Review: Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory

Title: Chew vol. 1: Taster's Choice
Author: John Layman
Artist: Rob Ruillory
Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: November 1st, 2009
Page #: 128
ISBN: 1607061597
Acquired: Purchased

Amazon, Goodreads, series website











From Goodreads:

Tony Chu is a detective with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he's a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn't mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why. He's been brought on by the Special Crimes Division of the FDA, the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet, to investigate their strangest, sickest, and most bizarre cases.
Collects CHEW #1-5.

I've been staring at my draft page for this review for a while now, having put off writing it for two weeks after I devoured volumes one and two, no pun intended, as quickly as I could. You'll have to forgive all of the eating puns, but Chew is very much like your favorite food. It's indescribable, and whether or not everyone loves it as much as you do doesn't matter because you will still go and tell your family, your friends, and any person who asks just how much it satiated you.

Chew is one of those stories that can only be told in comic form. I've been turning to comics more and more often because the stories are grittier, more mature with a hint (or in the case of Chew, bucketloads) of quirkness that you can't always find in novels.

I can't really describe Chew for you, and I know that me just telling you "Go read this," won't be enough for the people that follow this blog for the young adult novels. YA and comics like Chew don't mesh well, I can't remember the last time I read a young adult novel that gave me the same strange, obsessive, slightly nauseous (in a good way) feeling that Chew gave me. All I can do is ask you to step out of your comfort zone just this once and give it a shot.

Five stars!