On the Coffee Table: Flambé

Title: Chew, Volume Four: Flambé
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory

via Amazon

The excellent comic book series Chew continues with Flambé, collecting issues #16-20.  Strange writing appeared in the sky at the end of Volume Three and much of Four is devoted to unraveling that mystery.  Public reactions to the writing range from panicked lawlessness to religious fervor.  The stories continually push the edge on the disgusting but while I'm not as impressed as I was in the beginning, I'm still enjoying the series.  Layman has quite a knack for strong cliffhangers and the end of Flambé is no exception.

Half the fun of Chew is the food powers some of the characters possess and Flambé introduces a couple of new ones.  Daniel Migdalo, a former FDA agent, is a Voresoph meaning he becomes smarter the more he eats.  New character Peter Pilaf has an unnamed power which allows him to control people with food.  There's also The Vampire lurking around the periphery.  I've rather had enough of vampires in pop culture but given the overarching food theme of Chew, I suppose it's appropriate.

On the Coffee Table: Just Desserts

Title: Chew, Volume Three: Just Desserts
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory

via Amazon

For me, the most important test of a comic book series is whether or not I'm left caring about what happens in the next issue.  I think that's a fair measure of a serialized medium.  Sometimes, I'll get to the end of a comic and realize that I've had enough.  My read wasn't unpleasant.  However, I am satisfied and that is all I need.  But every once in a while, I encounter a writer with a gift for stringing the reader along and planting cliffhangers large and small at the end of each story.  John Layman is such a writer.

Just Desserts, which includes issues 11-15 of Chew, ends extremely well.  This collection does not have a self-contained story as the previous volume did (review here; and for Volume One, go here).  Instead, we get loads of character development for the protagonist, Tony Chu.  His romance with Amelia Mintz advances most pleasingly.  We learn about his crazy ex-girlfriend and, in the last chapter, his family.  The best is saved for very last (don't worry, not really spoiling anything).  On the final three pages, we first get something weird in the sky - don't even know what it is yet but I certainly want to know, need to know - then a new character who instantly changes the landscape of the entire narrative.

This guy's good.

As explained in previous posts, part of Chew's appeal for me is the food powers various characters possess.  We get another new one in Just Desserts, though it's not named.  A man, hired by a gangster as a food-taster, sits in a diner booth, rattling off the list of ingredients for each morsel he eats: "thiamin hydrochloride, hydrolized soy protien, mono-sodium glutamate..."

More, please.

On the Coffee Table: Fables

Title: Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Lan Medina

via Amazon

Fables is another popular comic book series which I tried a while back and it didn't take.  It is one of Mock's favorites and my college friend Zander Cannon has contributed artwork to the series so it was with a touch of regret that I didn't pursue the franchise further.  Goodreads recommended it, though, and I have to say that Goodreads has done pretty well by me recently so I decided to try again from the beginning.  Just as with Chew, I'm glad that I did.

For those unfamiliar with the story, fairy tale characters, led by Bigby (The Big Bad) Wolf and Snow White, inhabit a New York City subculture known as Fabletown.  They were driven out of their Homelands by The Adversary and are now doing their best to make a go of it in the mundane world.  Legends in Exile (issues #1-5) is a murder mystery.  Jack of beanstalk fame runs into Bigby's police detective office to report that his girlfriend, Red Rose, has gone missing, her apartment drenched in blood.

At first, I was resistant once again.  The setup felt a lot like Watchmen - a member of the team is killed, apparently by one of their own.  One sees this plot structure over and over again in comic books, everyone imitating the Alan Moore masterpiece.  But the story plays out differently, more along the lines of a classic mystery tale.  I guess I prefer my cliches on the older side.

I can't deny that I'm a sucker for the trappings.  Just as with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I'm inspired to go back to the source material in order to better appreciate the characters.  Just as the narrative keeps me interested, I'm ever eager to see who from folklore will pop up next.  The comic book series is coming to an end soon.  #150 will be the final issue, set to publish in 2015.

On the Coffee Table: International Flavor

Title: Chew, Volume Two: International Flavor
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory

via Goodreads

The revolting yet exceedingly clever comic book series Chew continues in this second volume, collecting issues #6-10.  If you're new to the series, you can read my thoughts on Volume One here.  In International Flavor, the US government's ban on chicken meat leads our hero, Tony Chu, to the fictional South Pacific nation of Yamapalu where a mysterious fruit is being cultivated.  When the fruit is cooked, it tastes exactly like - you guessed it - chicken.

There are two story elements which I think will hold my long-term interest for a while.  The first is the budding romance between Tony and food critic Amelia Mintz.   The second is the various food powers belonging to some of the characters.  Tony Chu is a cibopath, meaning he instantly accesses the back story for anything he eats.  A couple of new powers are introduced in Volume Two:

• A cibolocutor communicates exclusively through cooking.  Entire Shakespeare plays or Verdi operas are translated into food.
• Another skill goes unnamed, at least so far: one character can, by eating a person, gain all of his or her specialized knowledge.  Yup, gross, I know.  That's Chew for you.

Chew definitely pushes my ickiness limits and, trust me, I'm a wimp.  But this series works and the story keeps me constantly curious about what's going to happen next.  I'm up for more.

On the Coffee Table: Chew

Title: Chew, Volume One: Taster's Choice
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory

via Goodreads

Okay, I will admit upfront that the premise for this comic book series is flat out disgusting.  Those of you who know the medium are likely already familiar with the critically-acclaimed Chew.  As for the rest of you, I shall understand your visceral repulsion.  That said, trust me: this one's good!

Tony Chu is a cibopath.  As far as I can tell, John Layman invented both the word and the concept.  A cibopath instantly accesses the back story of anything s/he eats.  As one might imagine (or prefer not to), that's quite a handy skill for a detective, especially when a corpse turns up.  I expect you can see where this is going so I won't belabor the point.  Envision a combination of The Dead Zone, Pushing Daisies and Silence of the Lambs.

Other characters have gastronomic powers, too.  The love interest, Amelia Mintz, is a saboscrivner, meaning she can write about her own eating experiences so accurately that the reader gets the exact same sensations she did.  As such, she's a highly effective and unusually dangerous food critic.

This was not my first exposure to Chew.  A couple years ago, I tried a single issue from the series and was too grossed out to continue.  But when Goodreads recommended it, I thought I'd at least try starting from the beginning.  Not unlike my experience with The Walking Dead, I was pleasantly surprised. 

So, why does Chew work?  Strip away the grody and it's a classic detective story.  The food quirks inspire an extra level of curiosity.    With Walking Dead, I made it through four trades or 24 issues before I'd finally had enough.  We'll see if I can do any better with Chew.