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84th out of 1,502 books
—
3,025 voters
Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice (Chew #1)
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 enf...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
November 1st 2009
by Image Comics
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OH…GREAT MAKER OF SWEET, SUCCULENT, GOOEY, GOODNESS, just when I thought that all of the inventive and interesting psychic powers had been used up and tossed away like my faith in the economy, the tasty brilliance of John Layman shines like a heat lamp in fast food burger joint bringing me…
In the future, after a “mysterious” and catastrophic epidemic of bird flu has killed 23 million Americans, all bird and “hoof” meat has been outlawed by the Farmland Security Amendment to the U.S. Constituti...more
In the future, after a “mysterious” and catastrophic epidemic of bird flu has killed 23 million Americans, all bird and “hoof” meat has been outlawed by the Farmland Security Amendment to the U.S. Constituti...more
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What if a bird flu pandemic wiped out a good part of the population and led to all poultry products being banned? Then the FDA investigators would suddenly become more important as people still tried to get their chicken fixes from somewhere. Enter investigator Tony Chu, who also happens to be a Cibopath meaning that when he eats things he gets memories off of the former living thing (he can do it off living things, too). He and his mentor are but a handful of such people in the world...more
"What if a bird flu pandemic wiped out a good part of the population and led to all poultry products being banned? Then the FDA investigators would suddenly become more important as people still tried to get their chicken fixes from somewhere. Enter investigator Tony Chu, who also happens to be a Cibopath meaning that when he eats things he gets memories off of the former living thing (he can do it off living things, too). He and his mentor are but a handful of such people in the world...more
11 likes · like · see review
Everyday, when late afternoon rolls around, my son asks me the inevitable question, "What's for dinner?"
If my answer is, "Chicken!", you can be sure it will be met by groans and hisses.
Chicken.
It's what you eat when you can't think of what else to have.
But, imagine a world where chicken has been banned by the government...
No more glorious fried drumsticks or spicy buffalo wings. No more roasted Sunday dinners with leftovers stretching into the next week. No more breaded nuggets, or even chicken...more
If my answer is, "Chicken!", you can be sure it will be met by groans and hisses.
Chicken.
It's what you eat when you can't think of what else to have.
But, imagine a world where chicken has been banned by the government...
No more glorious fried drumsticks or spicy buffalo wings. No more roasted Sunday dinners with leftovers stretching into the next week. No more breaded nuggets, or even chicken...more
7 likes · like · see review
Feb 16, 2013
Ronyell
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of Food crime stories!!!
Shelves:
6-star-reads,
american-hero-or-heroine,
best-books-of-2013,
book-series,
books-i-want-to-own,
drama,
fantasy,
favorites,
graphic-novels-comics,
gross-humor,
image-comics,
my-blog-reviews,
mystery,
politics,
read-in-2013,
reviewed-books,
strong-hero,
surreal,
young-adult-teen-books,
food-related-books,
john-layman,
eisner-award,
harvey-award
6 stars!
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 dram...more
5 likes · like · see review
I can’t think of any better way to praise this comic than to simply describe it.
A deadly plague has killed millions of Americans, and the official explanation from the federal government is a particularly nasty outbreak of avian flu. As a result, all domestic and game fowl have been branded as unfit for human consumption, and the production and distribution of poultry meat has become a serious felony. Enforcement of these new laws has fallen on the Food and Drug Administration, which has since b...more
A deadly plague has killed millions of Americans, and the official explanation from the federal government is a particularly nasty outbreak of avian flu. As a result, all domestic and game fowl have been branded as unfit for human consumption, and the production and distribution of poultry meat has become a serious felony. Enforcement of these new laws has fallen on the Food and Drug Administration, which has since b...more
Aug 27, 2012
Trudi
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
2012-reads,
crime-mystery,
graphic-novel,
love-the-premise,
series,
pulp-is-king,
urban-fantasy
Oh yeah, baby! Should I have taken this much pleasure from a cannibalizing FDA special agent who gnaws on dead things to solve crimes? Probably not, but nothing can stem the tide of my glowing praise for such an original story concept delivered with this much dynamic flair, humorous overtones and an underbelly of noir nastiness. Can you spell epic win? The action is punctuated by ripping dialogue and graphic art that puts you into the scene, no muss no fuss.
No disrespect meant to all you vegeta...more
11 likes · like · see review
Genius concept (cop who can suss details of a crime by eating the evidence), great dialogue/writing, and a fresh, vivid artistic style. Character interplay with his partner is fun and surprising, plots are fun and inventive. There's a little Hellboy here and some Garth Ennis sense of humour, but it's definitely its own animal - a bit feral, a little scruffy but a welcome addition to my family.
