Reviews 

“Chew” #1

By | April 9th, 2020
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

You know what I hate most about this particular time of social distancing and quarantine? Not being able to eat out. Sure, food delivery is a thing, but I don’t want to add $10 plus tip to the price of my food and cooking for myself is such a chore. Also, while the governments of the world are doing their level best to try to put a cap on this whole mess, it is kind of scary to see empty streets being patrolled by police and soldiers in the name of public safety.

Anyway, here’s a comic about the aftermath of a massive plague, where the government has put strict regulations on what people can and cannot eat, and FDA agents patrol the streets for illegal food vendors all while uncovering a massive conspiracy that winds up resulting in dozens of bodies to be buried, dug up, and eaten in order to get to the truth.

Yeah, despite the fact that this came out in 2009 this comic isn’t relevant at all.

Cover by: Rob Guillory
Written and lettered by John Layman
Illustrated and colored by Rob Guillory

From Image Comics. Tony Chu is a cop with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he’s a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn’t mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why. It’s a dirty job, and Tony has to eat terrible things in the name of justice. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the government has figured out Tony Chu’s secret. They have plans for him… whether he likes it or not. Presenting a twisted new series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants, written by John Layman (Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness, House of M: Fantastic Four and Puffed) with mind-blowing art by astonishing comics newcomer Rob Guillory.

“Chew” #1 opens in a world where a mysterious strain of bird flu has killed 23 million people. As a result, the United States government has banned the production and sale of any all chicken products. No more scrambled eggs, no more chicken soup, and no more fried chicken. Funnily enough, it turns out living in a world where chicken is outlawed is a world where only outlaws have chicken, resulting in a newly empowered Food and Drug Administration having to go to war with a newly empowered poultry black market and all the crime and violence that entails.

If this is sounding suspiciously like a thinly veiled critique of the American drug war, don’t worry the comic makes the comparison for you.

Into this whole mess steps former Philadelphia cop turned FDA agent Tony Chu. He’s cibopathic, which means he can learn things about the food he eats. For example, if he eats an apple he can learn about where it was grown and who picked it. If he eats a steak well, let’s just say he doesn’t enjoy eating meat. In the case of “Chew” #1 his little talent serves him well in accidentally discovering a serial killer working as a sous chef in an underground chicken speakeasy.

This delightful little premise of “Chew” #1 is brought to us by writer John Layman, who had previously cut his teeth in the comic industry as an editor for Wildstorm before writing books for Marvel and eventually moving on to his magnum opus at Image: Chew. “Chew” #1 is a fantastic bit of comic book storytelling in every possible way. Despite the over the top premise and the disgusting implications of a cop who has to eat people in the name of justice, the world building feels natural and relevant. While the idea of something as innocent as chicken being declared illegal and the resulting poultry black market induced violence, you only have to go back to American Prohibition in the 1920’s to realize that it probably isn’t that far fetched. On top of all of that, Tony Chu is a great character with a great supporting cast. Layman plays around and acknowledges all the traditional tropes of a police procedural. Chu is the straight laced, but the numbers cop who believes in the work he is doing while his partner is a more loose cannon type who isn’t afraid to bend the rules for his benefit, right up until the moment where he gets a cleaver to the face and is taken out of action. Meanwhile, the comic introduces Chu’s future partner, the well-spoken and incredibly capable FDA Agent Savoy. On a macro level, Layman has a great sense of pacing, his dialogue is equal parts witty and meaningful, and he does an amazing job of making “Chew” #1 a fantastic stand alone issue while laying the foundation for a sixty issue series filled with even more violence, intrigue, humor, and even more strange abilities centered around food.

The artwork of “Chew” #1 comes from Rob Guillory. In fact, this was Guillory’s debut comic book title, and as first tries go, it’s a great one. Guillory has a very exaggerated and cartoony style that would probably be more at home in a book for children. However, “Chew” #1 is most certainly a book for much older readers with strong stomachs and Guillory is given the job of creating a book where, and this cannot be stressed enough, the good guy has to literally eat people. Guillory’s greatest strength is drawing the faces of the characters, which are unbelievably expressive and convey tons of information about the inner thoughts of each character without forcing the writing to spell it out for the reader. After that, the artwork takes the gory premise of its story and runs with it. This is a dark world filled with chefs, food, and murder and the blood and gore flows liberally in “Chew” #1, although thanks to Guillory’s art it isn’t scary or terrifying. In fact, the cartoonish vibe of the art goes a long way towards highlighting the humor of the situation. Finally, on a broader level, the artwork has a fantastic sense of pacing and knows when the story needs a massive double page spread of dozens of tiny panels or a three panel page to focus on some important piece of information.

“Chew” #1 is a fantastic, high energy, gory, messy, chaotic, and glorious introduction to one of Image’s best modern titles and one of my favorite comics of all time. Just…don’t eat anything before you start reading.


Matthew Blair

Matthew Blair hails from Portland, Oregon by way of Attleboro, Massachusetts. He loves everything comic related, and will talk about it for hours if asked. He also writes a web comic about a family of super villains which can be found here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Secret-Lives-of-Villains

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