News: John Layman to write Detective Comics!

So the other day, while I was recovering from my July 4th celebrations, DC announced that they had selected their new writer and artist team for Detective Comics.  Much to my surprise, they went and named John Layman of Chew fame as the Dark Knight's new writer...Holy fucking wild card choice Batman!

Layman takes over with issue #13 and follows up writer/artist Tony S. Daniel whose run on the DCnU Detective Comics I could only tolerate about three issues of.  So, even though this is Layman's first real crack at mainstream big two comics, I'm thinking it's a positive turn of events.

Layman had this to say about the announcement:

"Obviously, this is a happily surreal and exciting turn-of-events for my career. Not only is this my first work within the DC Universe, but I get to work on one of DC’s undisputedly coolest and highest-profile characters. I’m going to take a look at the role of criminal organizations within Gotham City, hopefully from a perspective that does not get considered very often (if at all). From the symbiotic relationship a master criminal must have with Gotham in order to survive, to the lowly, often faceless criminal underling hoping to rise up the ranks. All that, plus Batman’s gonna play with a bunch of crazy new toys and kick all kinds of butt."

Joining him on the art front will be Jason Fabok, who I'm pretty sure has done some Batman art before, but I'm not positive, and I'm too lazy to look it up.  Either way, judging from that sweet cover, which features one of my favorite bat-villains, The Penguin, he looks like an improvement over Daniel's 90's style art which I wasn't a fan of.  


I gotta say, John Layman as the new Detective Comics writer seems like a total wild-card choice, but I think there's a very good chance he'll infuse some much needed life into a character who, though I love him, can be mishandled at the best of times.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Layman has in store for Batman.

Sources: John Layman's Facebook Page and DC Comics.

Comic Quickies Double Your Pleasure

Well, I'm still way behind on comic reviews, and as new comics come in each week, I seem to get even more behinder behind.  So this week I'll focus on three titles but give the rundown for two issues of each title.  Up first: Axe Cop!

Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth #'s 2 and 3: Axe Cop is probably the hardest comic to write a review about because so much random, inane, insane, and hilarious stuff happens in each issue it is hard to talk about a few and have things still make sense.

Basically, in Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth, Axe Cop and his team are trying to save the world from being turned into a bad guy world. And they do that by time traveling back to the time of dinosaurs.  With me so far?  Yeah, amongst other wild and weird happenings there's a trip to the year Zero Thousand and Zero, some insanely epic battles between good and evil, a magician riding a gorilla riding a lion, and a jillion bladed blue diamond sword. 

Though the second issue in this three part series felt lacking in the usual Axe Cop magic, the third and final issue had everything you could ever want and more from an Axe Cop comic.  What blows my mind about the Bad Guy Earth story line is how random, and frayed the story seemed to be, but somehow, and with great humor managed to pull everything together for a great ending, and with an amazing lack of story or plot holes.  Dare I say Brilliant?

If you haven't treated yourself yet, I urge you, nay, command you to check out Axe Cop.  It is totally free, and guaranteed to make your week better.

Sweet Tooth #'s 20 and 21: The Endangered Species story arc begins in issue #20 and as usual this looks to be another fantastic Sweet Tooth story arc.  When the ladies went off to gather some firewood, they unwittingly got trapped ewok-style in a giant net.  When they didn't return, Jeppard and Gus headed out in search of the missing women.

While Gus and Jeppard are tracking the ladies there's some great back and forth dialog between the two old companions that shows just how strained their relationship has become.  The girls on the other hand, are rescued by a strange man who has probably the sweetest dwelling in all of Lemire's post-apocalyptic world.  The man, Walter Fish, has holed up inside a dam, which has been completely retrofitted for post apocalyptic survival.  It sports some great green houses, massive stocks of canned goods, artificial light, and a cozy home and hearth.  Despite his friendly demeanor I get the sickening sense that everything is not on the up and up with ol' Walter Fish. 

In the 21st issue, Lemire takes an interesting story telling apporach.  He flits back and forth between two threads: Gus and Jeppard, who are locked in a life or death battle with a hungry bear, and the women, who are hearing Walter's life story.  The twist is that the Gus and Jeppard thread is told only through images and no words.  It's a pretty cool concept, and the wordless story telling matches the visceral battle, and captures the emotional ending perfectly.

