What do you think?
Rate this book
Chew Omnivore Edition #5
Chew Omnivore Edition Volume 5 by John Layman
This gorgeous oversized edition collects the ninth and tenth storylines of the New York Times Best Selling, Harvey and multiple Eisner Award series, as well as the beloved one-shot WARRIOR CHICKEN POYO. Collects CHEW #41-#50 plus WARRIOR CHICKEN POYO.
Unknown Binding
First published December 15, 2015
3 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
John Layman
807 books582 followersJohn Steele Layman is an American comic book writer and letterer. Layman is most known for writing Chew, published by Image Comics.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 30, 2016
On the one hand, I'm thrilled my library finally got this. You can't just stop buying a series in the middle! Not a super popular one. On the other hand, it wasn't as thrilling as I hoped. I didn't laugh out loud. I don't think I laughed. They just keep repeating the same jokes over and over again, just changing the punchlines. It's as if this entire book was full of "why did the chicken cross the road" jokes, but instead it's dozens of silly food-derived powers. Chicken jokes might have been funnier. It was way overdone and it didn't leave room for much else. Maybe they thought that they had to come up with big action sequences like in the movies and that was the way to do it, by introducing page after page of silly characters, but it wasn't fun. I read for the characters I care about, they're who I want to see on the page. If there are jokes, I'd prefer for them to be involved. And it was just too much with the new powers, after a while I couldn't read them anymore, I was barely skimming, it was too much. I think it must have been more fun to create than to read, I can see how the brainstorming could have been a blast. But they got where they needed to go in the end. And there were a few decent emotional moments. Not great, but OK. And I read that there will be a few more issues, so that's good, since we haven't gotten all of our answers to the big story arcs yet. I'll be tuning in as soon as I can get the library back on board!
edit: I forgot, as a ABC soap opera fan, actually a multi-channel soap fan, I appreciated the joke about the obnoxious TV show with the copycat name. I'm still amazed and resentful that they're a success. Soaps are remarkably like long-term comic universes like DC and Marvel, so my growing love of comics makes sense. Where else can you love your stories and characters for fifty or more years, lose your mind when they keep changing writers and other creative contributors who completely ignore history and change the entire direction of characters' lives, and wait with bated breath for the next installation of the story every day/week because you know it will be worth all of that loyalty despite all of the ups and downs? Sports is the only other thing that fits the same niche in my mind, substituting athletes, managers, etc., for the vital roles in the theory.
edit: I forgot, as a ABC soap opera fan, actually a multi-channel soap fan, I appreciated the joke about the obnoxious TV show with the copycat name. I'm still amazed and resentful that they're a success. Soaps are remarkably like long-term comic universes like DC and Marvel, so my growing love of comics makes sense. Where else can you love your stories and characters for fifty or more years, lose your mind when they keep changing writers and other creative contributors who completely ignore history and change the entire direction of characters' lives, and wait with bated breath for the next installation of the story every day/week because you know it will be worth all of that loyalty despite all of the ups and downs? Sports is the only other thing that fits the same niche in my mind, substituting athletes, managers, etc., for the vital roles in the theory.
June 10, 2024
4.1 (biblio) That plot!
August 27, 2021
"Poyo goes to hell." Your attitude to this phrase will predict your excitement about this book. For me the series jumped the shark two books ago and here it admitted it to yourself and started to cash in on the shock value. It's no Game of Thrones, though. So all these deaths didn't as much shock me as they made me dislike Layman and Guillory. Maybe I just don't find cannibalism as funny as they do.
March 7, 2017
Whoa, OMNIVORE edition! Have I bitten off more Chew than I can chew? NO! This is the awesome epic climax of the Vampire storyline as the FDA moves against the Lithuanian cibopath resulting in a bloodbath that includes Tony's daughter Olive. Tony reacts as you might expect, but in order to defeat them Vampire there's one thing he must do, one terrible, awful, no-good thing and he doesn't want to do it It all gets really, really bad-ass.
April 3, 2017
There aren't enough words to describe how great Chew is. The story, characters, setting and art style are all balanced remarkably well. There's rarely a dull moment; Layman and Guillory clearly have a well-tuned way of putting this all together.
The ending for Volume 5, specifically, left me scratching my head at where they could possibly go next, but even that aside, it's still excellent (and hilarious). If you're not onboard yet, go find Volume 1 and indulge yourself.
The ending for Volume 5, specifically, left me scratching my head at where they could possibly go next, but even that aside, it's still excellent (and hilarious). If you're not onboard yet, go find Volume 1 and indulge yourself.
May 13, 2020
Strong 2.5 to a light 3 / 5 stars
Just when the art style was growing on me, some plot points irked me enough to give this volume its score. And no, I'm not talking about being irked with the whimsical nature of it, that was fun to read-- certainly humorous, but more along the veins of whoa-what-will-the-author-cook-up-next kind of fun. Anyways, I feel like the whole rivalry between Mason and Tony was downplayed here despite it being one of the main points in the 1st volume. In my opinion, it certainly had potential but- to put it in a way- it first bubbled furiously to the surface only to fizz out into nothing by this volume. But there is still one volume ahead, so we'll see where that goes.
