Chew #4 Gets Weirder

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Reviews, Image Comics,

UPDATE: You can now find the correct translation on Guillory’s blog.

Following up an issue where our protagonist finds love in the midst of ubiquitous regurgitation (among other delightful surprises) would be difficult. That is, of course, unless you’re John Layman and Rob Guillory.

Chew #4 begins with an expected and humorous Applebee-loathing-Chu scene; yet, the rest of the issue takes a path dissimilar from what we’ve seen in this series so far, quelling any doubts (if there were any) that Layman and Guillory can’t keep us interested. In a very Lost fashion, the last issue gave us Amelia, E.G.G., and the creepy guy with a box, only to leave us to our theories as this issue produces a number of different, unrelated (or not?) questions.

This issue, despite my not thinking it possible, gets so much stranger and weirder, making for a very scrumptious read.

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Chew #2 Delivers a Tasty Treat

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Reviews, Image Comics,

With a prologue closely resembling any fast food customer’s and/or employee’s worst nightmare, I had a feeling that the Chew duo wouldn’t let us down in this second issue.

It’s resident cibopath Tony Chu’s first day on the job at the FDA, and his first order of business is to take a bite out of a decomposed finger. And you thought that your first day of work was bad?

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Chew #1 Sells Out in Two Days

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Image Comics,

After withholding some amazing news for over a week, Chew artist Rob Guillory was finally able to thank everyone on his Twitter page today. Turns out that the great news was that the first printing of Chew sold out in two days, despite what Image claimed was a “significant overprint.”

Writer John Layman retains his quirky humor when thanking his fans: “I’ve been insisting for years that the comic book industry has been clamoring for more books with double page spreads of non-costumed characters eating soup, and it’s gratifying to see there indeed is a robust market for such a book. Big thanks to everybody—retailers, readers and reviewers—who came out in such shocking numbers to check out something new and different, and more than a little bit weird.”

As reviewed last week, Chew is a very dark and humorous new take on the detective genre. John Layman and Rob Guillory tell us the tale of Detective Tony Chu, a man of the law who receives psychic impressions from eating (the term is “cibopathic”).

Due to the extinction of the first printing, Chew‘s second printing is scheduled for release on July 1st, the same day Chew #2 comes out.

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Image Serves Up a Promising Dish with Chew

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Reviews, Image Comics,

Ever since last month’s issue of The Walking Dead gave me a taste of John Layman’s humorously grotesque story, Chew, I have been counting down the days more vehemently than I do for Whedon comics (that’s saying a lot). After all, Robert Kirkman doesn’t put a preview of just any comic behind his widely-worshiped zombie saga.

Within minutes of immersing myself into Layman’s fiction, I instantly found myself actively falling for the cynical, cibopathic (psychic abilities that come from eating) Tony Chu. Forced to stick to beet consumption (the only food from which he doesn’t receive psychic sensations) most of the time, Tony serves as a police officer in an alternate America where chicken is illegal. The poultry prohibition works in his favor until he and his partner begin to unearth an FDA secret that conflicts with their department’s objectives.

In seeking out one suspect, a bite of chicken and vegetable soup reveals that there is yet another murderer within their proximity. It is here that Tony commences his sprint down the rabbit hole.

Although I wait the thirty days for just about every comic I follow, Chew was genuinely worth the wait.

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