Not surprisingly, this latest story arc is off to an awesome start.  As usual, I can barely wait for the next issue.  Sweet Tooth continues to reside at the top of the comic heap for me.  Fantastic story telling and wonderful art make this comic a regular favorite of mine.

Chew #'s 18 and 27: Huh?  Issues 18 and 27?!? Yeah, you read that right, being the crazy bastards that they are, Layman and Guillory followed up issue 18 with a nine month glimpse into the future of Chew.  Unorthodox I know, but before we get there let's take a look at #18....

Moving past the boob-tastic cover, there's uh, mounds of entertaining story in this issue.  From the looks of their most recent missions, it looks like Agents Chu's and Colby's director is trying to get them killed.  However, the two seem to have a strong survival instinct which has helped them escape the wrath of death cults, mobsters, cannibals, and mounties.  However, now he's got them running back-up for the ladies of the USDA on a suicide mission to take out a crazed general.

In the ensuing firefight, due to heavy losses, Chu and Colby are forced to use their secret weapon.  With a simple press of a button, Chu unleashes the "holy shitstorm of cataclysm" that is Poyo.  If nothing else, this issue is awesome simply for the bad-assery of Poyo, and the new sound effect: "fuckrack".  Gold.

Ok, so the 27th issue...with a glimpse of what is happening nine months down the road there is bound to be some spoilers right?  Well, on the very first page we see that Tony Chu is in a coma.  He's being visited by his twin sister, Toni, and from there we get some of Toni's back story, about her days of working at the Farmington-Kapusta International Telescope.  Aside from observing the stars or whatever, her and her fellow scientists got way into licking hallucinogenic frogs so they could pass the time by tripping balls all day long.

Once their assignment was finished, one of the other scientists decided to bring some of the froggies back with him, which then got interbred with those damn chogs.  Enter our old pal D-Bear who steals the hallucinogenic chogs for his sketchy ass restaurant, then gets busted on a covert NASA mission by Toni and her partner.

The issue is a little confusing because there is very little to frame things around, but at the same time, it works pretty well as a slice of story.  A few important things are revealed, obviously that bit about Tony being in the coma, but also it appears that Toni has some sort of food-related power as well, the intricacies of which I haven't quite figured out yet.  They also mention that Tony is an ex-FDA agent, so that is likely a clue of something that is to come as well.

More good stuff from what is steadily one of my favorite comics in my pull box.

Comic Quickies or Clash of the Titans

The Intrepids #1:  I know I've been saying this a lot lately, but The Intrepids is another awesome debut brought to us by Image Comics.  This one is sort of a spy thriller, with a healthy dose of mad science mixed in.  The team is comprised of Doyle, the strong man, Rose, a rocket pack wearing daredevil, Chester, the computers expert, and Ms. Crow, gunslinger, and team leader.

This issue kicks it into high gear early on with a mission set in Russia where we get a taste of the team's abilities as they battle it out with henchmen, and my comic reading highlight of the month: a battle with a cyber-bear!  The battle is awesome, and there's a nice little nod to Stephen King's cyber-bear, Shardik in there as well.  From there The Intrepids gives some more back story, and sets up the teams next target, the awesomely named Darius Dread, and what looks to be the main bad-guy, Doctor Koi.  From the looks of things there's some bad blood between Doctor Koi, and Dante, the team's handler and backer.  The issue ends with everything set up quite nicely for the second issue.

Overall, this was an exciting debut issue complete with solid writing and some unique and cool looking art.   I spoke to both the writer, Kurtis J. Wiebe and the artist, Scott Kowalchuk at comicon, and they're super nice dudes, and were excited to hear I'd picked up their comic.  They both warned me that though the first issue is quite awesome, the second issue is off the hook.  I can't wait.  Definitely one of my most eagerly anticipated comics.

Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1: Speaking of eagerly anticipated: new Axe Cop comics, and in full color glory!

