Review - Chew Volume 1; Tasters choice.

Review by Paul Fiander
“Food Glorious Food” as the song goes, can sometimes be true and other times be a complete lie. We have all had a meal which was R.A.F. (Rough as F@#k) or one which was so good it was almost orgasmic (maybe that’s just me). I’m a food nut as you may have guessed from the last sentence, I take pride in the ability of my taste buds but they cannot even compare to those of Tony Chu. This is because Mr Chu is a Cibopath and everything you thought you knew about food is about to be blown away.
A Cibopath has the ability to get memories and feelings from everything he eats (except Beets oddly). We all try to disassociate ourselves from what we eat but Tony’s curse is that he can never enjoy a decent meal as he is always bombarded with the harrowing tale of how his food ended up on the plate. Thankfully though there is an avenue where this rather odd ability can be utilised for the “greater good” and that’s the FDA. In the not too distant future an Avian Flu outbreak has rendered the sale of chicken illegal. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) are an oddly powerful faction in the government and their special crime division is the top department. It feels odd that the control of chicken should be afforded such prominence butt that is part of the charm of the story.

Genre wise Chew is a crime story you get to see investigations and a modified type of interrogation. At times the story can be brutal and gut wrenching but above all the humour shines through. This is especially apparent in Rob Guillory’s art; his character models are cartoony but also reflect the personality of the people they depict. His action work though is as fluid as you will see and this is hammered home when we see Savoy in action. The book is also coloured by Guillory and he has no worries about using the full extent of his colour palette, the mix of soft tones when Tony is in Cibopath mode compared to the vibrancy of other scenes make the art pop.

Character wise Chu is ably supported by a few stand out figures, chief among these is the aforementioned Savoy, but perhaps the most intriguing is Amelia Mintz. Like Tony she is different but her power has the ability to shock readers as she is a Saboscrivner. I will let you find out what this is for yourselves, but suffice to say it shows that John Layman has a very interesting take on the world of Chew.

This collection compromises the first five issues and when you are finished you will feel that you have certainly got value for money. There is very little (as in virtually none) back matter present but truthfully I did not mind. If you fancy something a little different in the Crime genre then Chew may be the series to tuck into.

Issue Rating 4.5/5
The Comic is available in both print and digital from Image comics. 

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Images courtesy of Image Comics
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