Chew Volume 1: Tasters Choice Author: John Layman | Language: English | ISBN:
1607061597 | Format: PDF
Chew Volume 1: Tasters Choice Description
- Series: Chew (Book 1)
- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Image Comics; 1ST edition (December 8, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1607061597
- ISBN-13: 978-1607061595
- Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
- Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
"Chew" is easily one of 2009's best new on-going comic series. John Layman and Rob Guillory are masters of their craft. "Chew" is warped, offbeat, crazy, hilarious and above all.. brilliant. It's character-driven with a perfect balance of action, suspense and laugh-out-loud humor. The intersection of styles is rather self-aware; absurdity meets cop drama meets cannibalism. The series is well written, and the art is as splendidly unique and creative as the story's premise.
"Taster's Choice" is an introduction to the unusual world and people Layman and Guillory have created. "Chew" stars Tony Chu; he's a police detective and a "cibopath," meaning he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats, aside from beets that is. Chu is recruited by the FDA, which has now become the most powerful law-enforcement branch of the United States government, due to a bird flu pandemic that actually lead to the illegalization of all poultry. The FDA needs Tony to solve mysteries and murders with his special ability. Unfortunately for our protagonist, this usually involves eating incredibly gross things.
Tony isn't the only interesting character in the series, nor is he the only cibopath. Savoy, another agent for the FDA is also a cibopath, and he's Tony's new partner. He's also full of great surprises. Tony's new boss is a rather mean and hateful personality, who seems to only enjoy himself when giving Tony an extremely hard time. There's also a love interest, but this story arc is more focused on laying the foundation for the story and defining each of the character's role, so Tony's crush will have to wait.
Layman's writing style is quick, charming and a bit sarcastic.
Meet Tony Chu. He is a cibopath, which is a fancy name for his ability of getting psychic impressions when he eats things. For instance when he eats an apple, he sees where it was picked, what pesticides were used on it, what tree it came from, etc. You can probably see why he doesn't like to eat meat, considering what he would see with every bite. The only food that doesn't leave a psychic impression is beets. After being caught eating a serial killer that killed himself instead of confessing his crimes, Tony was roped into working for the FDA, investigating some of the most bizarre crimes. This isn't the FDA of today; it has become the most powerful government law enforcement organization. This is because there was a bird flu that killed literally millions of people. This, of course, means that chicken is outlawed. Many people, including Tony's brother, believe this flu is just a cover for government nastiness. Will Tony stumble onto the truth behind the flu? Will he be able to restrain himself from killing his horrible, horrible boss?
I really love this graphic novel. I first heard about it from a friend a while ago and was intrigued about the cibopath concept. I had no idea that it was actually a dystopic story. (I am such a sucker for those.) The story starts off in a very funny way. Tony and his idiotic police partner are staking out a chicken speakeasy to capture a murderer. The fact that chicken is outlawed really cracked me up, until later in the book when you find that they probably killed millions of people. There were so many things that made me laugh and were also very dark. If you have a twisted sense of humor, this is definitely a read for you.
This novel was a mixture of so many things: crime drama, futuristic dystopia, romance, comedy, and action.
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