There's a new planet in the solar system, and Axe Cop and Dinosaur Soldier are pretty sure it's a bad guy planet.  Before they can head back to the Axe Cop station and do some tests, they get held up by the normal cops for speeding.  One faint bomb and some stolen tires later, they are at Axe Cop Station, and discover that the new planet is growing super duper fast and that it'll soon squish the earth.  It seems like a simple fly to space and explode the planet mission, but the normal cops, the army, and a couple of psychic bad guys who, have stolen a powerful machine, and can shape shift are messing up the plans.   It looks like the fate of the earth depends on Axe Cop, and his team.

This first issue was pretty much exactly what you'd expect from the brother creative team of Ethan and Malachai Nicolle.  Lots of crazy and weird things happening, and little to no idea where this thing is going, but you know it will be awesome.  Bad Guy Earth is shaping up to be yet another awesome comic.

Chew #17: This issue of Chew finds FDA agents Tony Chu and John Colby investigating a food fight that turned deadly at Tony's daughter's school.  The food fight massacre seems to be the doing of one Peter Pilaf, another character with some food related powers.  Pilaf has the ability to whip up recipes that give him the power to control people...which might somehow tie him to the space station Okroshka, which blew up recently under mysterious circumstances. 

Three really great things happen in this issue, the first, that I already mentioned, is the revelation of a new food-power.  The second is the fact that John Colby really gets to shine in this issue, and it is absolutely hilarious.  The way he goes about cracking a case is unorthodox to say the least, but incredibly effective.  The final great thing is that we get to see a bit more of Olive Chu, Tony's daughter.  She was a great surprise addition to the series and I'm looking forward to learning more about her and her backstory.

Not too surprisingly, another great issue of Chew. 

Sweet Tooth #19: This issue serves as a prelude to next story arc and the narrative focuses on the ladies of Sweet Tooth, Lucy, Wendy, and Becky.  The story starts out with the three women going for a walk in the woods near their party's campsite, and as they walk, each character talks a little bit about their past.  The really nifty thing is that each little piece of back-story is drawn by a guest artist to the series.  Nate Powell draws the Lucy vignette, Matt Kindt draws the Wendy story, and Emi Lennox draws the Becky section.  While these tales are being spun, the intervening, present day sections are drawn by Jeff Lemire, and the girls get lost in the woods, then run into even bigger problems...

It was nice to see a little bit of character development on the part of the ladies as they had only been side characters up till that point.  It'll be pretty interesting to see how their story turns out.  From the way things are set up, the next story arc looks to be quite awesome.

Emerald City Comicon

My 2011 Emerald City Comicon experience was pretty much the polar opposite of last year's visit.  Whereas last year I was an awkward, uncomfortable comic newbie and pretty much directionless, attending mostly for the spectacle, this year I was a man on a mission. 

It's crazy how much can change in a year.  Last year my comic reading consisted of a few scattered titles here and there, and you could fill a library with everything I didn't know about comics.  A year later and I could still fill a library with my major lack of comic knowledge, but I certainly am much more well read in the medium, and I have a much better grasp on my comic likes and dislikes.  As a result, my comicon this year was a much more focused endeavor.

A couple nights prior to the con, I eschewed my pending schoolwork in favor of scouring the con guest list and taking note of all the writers and artists I wanted to see, and meet.  You could've titled the list: Who's Awesome Work Will I be Drooling Over on Saturday.  I even mapped out where their booths were.  Despite my awesome planning, I knew the droves of comic fans were equally, if not even more hyped than myself, so I got there early.

Being the planner that I am, I prioritized my list, starring the must-see names.  It should come as little surprise that John Layman and Jeff Lemire, were tops on that list.  I'm proud to say that every last Chew related item I own is now signed by John, (who actually remembered talking to me at a comic shop signing last December!) and a good chunk of my Jeff Lemire collection is not only signed but sporting some awesome original art by Jeff.  In the signature department, I also got the full Joe the Barbarian run signed by the super friendly and skilled artist Sean Murphy, and I got my Axe Cop graphic novel and the ultra new Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth comic signed by both the Nicolle brothers.  Getting my stuff signed by a six year old was pretty awesome, and my Axe Cop trade is sporting a sweet red lightning bolt along with Malachai's signature.  The signing aspect of the con was a complete success, as I got everything I brought with me signed.  I wish I could have lugged more around, but a backpack can only hold so many comics!

