John Layman

Rob Guillory

When extraterrestrial script appears, Tony Chu, a federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from the things he eats, and the FDA descend into irrelevancy.

Flambé

Chew

"Originally published in single magazine form as Chew #1-10 by Image Comics"--T.p. verso.

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Meet Tony Chu. He is a cibopath. That means he gets psychic flashes into the past of whatever he eats. And more disturbingly, whoever he eats. Don’t worry, though, he only eats people to solve murder mysteries, and not because he enjoys it.

Successfully combining ridiculous humour, stomach-turning gore, and a politically-fueled murder mystery, this graphic novel definitely delivers fast-paced good times.

You can be sure that this is one food-related book that won’t make you feel hungry.

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4.5/5

Aviv Leo Zippin

One of those rare occasions where a book totally lives up to its hype in a great way

Cibopathic agent Tony Chu's life is finally looking up with a new girlfriend and new partner, but his ex-partner is still operating outside the law, intending to make good on his threats against Tony and everyone he cares about.

Just desserts. Vol. 3

Maggie Gordon

Amelia and Tony are now an item, and their first date is an FDA sting, bringing down some food criminals! Things are looking up for Tony until Savoy beats Colby up, Amelia finds a frozen toe in his freezer, and there's a family get together... Speaking of which, turns out Tony has a daughter? And a rather large family including a twin!

I enjoyed the expanded cast being added to the novel, and Toni, the twin sister, is an absolute delight! Also, readers get more POYO! and the chogs are introduced, the creepest cute mascot for a series ever...

Remember the alien plants? Well, things are getting weirder for Tony Chu. Now there's strange alien writing across the sky, a cult dedicated to spreading the word that chicken is doom, and Toni needs his help with some strange NASA doings... Turns out the chicken conspiracy might have some truth behind it, but Tony's too law abiding, good agent to see. With volume 4, Chew also starts ramping up just how many people have weird food powers in this universe, and each is weirder than the last!

Federal agent Tony Chu faces a cult of egg-worshipping terrorists who've declared war on the world's chicken consumers.

After Toni's death, Tony is in serious agent mode (hello fridging trope). He and the Vampire have a tete-a-tete, and Tony promises to bring him down.

The more interesting part of this comic to me was the interaction between Olive and her dad. In the earlier volumes, the narrative suggests that Tony's former wife was "crazy", but it turns out she had a brain tumor that altered her behaviour. And that scene where she cuts off her toe? A way of making sure that Tony and their future daughter can remember her fully! It's a surprisingly sweet scene despite the weirdness, and one of the more powerful ones of the series.

"Originally published in single magazine format as Chew #36-40"--Indicia.

Family Recipes

Chew 8

Toni is back! Well, at least cibopathic messages from her are back. In preparation for her death, she cut off a toe so that Tony could eat it so that Toni could tell him all her secrets about what's going on in the world (why she couldn't just do this when she was alive, I do not know...). In any case, she leads Tony on quite the adventure, which includes the necessity of eating some of the space plant cooked in hallucinogenic chog juice. Readers learn that NASA discovered a planet with life on it, but it was destroyed when the freaky alien writing appeared on it as well. 

This was a bittersweet volume, allowing readers and characters one last goodbye with Toni, and setting up for the final volumes of the series. The plot is ramping up, the mysteries keep getting stranger, and poor Tony never catches a break...

Chew, Vol. 10

** spoiler alert **
           Oddly slow moving for a climatic book. Tony and the Collector finally face off, and though the story takes its time getting there, the book retains it's odd, sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying vibe. It's nice to see Olive and Tony start to listen to one another, though I remain confused as to why should could not help in the final battle as she's more powerful than her father. In any case, onward to the finale!

"Tony Chu, the cibopathic federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from what he eats, is close to finding answers about the bird flu that killed millions. The only thing standing in his way is Mason Savoy, fellow cibopath, ex-mentor, and unrepentant murderer"--Back cover.

The Last Suppers

Chew 11

I really enjoy Chew and this penultimate issue had some interesting twists, but it wasn't a very fulfilling volume. I don't love the way that the series sometimes fakes out its readers, and it felt like nothing much of value happened aside from the one major plot event. I love this weird series, but I do hope the pacing evens out for the last volume.