I think as much as anything, it's the combined love by both creators of the absurd - straight lines comb...more
I think as much as anything, it's the combined love by both creators of the absurd - straight lines comb...more
2 likes · like · see review
I discovered Chew thanks to Saga, another great Image comic and I have to say I was quite surprised by its quality.
Chew tells the story of Tony Chu, an FDA inspector in a future where poultry has been prohibited following a very deadly bird flu outbreak. Tony is a cybopath, meaning he can learn all kind of things about what happened to food just by eating it ( and if he eats meat from a human he learns everything that person has ever done..)
Chew is very innovative, it's funny, every issue manage...more
Chew tells the story of Tony Chu, an FDA inspector in a future where poultry has been prohibited following a very deadly bird flu outbreak. Tony is a cybopath, meaning he can learn all kind of things about what happened to food just by eating it ( and if he eats meat from a human he learns everything that person has ever done..)
Chew is very innovative, it's funny, every issue manage...more
This is actually wavering between 4 and 5 stars - maybe I'll see how much I like the later volumes, as I'm definitely putting them on my wishlist!
This is a darkly funny comic about a cop who can get a psychic sense of the history behind whatever he eats...so he ends up having to chow-down on some pretty disgusting stuff to solve cases.
Its a lot more than just a cool-sounding premise though. The production team backs that up with some fantastically unique art: I love the character designs and po...more
This is a darkly funny comic about a cop who can get a psychic sense of the history behind whatever he eats...so he ends up having to chow-down on some pretty disgusting stuff to solve cases.
Its a lot more than just a cool-sounding premise though. The production team backs that up with some fantastically unique art: I love the character designs and po...more
I devoured (ahaha) the first four volumes of this series in more or less an afternoon. I am pining for the next two. The concept is brilliant, and so malleable over the course of the plot that I'm always knocked slightly off-kilter by the places it goes.
Tony Chu is a CIBOPATH, meaning that when he eats things he gets a psychic feel for where they've been and how they've developed. He uses this power to FIGHT CRIME. Other food-related powers that make an appearance in this series: SABOSCRIVNER (s...more
Tony Chu is a CIBOPATH, meaning that when he eats things he gets a psychic feel for where they've been and how they've developed. He uses this power to FIGHT CRIME. Other food-related powers that make an appearance in this series: SABOSCRIVNER (s...more
Perkenalkan Antony Chu, kecuali kemampuannya untuk mendapatkan ‘penglihatan’ dari segala yang dimakannya, ia hanyalah polisi biasa di Kepolisian Philadelphia. Hidupnya berubah saat ia bertemu dengan Agen Mason Savoy dari FDA dalam salah satu pengintaian di sebuah restoran yang diperkirakan terlibat perdagangan ilegal.
Ketika sedang memakan sup di sebuah restoran, Chu melihat kilasan kejadian karena darah yang diteteskan sang koki ke dalam sup tanpa sengaja saat memasak. Dari situ Chu tahu bahwa s...more
Ketika sedang memakan sup di sebuah restoran, Chu melihat kilasan kejadian karena darah yang diteteskan sang koki ke dalam sup tanpa sengaja saat memasak. Dari situ Chu tahu bahwa s...more
Chew is the story of a vice cop named Tony Chu who is a cibopath. A cibopath is able to gain psychic impressions and information from whatever he eats, and there are only 3 of them in the whole world. Sometimes the information is trivial, such as where a particular apple was grown. Sometimes it is horrifying, such as when Tony is able to see the crimes of a serial killer chef who just happened to prepare the illegal chicken soup Tony is eating at an underground chicken speakeasy. Why is chicken...more
Interesting concept. The main character is Cibopathic, which means whatever food he eats he can see where it came from, i.e., if he eats an apple he can see when it was picked, or pork when the pig was killed. He's a cop in a futuristic society where the FDA are the biggest police force in the country and chicken is outlawed. It's interesting how these powers can help solve cases, occasionally even displaying cannibalism as a means to see into a man's past.
Besides the interesting premise, it's...more
Besides the interesting premise, it's...more
I really don't like detective stories. The trouble is, I enjoy urban and contemporary fantasy. This creates an issue since so much of both seem to revolve around a detective or some other form of investigator.
I think I take issue with it because it immediately gives the protagonist an easy framework for getting into trouble. It circumvents the need to have any real challenge that brings the character into the adventure.