Aside from getting lots of stuff signed, I also got to talk to a lot of great comic writers and artists.  It was cool talking westerns with Brian Hurtt, the artist of The Sixth Gun, and talking about the pressure of working with Marvel characters with indie artist/writer Farel Dalrymple.  I had an interesting talk with Mark Rahner, the writer of Rotten, about how his gritty zombie comic set in the post Civil War era draws on some of the hot new items of our recent history.  Mark puts a lot of research effort into the comic, and it adds nice hidden nugget element to the comic.

I found myself spending a good chunk of time at the Image Comics booth, which was loaded with cool creators.  Probably the biggest highlight of the con for me was meeting Kurtis J. Wiebe, Scott Kowalchuk, and Nate Simpson, three young dudes who have some sweet looking comics already out or on the way this spring.  All those guys were incredibly easy to talk to, super nice, and grateful for my interest in their material.

Kurtis and Scott work together on The Intrepids a sort of science-gone-wrong action comic. Kurtis also works on the upcoming horror comic Green Wake, which looks pretty sweet, and Nate is writing and drawing the beautiful looking Non Player which is looking absolutely amazing.  Three dudes who have some great looking comics on the horizon.

I was totally pleased with my con experience.  Getting to talk to people who entertain and inspire me is always a treat, and it gives me greater appreciation for their work, but lets face it:  Part of going to comicon is to see people dressed up, so here you go, some con pics!

Ramona Flowers

It's sorta scary how much he looks like the real deal!

Wonder Woman might wanna keep an eye on Freddy.

The last unicorn.

These guys were doing a cool pose, but my camera is slow to turn on, so instead of a cool Darth Maul attack, I caught the post-battle hug.

Comics of the Year

Best Comic Series of the Year

*Tie* Sweet Tooth and Chew


When I got to thinking about which comic series has stood out the most to me this pat year, my thoughts were instantly drawn to Chew and Sweet Tooth. I feel indecisive in saying that these two comics tie, but I really cant say that one stands above the other. It is a special week when I have an issue of Chew or Sweet Tooth waiting for me in my pull box. If they ever happen to come out on the same Wednesday, I might just keel over from excitement. Aside from being totally awesome, the two comics share some common traits: Both comics are consistently entertaining. Both feature fantastic writing a great art. Both follow a consistent publication schedule, (when reading a story in small episodes, it is really nice to not have to wait too long to see what happens next). On top of all that, they consistently leave me wanting more.


Aside from the adherence to high quality that both titles share, the two comics are quite different from one another.

Sweet Tooth takes place in a post apocalyptic world where most everyone is dead and the newborn children are born as human/animal hybrids. The story follows Gus, a hybrid child and Jeppard, a man trying to survive in the changed world. I don't want to give too much away for people who haven't read the series, but I will say that Writer/Artist Jeff Lemire manages to make his characters unforgettable, the story deeply moving and emotional, and the art moody and cinematic. Sweet Tooth is a dramatic, tense story that unfolds slowly and always leaves me wanting more.

Chew on the other hand, is a comedy at heart. The story takes place in a world where an avian flu has killed millions, causing a chicken prohibition. (Some food lovers could argue that a world without chicken dinner is also apocalyptic...) Our hero Tony Chu, is an FDA agent with a secret. He's cibopathic, meaning he gets psychic impressions from the foods he eats, which makes him a damn fine detective. Too bad his FDA boss hates his ass and sticks him on the strangest, most bizzare cases. This comic features the talented creative team of writer John Layman and artist Rob Guillory. Keeping the story fresh, and fun seems to be their priority, oh yeah, that and putting poor Tony through the wringer whenever possible. I always get a good laugh out of each issue, but this ain't no one trick pony. Chew features some solid mystery and sci-fi elements as well, and Layman certainly seems to have a good idea as to where he wants the series to go. Excellent stuff.

I can't say enough good things about these two comics. I wouldn't be surprised to see one or both of these titles in the same spot next year.


