Jessie Robertson reviews Chew #41…
Have you ever kissed a woman or man and tasted what they had for lunch? Stop, reverse that and you’ve got Tony Chu. He’s a Cibopath – after tasting something he can read its history, and yes, that does involve human beings. Chew is a series I discovered earlier this year and I devoured the first 8 issues like Tony would a beet salad (beets are the only food that does not reveal its history when eaten by a cibopath)
Chew is played for humor but can also be very dark. The fun of reading Chew is all the little jokes placed around the pages by the artist, as with this issue we drop in on Poyo (a modified chicken rescued by Chu from a cockfighting ring, now a secret agent with the USDA, armed to the teeth) shooting at some dinosaurs, one which bears a tattoo that says “Ian Malcolm says Hi.” In this issue, Che marries Amelia in Vegas where he’s attending an FDA getaway. She tags along with him on a strange new case that wraps up nicely by the end of the issue involving cementing people inside chocolate. Chu’s boss, Captain Applebee (who hates Chu) is there to berate him some more but really struggles with life in general as Chu is now a media darling and not being able to blame him for being a moron causes Applebee a long, drunken stupor of a week with some really bad decisions (I can’t spoil the ending of this one; it’ s too good not to read)
Chew is a great book to pick up at almost anytime because you drop into zaniness in every issue; there’s a lot of back story to what has gone on in Chew but I think it’s so unique it will draw you in wherever you start reading.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published May 1, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
