Chew, vol. 1, by John Layman and Rob Guillory 8.25

I don’t know how this book fell into my lap, but I’m so very glad that it did. It’s a weird little book, just the way I like them. This one’s a cop story with a twist: it takes place in a world where eating chicken has been outlawed and where the FDA’s chief priority is to crack down on the black market chicken trade.

What makes it especially notable is its lead character Tony Chu, a detective who has a unique ability: he’s a cybopath, which means that he can gather information through his taste buds. Invariably, this means that eating has become a problem for poor Chu, as the back history of everything he eats flashes in his mind.

He has one weakness, though: he cannot sense beets. This means that his diet has largely consisted of beets for a very long time now, as he simply cannot eat anything else without getting adverse effects. But, in the course of his investigations, he finds that he may actually have to use his power to find clues. And this changes EVERYTHING.

Quirky as all get out, funny, well-written, stylish and absolute eye-candy, this first volume of ‘Chew’ has been an extremely nice surprise. It’s my favourite comic book series of the year, thus far (note the distinction between comic books and graphic novels), and I am very eager to read the next volume. In fact, I’ve already requested the next three from the library.