Best Single Issue of the Year

The Unwritten #17


Yep, I flippin' loved to read Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. I would read one of those bad boys until I had achieved nearly every possible scenario the book offered, then read it again. When I heard that the folks behind The Unwritten were going to make a comic in the Choose Your Own Adventure style, I knew I'd have to own it. Keep in mind I don't read The Unwritten, and wasn't a fan of the first trade. So a single issue from a comic series I've ruled out has to be pretty special, but this one had the power of nostalgia backing it up. Of course, the issue could have totally sucked, and they could have flubbed the concept. But they didn't. The creative team really made this issue amazing. Not only do they pull off the CYOA concept but they also manage to include a great story in the process. This one was lots of fun, and hands down my best single issue of the year.

Honorable Mention:

Neonomicon #2: I'm still having nightmares from that one.

The Sixth Gun #6: The most awesomeness packed into one issue.

John Layman in Seattle

Yesterday the city of Seattle had a cool visitor from the comics world. John Layman, the writer of the Eisner Award winning comic, Chew stopped by one of Seattle's great comic shops, Comics Dungeon, (where he was once a box-customer), to sign books and talk to fans about his work.

I arrived on the scene early into the event, and was surprised to see that the place wasn't all that crowded. Maybe everyone was too busy watching the Seahawks game or something. Either way, it worked out for the best because the small crowd created a great laid-back atmosphere where folks could just hang out and chat it up with one of the most creative minds in comics.

Everybody seemed to want to know about a Chew TV show. Which I've covered before, but just to keep you updated: Circle of Confusion, who packaged The Walking Dead show and shopped it around to cable networks, has done the same with Chew, they've got a writing staff to do an episode or two, got a director, and basically now just need to go to some of the cable networks and say: "Hey, we've got this sweet show all packaged up and ready to go."

It was kinda crazy how nearly everyone asked him if there would be a Chew TV show. I don't really understand why people have such a desire to see things get adapted to film or television, I prefer art in the medium it was created in, but I guess I'm a fucking weirdo or something. Anyway, I must have heard Layman answer this question at least a half dozen times. The cool thing is, he didn't seem to mind and was more than willing to answer people's questions.

There were a few other cool nuggets that I picked up as well.

Layman also discussed how he and Chew artist Rob Guillory split the money on the floppy issues, basically Rob gets 75%, and Layman gets 25%. The reason being that the work load for artists is a lot bigger at this level, hence the big chunk of the proceeds. However, they split everything else, like sales on trades, 50-50.

Layman also told me that just for special, folks who buy the single issue floppies will get a nice little treat after issue #18. Instead of the next issue being #19, they will instead drop issue #27 in there out of sequence, and then the following month pick back up with #19. That way, folks who buy the single issues get a little sneak peek at what's gonna be happening in the series a year down the road. HOWEVER, if you are a trade waiter, Issue #27 wont be collected in the 4th trade, instead the trade waiters will have to wait until the 6th trade comes out...so, only like a wait of like, a year or two...

Another cool nugget: Also for those who get the single issues, Layman mentioned that like with issue #15, which was the 1/4 mark for the series, they'll be cranking out some special-special covers for the half-way point and the 3/4 mark. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for some scratch-and-sniff!

I was pretty happy to find that John Layman is a totally cool guy, and damn easy to talk to. Hopefully he'll make it to the Emerald City Comicon this year. If you aren't reading this great comic yet, do it. Now is an excellent time to jump on as you can get totally up to speed just by buying the first three trades.

Comic Quickies

Chew #15: Things haven't been going so good for our hero Tony Chu, especially since his girlfriend found a severed toe in his freezer. Maybe some family time will help...yeah... Thanksgiving dinner with his family doesn't seem to improve his mood either, maybe because they are all a bit crazy. This plus-sized issue packs in the awesome content. We get to meet Tony's family, complete with a MAJOR plot twist, and a crazy cliff-hanger ending that was set in motion way back in issue #4. Plus you get a flippin' sweet tri-fold cover. (blow that shit up to get a good look!) Totally awesome comic.



Kill Shakespeare #7: This comic has been slumping on me a bit recently, but issue #7 got things back on track quite well. The issue uses a cool three-act format to deliver the goods, and many pages feature double-page spreads, with smaller panels set against one large backdrop. Its really beautiful to look at.

