series based on Fraction’s Sex Criminals, which he co-created with artist Chip Zdarksy. The critically lauded, award-winning series is the definition of NSFW, following a couple who realize that they can freeze time when they orgasm. What follows isn’t just a sci-fi heist story, but an all-too-real and brutally honest examination of sexuality and compatibility in relationships. Oh, and it’s really, really funny. It’s the kind of comic that is so good that it demands a movie or TV adaptation while simultaneously being too bizarre and raw to ever catch the eye of a major network or studio. Or so we thought.

The article doesn’t reveal what else is a priority for Fraction and DeConnick, but they have plenty of options. Fraction has also written the Hollywood noir Satellite Sam, a gender-swapped science fiction take on The Odyssey called ODY-C, and the trippy sci-fi spy series Casanova. DeConnick is responsible for the horror Western Pretty Deadly and the brand-new-but-promising Bitch Planet, which follows the inmates incarcerated in an all-female space prison for acting out in a patriarchal dystopia. That’s one of the strongest creator-owned libraries in comics today.

Although both writers have their fair of experience working on superhero stories (DeConnick’s Captain Marvel is wonderful and Fraction’s about-to-end Hawkeye run has been nothing short of astounding), it’s refreshing to see their independent work get recognized in a landscape dominated by masks and capes. There are tons of crummy comics with great loglines Universal could have pursued. Instead, they went and got two of the most talented people working in comics to help bring their weird and wonderful work to the screen. This is promising and exciting news.