"Chew is an American comic book series about a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agent who solves crimes by receiving psychic impressions from comestibles, including people."--Wikipedia, Chew page, viewed 6 March 2015.

Chew is some of the strangest fiction I have ever read. The whole food powers thing is really quite weird, but fun. But all good things come to an end, and Sour Grapes wraps up this long running series. The last major mystery that is left is the sky writing, and the way Tony has to deal with this is of course gross, but also heartbreaking. Well loved characters are lost and things all come to an end.

Unfortunately, it's not the strongest end to this series. Layman had a plan early on and I think it could have used some editing to make it better. Six volumes probably would have been perfect rather than twelve as everyone knew where the narrative was going long ago, and there were too many asides to indulge in needless stories for favourite characters. The very end was also... a bit frustrating given it felt like it nullified a lot of what had been done in the series overall. 

However, on the whole, Chew was pretty awesome. Weird, gruesome, and sometimes confusing, but a worthwhile read for graphic novel fans!

Ingrid 

This volume let me down. I don't really understand why they decided to take it in the direction they did. Maybe in a later volume I'll get it and think it was brilliant but right now I'm just let down. We've been following the whole story line of the chicken and now suddenly that's just completely pushed to the side. I must admit that I don't really get what's going on and that annoys me haha. Will I continue this series? Probably. I'm still curious to see how this is all connected. I do wish that the detective aspects in these books were bigger, but I do love the cibopath part. 

Least favorite so far, hopefully it goes up from here.

Omar AlHashmi

3.5/5

I was so close to giving this 3 stars, but the ending pushed it up.
If im being completely honest I'm not liking the way Chew is ending the series. I think the final two volumes are unnecessary and they could have added its stories before instead of wasting time on poyo and chogs. I dunno. It just feels like they are dragging it out.

Chew is finally over. Unfortunately it is not the end that it deserved. The series spent so much time focusing on "The Collector" and Tony's rivalry but that fight in vol 10 ended in like 2 seconds. And then volumes 11 and 12 was just like "oh shit. The whole chicken thing, we need to wrap that up" it just felt so messy. And the whole reveal at the end was pretty dumb to be honest. All of that crap because of chicken aliens? Really? I dont know. I just missed the soul that the series had in the first 10 series. It was unexpected and it was relatable. Anyway im glad its finally over. And i swear if they do a spin off with poyo im going to be so pissed. They milked it so much already. Anyway still one of the best overall comic series i have read even though i didnt enjoy the last two volumes as much.

It's been over three weeks since I've read a volume of Chew. I was so happy when i got volumes 7 and 8 and immediately went into this 7th volume. However...... It was, a bit dull, or I guess a change in tone. It died down a lot. And that is understandable because in volume 6 a huge thing happened in the end so its understandable to have this dulling down for a bit. Hopefully it will pick back up in the 8th volume. This is still going strong as my favorite comic series.

That epilogue....... Why...... Now we have to wait god knows how long till volumes 12 and 13 come out

Wow, its just getting better and better. It is still light hearted as it always was but things are starting to get heated up. Also its amazing how i hated the art in the first volume now its one of my favorite aspect of the series. 5/5

This series just keeps on getting better and better.

Well that was..... strange. Chew just took a page from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, because this volume was an acid trip. I liked it though, and it went back to its usual pace. Cant wait to wrap up this story.

Wren Hardwick

These are a little repetitive. And I’m kind of getting bored with it. 

We got a little background for Chu though.



And [surprise surprise] something else taste like chicken and blah blah blah.



Taking a break from this series.

 Bruna Acioly Leão

I liked this issue slightly less than the previous two, but still a fun series and interesting conspiracy theory stories.

This comic series is about Tony Chu who is a cibopathic federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from the things he eats. Which he uses to solve crimes. It is exactly as disgusting as it sounds, but it is also smart and fast paced and funny. If you like comics at all you need to give this series a try. 

This third issue we are still dealing with Savoy, Chu's rogue ex-partner and the Montero industries gets even weirder in trying to bypass the chicken prohibition law. We also get to see Chu's relationship with his new girlfriend and meet the rest of his family - and some surprises there.

This third volume is for me, a little weaker than the first two, but still really fun and I will be continuing on with the series!

Chew Flambé

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