Chew sidesteps this, because his status as detective is dwarved by the other...more
I think I take issue with it because it immediately gives the protagonist an easy framework for getting into trouble. It circumvents the need to have any real challenge that brings the character into the adventure.
Chew sidesteps this, because his status as detective is dwarved by the other...more
Chew is cool. The concept, the execution, the humor, the everything.
Some background: Tony Chu is a cibopath which means he gets psychic vibes from whatever he eats. Fruits and vegetables take him on a sensory trip from when they were seeds until Tony buys them from the grocery store. One bite and he knows what tree it grew on, what kind of pesticide was used, when it was picked. Everything. So you can imagine what it is like for him when he eats meat (which he only does for work-related purposes...more
Some background: Tony Chu is a cibopath which means he gets psychic vibes from whatever he eats. Fruits and vegetables take him on a sensory trip from when they were seeds until Tony buys them from the grocery store. One bite and he knows what tree it grew on, what kind of pesticide was used, when it was picked. Everything. So you can imagine what it is like for him when he eats meat (which he only does for work-related purposes...more
http://theprettygoodgatsby.wordpress....
This one's a little older (how sad that I think of 2009 as old!), but the moment I heard about it - and subsequently saw it on a shelf at work - I knew I needed to read it. A cop-turned-agent who can solve crimes by eating people? Yes, please!
Due to bird flu, the government has banned the sale of chicken. Instead, there are chicken-flavored products, but let's face it, there's nothing like the real thing. Tony Chu, an officer with the Philadelphia Police D...more
This one's a little older (how sad that I think of 2009 as old!), but the moment I heard about it - and subsequently saw it on a shelf at work - I knew I needed to read it. A cop-turned-agent who can solve crimes by eating people? Yes, please!
Due to bird flu, the government has banned the sale of chicken. Instead, there are chicken-flavored products, but let's face it, there's nothing like the real thing. Tony Chu, an officer with the Philadelphia Police D...more
My husband and I got interested in this from listening to a podcast in which the hosts had read and talked about this first volume of Chew, which includes the first five chapters of the ongoing story. It sounded weird enough to be to my liking and I wasn't disappointed (I love bizarre).
Tony Chu is an FDA agent who gets psychic images from anything he eats. As an every day food consumer, the only thing he can eat that doesn't give him any images are beets. When it comes to solving crimes, he'll...more
Tony Chu is an FDA agent who gets psychic images from anything he eats. As an every day food consumer, the only thing he can eat that doesn't give him any images are beets. When it comes to solving crimes, he'll...more
Chew ist ein Comic, der vordergründig in den heutigen USA spielt, allerdings mit kleinen Veränderungen. So hat die Vogelgrippe über 20 Millionen Amerikaner getötet, weshalb Hühnerfleisch nicht nur verboten ist, sondern auch drastisch durch eine Spezialbehörde der Regierung verfolgt wird. Die Hauptperson Tony Chu ist anfänglich bei der Polizei und wechselt später zu dieser Sepzialbehörde. Seine wichtigste Eigenschaft ist allerdings die Tatsache, dass er ein "Cibopath" ist. Mit dieser Fähigkeit ka...more
Over the years, crime novels and TV shows have played with just about every creative notion or whacky idea to differentiate their protagonists and move their plots along. Alcoholic private eyes. Gumshoes with Tourette’s syndrome. Investigators with photographic memories. Psychological savants and cops with ESP. Even detectives who can see and talk with dead people.
Now CHEW, a new book from Image, joins the game and raises the stakes with a concept that is fresh, funny, and occasionally disgustin...more
Now CHEW, a new book from Image, joins the game and raises the stakes with a concept that is fresh, funny, and occasionally disgustin...more
Chew is one of my favorite graphic novel series published today. It is clever, well plotted, has developed and interesting characters, and is satirically hilarious. It is a police procedural (like the 54 million on TV), but its protagonist Detective Chu work for the FDA. Since a bird flu out break killed millions of Americans, all poultry has become illegal, and the FDA has become the most important and influential of government agencies. Tony Chu is a chibopath a person who when tasting the foo...more
[It's possible that this is the best thing ever committed to the comics panel.]
Comedy in nearly any medium is notoriously difficult to pull off, but conveying humour effectively in the peculiar medium of comics seems doubly so. Any glance at your newspaper's comics page or editorial cartoons ought to bring enough evidence to bear on that score—if you still get a newspaper. Certainly there are successes, books and strips that routinely have even readers with well-developed senses of humour smilin...more
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I am thoroughly obsessed now. This graphic novel was freaking awesome!! Great story! Fresh, somewhat inpalatable, premise.
