[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: Major League Chew Volume 5 by John Layman

Title:  Chew: Major League Chew Volume 5

Author: John Layman

Artist: Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor

Year Published: 2011

Year Read: 2013

Series: Chew #5

Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language, Gory Violence and Gross Humor)
 

Introduction:

Just when I thought that this series could not get any better, it just continues to amaze me!  With its wacky sense of humor and going into the dark and gritty nature of crime sprees, John Layman’s fantastic “Chew” series just continues to impress me!  In the fifth volume of “Chew” called “Major League Chew,” Tony Chu is definitely up for some more crazy adventures as the mysteries of the fourth volume continues to unfold!

What is this story about?

In this volume, Tony Chu is immediately fired from the FDA and is forced to work at the municipal traffic division (which it turns out that he starts enjoying that job)!  Unfortunately, things start going downhill for him when he is kidnapped by Amelia’s ex-boyfriend and they force him to eat the dead bodies of the baseball players to discover…new things.  Meanwhile, Tony’s daughter, Olive Chu, is also kidnapped by none other than Mason Savoy and she will soon discover the secret mission that Mason is on that could change her life forever!

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: Once again, John Layman has proven that humor and gritty crime noir can be written on the same page together!  As usual, I loved the way that John Layman made the story both hilarious and intense as the mystery surrounding Mason Savoy’s secret mission and the alien language in the sky continues to intensify in each volume.  I also loved the humor being put into this volume as it was hilarious seeing both Tony and John Colby struggle with their new jobs and how their new bosses (well, not Tony’s anyway) continues to torture them for no reason!  I also loved the fact that we get to see more of Olive Chu as she seem suspicious to me in the previous volumes and it would be interesting to see where Mason takes her character next in his mission.

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork is as always hilarious and creative to look at as the characters look truly exaggerated, which makes the story even more humorous in tone.  I was also impressed with how Rob Guillory made some of the illustrations disgusting to look at, especially the murder scenes, but it was that aspect of the artwork that really made this comic stand out to me since I rarely read comics where the gross out humor is actually used to tell an effective story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like gross out humor or bloody violence OR strong language, this volume does contain a lot of bloody violence that might be uncomfortable for the squeamish.  Also, the gross humor, that often involves toilet humor, might be a turn off for anyone who does not like toilet humor in general.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: Major League Chew” is a fantastic volume that is really starting to set things up for all the characters involved and who knows what Tony Chu and his friends and family will get into next!  Now, on to the sixth volume!

 

[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: Flambe Volume 4 by John Layman

Title:  Chew: Flambe Volume 4

Author: John Layman

Artist: Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor


Year Published: 2011


Year Read: 2013


Series: Chew #4


Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Strong Language)

Introduction:

Seriously, will I ever put this series down?  Every time I pick up a volume from John Layman’s Eisner Award and Harvey Award winning series “Chew,” things just keeps getting crazier and more interesting than ever before!  In this volume, “Chew: Flambé,” things get even more crazy for Tony Chu and John Colby as there is a panic going on in the United States when strange alien letterings suddenly show up in the sky!

What is this story about?

In this volume, after a mysterious alien language suddenly pops up in the sky, everyone starts panicking and believes that an alien invasion is about to come to Earth!  So, it is up to the FDA agents Tony Chu and John Colby to find out about this supposed alien conspiracy and what will it mean for Earth?

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: For the past three volumes, I have always said that John Layman’s writing on the “Chew” series has been nothing but fantastic!  Well, in this volume, John Layman really brought out true surreal humor as Tony Chu and John Colby get into even more crazy adventures than usual!  I loved the way that John Layman made things even more interesting with the mystery surrounding the strange alien language suddenly appearing in the sky and it was great seeing the build up towards solving the mystery of the alien language and what it would mean for Earth.  John Layman’s humorous writing is just as top notch in this volume as it was in the previous three volumes and I really love the moments shared between Tony and his twin sister Antonelle “Toni” Chu as Toni is like the annoying younger sibling towards Tony and I love how she truly cares about him despite annoying him at every chance.  I also love the character “Poyo,” the rooster who for some strange reason is able to do some kung-fu fighting (do not worry; you will see its moves in this volume)! It was also interesting seeing Tony’s daughter (yes, Tony actually has a daughter) Olive Chu as she seems to have resentment towards Tony and it would be interesting to see in future volumes whether or not her relationship with Tony will improve or not.

