Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Chew #1
Image Comics
Layman & Guillory
Chew is a comic with a unique central storyline and some fast and witty dialogue. It’s backed up with very impressive and distinct artwork. For a new series to mix together all of this with a fresh concept, you’d be hard pressed to think this series won’t see some very good success. However, the trick is convincing someone to give it try. I ignored dozens of signs about this series prior to the launch before stumbling upon it and enjoying every page of it. I’m urging you to read this is if you have room in your budget. You’ve probably never see anything like it.
The story is simple and strange. Tony Chu is a cop with an odd power that allows him to eat something and see everything that the thing has been through or crossed paths with. So if he eats an apple he knows where, when and how the tree grew, who picked the apple and what it is sprayed with and by whom. And on and on.
The world Tony lives in sees poultry outlawed due to the bird flu. This puts him, with his partner, on a stakeout of a chicken speakeasy. Once there he walks in on a serial killer.
The story is a mixture of science fiction and super hero-like powers. The gimmick is cool, but that isn’t what makes this comic good. It’s good because it’s written and drawn very well.
The story has only two main characters, Tony and his partner, Colby. They aren’t the best of friends, but their interaction is laugh out loud funny. There are a couple of other supporting characters that provide some hysterical moments, such as Tony’s Captain, when he details the crime scene that Tony was involved in. Each scene in the comic, no matter how intense or graphic, has some very funny moments in it.
The artwork has a manga feel to it, but it has a quirky side to it that makes it undeniably charming. There is a double page spread of some 400 small squares that help outline how Tony sees things when his power kicks in after he eats. It’s a tremendous piece of art even if many of the squares are duplicates or blanks. The art also plays with some gore very well, as someone takes a meat cleaver to the face. Tremendously fun art in this entire issue.
I had a printed preview for this issue in the back of Walking Dead #61 and ignored it. I saw the preview on several websites and passed over them. I finally read an interview the day before the issue shipped and I was intrigued enough to pick it up in the store and I immediately liked it. After reading I can wholly recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different. The real question is whether or not it can sustain a monthly schedule with the same person handling all the art (pencils, inking and coloring). It will also be interesting to see if the stories and dialogue can continue to top the gimmick, a la Walking Dead with the survival of the group over the zombies. This is a comic worth picking up.
4 out of 5 geek goggles
