The wait is over! Tony Chu and The Collector in the epic cibopath battle for the ages. Was it worth the wait? I think you know the answer to that…
Written by John Layman
Illustrated by Rob GuilloryThe landmark issue #50, and the showdown everyone’s been waiting for.
Wow, #50 for a book that should have never worked. On paper, “Chew” is one of those wild ideas that sounds like a child wrote it. Could this actually last 60 issues? That was the first question I had. Make no mistake, this book grabbed me right from the beginning. It had humor, heart and a fantastic story.
All of those elements come together here in the closing of the “Blood Pudding” arc. As we have come to expect from “Chew”, there will be humorous elements and plenty of gross out art. However this time we actually get less humor and gross out art and more action. John Layman & Rob Guillory have once again found the perfect balance of making all these elements work for a great issue.
The opening pages are a nice little setup for The Collector’s side of the fight. He has amassed an army to fight alongside him and like any good general he is preparing them for battle. It is clear that this is a suicide mission for The Collector’s supporters. But he assures them serving with him in battle is the greatest honor they could ever have. There is an excellent “Last Supper” style panel that calls back to the cover of issue #15, which is a wonderful way to showcase what is about to happen.
Of course when Tony arrives, all we see is the aftermath. Layman likes to toy with us…I mean, did he really think we didn’t want to see all of The Collector’s men get slaughtered? Sadly, we do not get to see it. However, this mistake is made up for when the battle between the two behemoth cipopaths begin. Typically, Rob Guillory litters the background with a lot of fun stuff to draw your attention away from the action going on. This is just not any battle though. He focuses on the action and it is a surprising turn for a book known for its humor. Guillory is on point here once again. The moves are fluid and the focus is clean. He really does convey the weight of this battle by how important is to the both of them.
There is a small glimpse into how Tony got to this point. For any current reader you already know where this was heading. Thankfully, Layman does not waste any time explaining it. He gets right to the point and moves to his next act. I wanted to highlight this because it would have been very easy to spell everything out that has been hinted at for 50 issues. Would this have worked? I think so. For a book like “Chew” a lot of unexpected things work. It becomes clear Layman is not interested in retreading too much. The end game is in sight.
This is a bold move for the “Chew” boys. The focus is exclusively on Tony and The Collector. There are other plot points that are brought up during the fight to give you a very good idea of where the story is heading. Wisely, this is not a call back issue. Sure there are plenty of opportunities to do so. But Layman & Guillory make sure that this is an epic fight that lives up to the hype.
Once the battle is over we get a fantastic fake out epilogue with the loser and a certain avian friend in hell. For my money, holding the humor until the end was a smart move. Now we get to see Guillory in his full gross out mode. He has funny details all over the place. The sharp humor undercuts the seriousness of the earlier pages. And it is beyond fun. If there was ever a perfect point to show someone what this book is about, it is right here.
Continued belowAs if this book did not have a lot going already, there is one final page that brings it all home. I am not going to spoil it for you here. I will say this though, it is shocking and unexpected. For those who were paying attention to this arc it is a premonition that comes true. Considering all the fun that was had, this is a gut punch. Rightfully so. This should whet the appetite for fans worried that the book was stutter towards the end. Trust me on this one, we are good.
The best part about this issue is Layman & Guillory painted themselves into a corner and decided to blow the wall out. While I expect a few plot points to get wrapped up in the next arc, I have no idea how it is going to end. All things considered they have done a fantastic job with everything up to this point. All for a book that should have never worked on paper. I am sad to see it go. However, I cannot wait for this to end.
Final Verdict: 8.9 – The build was worth the wait and the set up for what is to come is awesome. The final 10 issues are going to be the best the book has been.