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork is as usual, extremely hilarious and detailed at the same time as it brought in so much humor and tension to the story.  I loved the way that the characters look bizarre as their bodies are done in exaggerated proportions, making the artwork truly creative to look at.  I also loved the way that Rob Guillory drew the gory scenes during the crime scenes, even though the blood splattering scenes might be a bit too exaggerated, but it just made those situations more humorous to look at than making you cringe in disgust (which I never thought would be possible)!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like gory scenes and strong language, this volume definitely has plenty of strong violence and language.  There are many instances where the characters drop the “s” and “f” bombs throughout the stories and that might offend anyone who does not like reading such strong language in a graphic novel.  Also, there are many violent scenes of characters getting shot and cut up and blood splattering everywhere and that might make anyone uncomfortable if they are not used to gory scenes.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: Flambe” is really setting things up and I definitely cannot wait to see what this mysterious alien language in the sky is going to do to the characters in the future.  I would definitely recommend this volume to any fan of John Layman’s “Chew” series and also check out the other volumes that came before this one:

Chew: Taster’s Choice

Chew: International Flavors

Chew: Just Desserts

[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: Just Desserts Volume 3 by John Layman

Title:  Chew: Just Desserts Volume 3

Author: John Layman

Artist:  Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor


Year Published: 2010


Year Read: 2013


Series: Chew #3


Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)
 



Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes of John Layman’s “Chew” series, my interest in this series just keeps rising every time I picked up a new volume!  Now, I had finally read the third volume of the “Chew” series called “Chew: Just Desserts Volume Three” and this volume was just as good as the previous two volumes!  Being an Eisner Award and Harvey Award winning series, “Chew” so far has definitely deserved the praise it has received over the years!

What is this story about?

In this volume, things are looking good for Tony Chu!  For one thing, he has a new girlfriend in Amelia Mintz, his boss is actually being nice to him and he has the best partner anyone could ever ask for in John Colby!  But, when Tony Chu realizes that his ex-partner Mason Savoy is out and up to no good, Tony must choose between being with Amelia and focusing on his job.

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: As usual, John Layman has done a brilliant job at writing this volume!  The characters were truly interesting to me, especially Tony Chu and John Colby.  I really loved the way that John Layman portrayed the relationship between Tony and John as they have great chemistry with each other (I really enjoyed their playful bickering which was extremely hilarious to see)!  The fact that both Tony and John are willing to protect each other in times of danger was fantastic to see and I would definitely love to see more of their friendship in the future volumes.  I also loved the way that John Layman portrayed Tony and Amelia’s relationship with each other as they truly are a cute couple and I liked the fact that their relationship is more in the progressive stage rather than they are the perfect soul mates because it made their relationship much more believable to look at.  Not only does Tony and Amelia have similar powers which is what brought them together in the first place, but it was great seeing how Tony’s job could affect his relationship with Amelia since he is always going to his job and I was always hoping that Tony and Amelia could work through this problem in order to have a more stable relationship with each other.  I really enjoyed the way that John Layman balanced the humor and the horror in this story as both genres fitted in so well together and was able to create one interesting storyline!

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork as usual was humorous and interesting to look at as it set a more comical and intense mood for the story.  I loved the way that Rob Guillory made the characters look so exaggerated, despite this being a crime series as it really brought in some humor to the story.  I also loved the characters’ shocked expressions whenever something horrific or weird happens to them as it made them truly believable.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Just like the first two volumes, there is some strong language and gory violence involved in the story and anyone who does not like reading about gore and strong language might be a bit offended by this volume. There are many scenes of characters being shot and blood gushing out in an exaggerated fashion and also there is some strong usage of curse words such as using the “f” word a dozen times.  Readers who are offended by these aspects might want to skim over these scenes when reading this volume.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: Just Desserts” is a fantastic volume for fans of the “Chew” series and anyone who loves reading about comical crime drama!  I am definitely going to check out the next volume in this series soon!

[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: International Flavor Volume 2 by John Layman

Title:  Chew:  International Flavor Volume 2

Author:  John Layman

Artist: Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor


Year Published: 2011


Year Read: 2013


Series: Chew #2


Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Violence, Strong Language and Some Gross Humor)

Introduction:

After reading the first volume of this fantastic series “Chew: Taster’s Choice,” I was geared up to read the second volume “Chew: International Flavor!”  “Chew: International Flavor” is just as interesting and creative as the first volume and being that John Layman’s “Chew” series is an Eisner Award Winning and Harvey Award Winning series, this volume is definitely something that any comic book fan should check out!

What is this story about?

In this volume, Tony Chu is back and this time he is working with his old partner John Colby (you know, the guy who had his face cut off in the first volume and now, half of his face is robotic)?  Anyway, Tony and John stumble upon a case on the mysterious island Yamapalu and not only does Tony meet a tough female spy named Lin Sae Woo, but he also notices that many of the people who were killed on the island have mysterious bite marks on their necks…

Vampires do not exist, do they?