The actual content is pretty sweet too. We learn a bit more about Lady MacBeth's wicked machinations, and a traveling stage troupe comes to Shrewsbury, the current hidey-hole for Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, and the rest of the prodigals. During the troupe's performance, Hamlet gets called on stage to play a role in The Murder of Gonzago, a play that strikes too close to the heart for his comfort. Fleeing the stage, Hamlet enters a trippy, mystical hall-of-mirrors type place. Hot on his heels is Juliet, and amidst the mirrors, they share their secrets, and form a bond...Wow, I made that sound way more cheesy than it was in the comic. Damn. Anyway, this was a great issue.



Superior #2: In every super hero comic, there comes an issue where the guy or gal in tights figures out all the cool new powers at their disposal. That's this issue of Superior.

That said, it was done quite well. Never has a hero had a harder time harnessing their powers than Simon Pooni/Superior. Superior has pretty much all the same powers as that Superman guy, freeze breath, laser vision, strength, and flight. But watching a kid, trapped in a super hero's body, attempting to do things he has only read in a comic or seen on a movie screen, was pretty awesome. Millar and Leinil Yu, the artist handle it quite well. Especially the flying bit, which was essentially a terrible fall up-wards. Millar added a nice, sometimes sentimental, sometimes cheesy touch of juxtaposing the powers against Simon's former struggles due to his Multiple Sclerosis.

Aside from that, nothing really happened in this issue, and I'm not sure where things are headed or what the conflict is gonna be. Maybe the final word bubble which contained the phrase, "What the fuck?" will lead to some sort of conflict next issue.



Doorways #1: Last but not least comes a comic debut from the pen of my favorite fantasy writer, George R.R. Martin! Apparently, Doorways was slated to be a network sci-fi show back in the 90's when major network ordered a bunch of scripts from Martin. For better or worse, (I say better), things fell through and Martin went on to write A Game of Thrones instead. Now, a bunch of years later, we get Doorways in comic format. Yay!

So what is this about? Well, the story opens with a woman getting teleported right into the middle of rush hour traffic. She promptly blows up an oncoming truck, and gets herself knocked out in the process. She wakes up in a hospital, attempts an escape, maims a police officer, and is saved from some serious police brutality by Dr. Tomas Mason. It doesn't take long for the government to find out about her advanced fire power and mysterious wrist-gauntlet thingy. So, like any good government agency, they abduct the shit out of her. Luckily, Dr. Mason is allowed to see her, and thanks to his trustful bed-side manner, he gets her to spill the beans about her gadgets, and about why she is on the run. Turns out she killed some sort of Darklord, and is being pursued by some evil minions. Seems like some entertaining stuff to me.

Review: Chew: International Flavor

Chew: International Flavor is the second graphic novel collection of the Chew series. In this one Tony Chu, FDA agent, and "cibopath" gets a new partner...his old partner from his police days, John Colby, a guy who caught a meat cleaver to the face in the last graphic novel. Through some clever play acting, they trick Chu's asshole boss into partnering them up. Chu and Colby make a good team and with some solid detective work they quickly make a bust on some illegal chicken trafficking mofos. The bust leads to Chu and Colby finding out about a new fruit, one that tastes remarkably like chicken. After one bite, using his cibopathic skills that give him psychic impressions, Chu is able to trace the origin of this new fruit back to a tiny Pacific island.

Chu, going it alone, decides to follow up on the lead, and travels to Yamapalu, the island where the fruit came from, to figure some things out. Along with Chu on the journey is his celebrity chef brother who has been hired by the Yamapalu government to open a fancy new restaurant there. The mission proves to be a tricksy one, as Chu has to contend with local thugs, militia, an incompetent local police force, a rooster named Poyo, a big boobied USDA ninja chick and her rat "Jellybean", and a skethcy Russian vampire. To top it all off, Chu might also have to rescue the girl that he likes from the clutches of evil...

This second Chew graphic novel is another instant classic. The writer-illustrator team of John Layman and Rob Guillory has proven once again that they're a dynamic duo. Layman's writing is clever and often very funny. He definitely has a skill for keeping the reader entertained, while also presenting a very interesting story arc, and adding great new intriguing developments. For me, Layman's writing and pacing is near perfect. I find it hard to put Chew down once I pick it up.