Set in the not so distant future where the avian flu has led to a black market chicken production and distribution (real and synthetic). The FDA is the ruling legal body with very special agents. Agents that are psychically connected to whatever they taste. Hence the tale of our protaganist begins.... I will be obsessively following this tale to its conclusion!
Set in the not so distant future where the avian flu has led to a black market chicken production and distribution (real and synthetic). The FDA is the ruling legal body with very special agents. Agents that are psychically connected to whatever they taste. Hence the tale of our protaganist begins.... I will be obsessively following this tale to its conclusion!
Aside from the hilariously bizarre premise involving food psychics and black market chicken, there’s a lot to love about Chew. First off, Chew is one of the few stories that doesn’t settle for being in one genre, but rather comfortably fits in at least three. If I had to describe it, Chew is a mixture of comedy and mystery with a healthy dose of science fiction. These qualities are brought into even sharper focus by Rob Guillory’s gritty, yet cartoonish art style, which will make you want to lau...more
Tony Chu (Chu/Chew geddit?) is a cibopath - someone who can get a psychic reading from a piece of food - that helps him find the culprit in any crime. If he bites an apple he knows where the apple was grown, what fertilisers were used, everything. If he bites a burger, same thing - except more horrific obviously. When he loses his police officer job for taking a bite out of a suspect and solving the case, he's hired by a small government body that sanctions his cannibalistic behaviour, and the s...more
1 like · like · see review
Okay, I'm not going to try to explain the plot, because it's way too complex. Suffice it to say that our hero is a cop who is also a kind of living, breathing, walking path lab and then some. Hence the rather graphic title: when he says he's going to chew on things, he means it. Now, this isn't profound, there are (as far as I can tell) no hidden depths, or significant sub-texts. What it is is a beautifully constructed, deliberately chaotic cop story with so many threads being juggled in the air...more
Awesome. JUST AWESOME.
Officer Tony Chu is a Cibopath--he can get "readings" off things he eats. He eats an apple and he can tell you what orchard it came from, if pesticides were used, and when it was picked. He eats a strip of bacon--and what he sees isn't a pretty sight. Through some unfortunate events (he chewed someone out in order to solve a case), he ends up being recruited by the Special Crimes Division of the FDA. See, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now the most powerful law e...more
Officer Tony Chu is a Cibopath--he can get "readings" off things he eats. He eats an apple and he can tell you what orchard it came from, if pesticides were used, and when it was picked. He eats a strip of bacon--and what he sees isn't a pretty sight. Through some unfortunate events (he chewed someone out in order to solve a case), he ends up being recruited by the Special Crimes Division of the FDA. See, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now the most powerful law e...more
Chu is a cibopath, which means he receives psychic impressions from whatever he eats. He suddenly "sees" its entire preparation process, or, sometimes, the life of the animal. Or person. This makes him an especially good (and disturbing) detective. A rogue finger is found at a crime scene, and to get to the bottom of it, Chu eats the finger. Or takes a bite of a dead dog to learn more about its owner.
I know what you're thinking. "Why David, that sounds repulsive! Why would you read such a story...more
I know what you're thinking. "Why David, that sounds repulsive! Why would you read such a story...more
Dec 14, 2010
Karin
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
graphic-novel,
comics,
cibopaths,
disgusting,
funny,
mystery,
chickens,
borrowed-from-the-library
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was close to being a 5 star book for me, but the art lets down a great story by being nothing more than par for the course. In fact, it's almost like the artist took "web comic illustration 101", as the panels all look like they came straight from a number of similar dot com comics such as Butternutsquash. Having said that though, the art is still very good and the panels are executed well. There's just so much of this style around that I felt saturated with it before I even picked up this...more
A "cibopath" who can get psychic insights from the food he ingests working for a covert branch of the FDA in a world where chicken is contraband sounds pretty cool and quirky, and in other hands, I could really get behind that concept, and yet Chew is most definitely not a comic for me. It's not the in-your-face violence and vomit -- that I can stomach. Why this book utterly left me cold is that the characters are wholly unsympathetic. Everyone in this world is nasty to his or her fellow human b...more
1 like · like · see review
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| Graphic Novel Rea...: Optional Book Club Discussion: Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice – Mar 19 to Apr 19 (may contain spoilers) | 16 | 76 | Feb 16, 2013 04:13pm |