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: Just like the first volume, John Layman’s writing is just as good in this volume as it was in the first volume!  I loved the way that John Layman characterized each character as all the characters in this volume were written in an exciting and intense way!  I really enjoyed the character Tony Chu as he is shown to be a strong and sarcastic character that has already come to terms with his special powers and I loved the scenes where he gets angry at people who make him use his powers for idiotic reasons.  I also loved John Colby as he was also just as sarcastic as Tony and yet, he remains to be a great friend to Tony, even standing up for him against his boss.  John Layman did a brilliant job at balancing both the humor and the horror in this volume as I found myself laughing at all of Tony’s misfortunes on his adventures.  I also loved the little “vampire” twist on this story since at first, I was rolling my eyes at the idea that they would introduce a concept that was used over a MILLION times in other stories, but in this volume, it was actually used in an extremely creative way and I hope to read more about the “vampire” situation in the next volume!

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork as usual is both hilarious and somewhat disgusting in an extremely good way!  Even though this volume is not as disgusting as the first volume, the artwork of the characters discovering murdered bodies is truly effective as you can see the blood spilling out of the victims, which gives the artwork a truly chilling feel.  I also loved the way that Rob Guillory made the characters look cartoonish in nature and yet, there is still some intensity to the artwork.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only problems in this volume involve many scenes of characters getting murdered and some strong language.  Even though this volume is not as disgusting as the first volume, there is still a bit of gross humor such as Tony coming across a large pile of poop in his first case that might make any reader feel a bit ill.  Also, there is some strong language in this volume, such as the continuous use of the “s” word and anyone who is offended by such words might want to skim over them.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: International Flavors” is a fantastic follow up to John Layman’s “Chew” series and I am definitely looking forward to reading more from the “Chew” series and seeing what kind of wacky and intensifying crimes that our favorite characters will get into next!

[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: Taster's Choice Volume 1 by John Layman

Title:  Chew:  Taster's Choice Volume 1

Author:  John Layman

Artist: Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor


Year Published: 2010


Year Read: 2013


Series: Chew #1


Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Gross Humor)



Introduction:

Alright, now when I first saw the title of this comic “Chew,” I was thinking to myself about what was so interesting about a comic book that was all about food?  Well, I WAS WRONG!  “Chew: Taster’s Choice” which was written by John Layman along with artwork by Rob Guillory and received an Eisner Award for Best New Series and a Harvey Award Winner, was one comic that really knew how to create a plot that not only involves food but also involves a really intriguing crime drama that will shock readers at the very end!

What is this story about?

Meet Tony Chu who is a detective, but also has a bizarre secret.  You see, Tony Chu is known as a Cibopathic, meaning that he can get psychic impressions from whatever he eats, even going as far as tasting dead bodies to find out who murdered the victim and why they murdered that victim.  Because of this special ability, Tony Chu gets accepted to the Special Crimes Division of the FDA, which is known as the most powerful law enforcement division in the world and has a new partner named Mason Savoy, who also is a Cibopathic!  Now join the adventures of Tony Chu and Mason Savoy as they uncover various crimes that happens in America while using their special talents to solve the cases!

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: Wow! Just wow…I had mentioned that when I first saw the title of this book, I actually thought that it was going to be all about food.  Well, while John Layman does provide food as a major theme of this comic, the plot of the story is basically a crime drama that involves the murders of many people who are involved in the food market.  I loved the way that John Layman created a mysterious and dark atmosphere for this comic as I am a huge fan of crime stories and I loved the fact that Tony Chu uses his special gift as a way to solve crimes.  Having Tony use his special gift to solve murders really created an interesting and creative atmosphere for this story as I never would have thought that a person tasting dead bodies to find out more about the murder scenes would actually create intriguing stories about the characters trying to solve crimes.  Now, I will admit that I am not a huge fan of gross out scenes and this comic definitely has many gross out scenes, but somehow, John Layman made this experience for me truly worth it!  John Layman’s writing was so exciting and creative that I just could not put this book down no matter how disgusting it got and I was drawn into the surreal and dark world of “Chew” and the plot twists that this comic so easily provided.

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork may be a bit bizarre looking, but it fits perfectly with this type of story as the characters have odd shaped heads and have disproportioned bodies.  I also loved the way that Rob Guillory drew the blood scenes in this book as the blood usually squirts out of the characters in weird ways, making the murder scenes look a bit cartoonish yet still have the effect that it wanted to go for (PURE SHOCK VALUE)!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The biggest issue I did have with this comic was that there were many disgusting scenes including scenes of characters vomiting all over the pages and characters biting dead bodies to get a clue on the murders.  Most of the time, I do not like disgusting scenes in any story, even though this comic made the gross out scenes seem a bit irrelevant to the story.  Also, since this comic focuses on murder scenes, there are many bloody scenes of characters getting chopped up and that might be a bit upsetting for anyone who does not like reading about bloody scenes.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: Taster’s Choice Volume One” definitely exceeded my expectations as I would have never thought that I would read a comic that actually intertwines food and crime into one story and actually create an interesting story that caught my attention from the very beginning!  I will definitely be checking out the next volume of this book and see where the characters are going after this first volume!  BON APPETITE…IF YOU DARE!