The other half of the duo, Rob Guillory, delivers on the art front once again. He has a very unique illustration style. It is somewhat on the cartoony side, compared to some of the near photo-realistic art seen in a lot comics these days, and the art goes a long way to helping define the personalities of the individual characters. His art really brings out the humor of Chew. There are many panels, where small details give me a chuckle, then others where the entire panel is completely hilarious.

The writing and art of Chew truly complement each other well, but there is another aspect of Chew that I think is a standout. On top of his writing duties, Layman also handles lettering duties. This may sound like a little thing, but it adds quite a bit to the work load. I hope Layman knows it is worth the effort though. The fact that Layman does the lettering means that there is no disconnect between his vision for the story and the way the dialog is presented. Layman has a great knack for giving the reader a great sense of inflection and temperament with the lettering and it really adds to the overall quality of the graphic novel.

I can now happily say that I am caught up on the Chew series. From here on out I am reading the individual issues, which means no more waiting around for trades to come out. Instead I can get my fix on a monthly basis. For those who want to do the same, now is the time, Chew: Taster's Choice collects the first five issues, and Chew: International Flavor collects issues six through ten. Issue eleven is in your local comic shop now, so get out there and get your hands on these books, and enjoy!

Grade: B+

Review: Chew: Taster's Choice

Chew: Taster's Choice is a graphic novel written by John Layman and drawn by Rob Guillory. It stars Tony Chu, a detective with a strange talent. Tony is "Cibopathic", meaning he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. If he eats an apple, he gets a feeling in his head about what tree it came from, what pesticides were used, and when it was harvested. If he eats say a cow, or a chicken, well, you can imagine what the psychic impressions he might get from that. The only thing he can eat that doesn't cause this reaction is beets. (I'm sure Schrute Farms is happy to hear this news.) Tony's power, or special skill, or curse, or whatever you want to call it, helps make him a hell of a detective...as long as he doesn't mind taking a bite out of a murder victim to help solve a mystery.

Thanks to his special skill set, Tony has been recruited by the FDA, yes that FDA, which is a powerful law enforcement agency now thanks to a recent avian flu epidemic that has killed millions world-wide and has led to world-wide chicken prohibition. Said prohibition has led to massive amounts of black market chicken dealers, and is the new cash cow or cash chicken in this case, for crime-lords. While at work for the FDA, Tony teams up with the gigantic, monocled Agent Savoy, who shares Tony's special ability, to investigate some bizarre cases.

As you can see from the plot synopsis, Chew is a graphic novel that comes with a big sense of humor. I really enjoyed the blend of compelling crime-fiction with the over the top style of humor. There were multiple moments where this book made me laugh out loud. Whether it be Tony catching a face-full of vomit while he falls in love, or Agent Savoy coating himself, Tony and a female coroner in the fan-blown ashes of a dead senator, this book has a dark, somewhat taboo sense of humor that is rarely found.

Sure, Chew also has its share of "eww" moments, moments that in other settings would just be disgusting, but in most cases, this only served to add to the humorous feel of the book, and the artist, Guillory generally depicts these scenes with a cartoonish feel that never left me feeling ill, and only made me chuckle.


Guillory's art is one of the major aspects that makes Chew stand out from the comic crowd. His art has a cartoon-like feel to it that reminded me a bit of the Ren and Stimpy cartoon from back in the day. Oftentimes, his art alone was enough to make me giggle and give me that feeling of joy I got from watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid. Chew however, is not anything like your standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. It simply evoked that giddy feeling of visual humor.

The thing I liked most about reading Chew: Taster's Choice is that it was a lot of fun to read. The writing is great, and I felt myself immediately drawn into Tony's world. It is rare that I finish a book or a Graphic Novel and have the desire to read the next installment, or the next in the series right now, but Chew gave me this feeling. Too bad the second Graphic Novel doesn't hit shelves until late July.

Though it is still somewhat early in the year, Chew: Taster's Choice has made a firm case to be named in my Top 5 rankings at the end of 2010. I loved it.

Grade: A