Also, Tony took kind of a backseat to Olive this volume. Which irked me slightly- because by the end it was still Tony who got to square off with the Collector. I must admit the fight was also a bit hmm-- anticlimactic. A tag-team, mentorship kind of climax fight would've been nice. Some major deaths during this volume kind of confused me too. Was that perhaps a bid for readers to take the series seriously?
The names for the various food-related abilities was also kind of a mouthful to read and kind of took away from the fun of analyzing and dreaming up of what the potentialities of each ability could be. Just a minor qualm of mine though. Still, a fun read. On to the next (and last) volume!
Just when the art style was growing on me, some plot points irked me enough to give this volume its score. And no, I'm not talking about being irked with the whimsical nature of it, that was fun to read-- certainly humorous, but more along the veins of whoa-what-will-the-author-cook-up-next kind of fun. Anyways, I feel like the whole rivalry between Mason and Tony was downplayed here despite it being one of the main points in the 1st volume. In my opinion, it certainly had potential but- to put it in a way- it first bubbled furiously to the surface only to fizz out into nothing by this volume. But there is still one volume ahead, so we'll see where that goes.
Also, Tony took kind of a backseat to Olive this volume. Which irked me slightly- because by the end it was still Tony who got to square off with the Collector. I must admit the fight was also a bit hmm-- anticlimactic. A tag-team, mentorship kind of climax fight would've been nice. Some major deaths during this volume kind of confused me too. Was that perhaps a bid for readers to take the series seriously?
The names for the various food-related abilities was also kind of a mouthful to read and kind of took away from the fun of analyzing and dreaming up of what the potentialities of each ability could be. Just a minor qualm of mine though. Still, a fun read. On to the next (and last) volume!
August 7, 2019
In which a (literal) twist of the plot changes the tide in the FDA's bloody war against the Collector. Should've seen it coming, but the penultimate panel of Book IX is quite a shocker. The FDA will never be the same.
IMHO, this volume is weaker than those preceding, even with the climactic Tony v. Collector fight. Our favorite cibopath spends most of the volume pissed off at Colby, which gets a bit old, even given a generous anger allowance at his former partner's reckless endangerment of Tony's estranged daughter Olive. Hopefully this is just a phase, like whiny Potter or petulant Skywalker.
Aside from this quibble, Chew continues to deliver. I love all the details and snarky text in the art. (Can you find the Indy in the refrigerator?) More outlandish, preposterously-named, food-based powers. And Poyo!!! side quests and special issues. Plus, ridiculous multi-million dollar agent upgrades, and the return of D-Bear!
But Layman, can't you give Chu a break? WTF with the flash-forward epilogue!? WAAAAUGH.
IMHO, this volume is weaker than those preceding, even with the climactic Tony v. Collector fight. Our favorite cibopath spends most of the volume pissed off at Colby, which gets a bit old, even given a generous anger allowance at his former partner's reckless endangerment of Tony's estranged daughter Olive. Hopefully this is just a phase, like whiny Potter or petulant Skywalker.
Aside from this quibble, Chew continues to deliver. I love all the details and snarky text in the art. (Can you find the Indy in the refrigerator?) More outlandish, preposterously-named, food-based powers. And Poyo!!! side quests and special issues. Plus, ridiculous multi-million dollar agent upgrades, and the return of D-Bear!
But Layman, can't you give Chu a break? WTF with the flash-forward epilogue!? WAAAAUGH.
June 3, 2023
(Zero spoiler review)
I'm kinda running out of things to say on this series, so unerringly consistent has it been from page one until now. Fifty issues in and barely a waver in quality. Barely anything more than a minor gripe or quibble to be had. Such metronomic consistency is far too rare a thing in this industry. Giving credence to that old adage of skill and talent, both from the writer and the artist. How telling a well thought out story from start to finish is something rather wonderful to behold. And how if DC or Marvel were behind this property, there would have been three different writers and five different artist by now. Like I said, this is far too rare a thing.
I'm no longer concerned with whether this book will shit the bed or not. They've earned my trust going in to the final volume. I'll be a little sad when its all said and done, although having a such a gem in the collection to re-experience whenever the mood takes me will be no bad thing either. 4/5
OmniBen.
I'm kinda running out of things to say on this series, so unerringly consistent has it been from page one until now. Fifty issues in and barely a waver in quality. Barely anything more than a minor gripe or quibble to be had. Such metronomic consistency is far too rare a thing in this industry. Giving credence to that old adage of skill and talent, both from the writer and the artist. How telling a well thought out story from start to finish is something rather wonderful to behold. And how if DC or Marvel were behind this property, there would have been three different writers and five different artist by now. Like I said, this is far too rare a thing.
I'm no longer concerned with whether this book will shit the bed or not. They've earned my trust going in to the final volume. I'll be a little sad when its all said and done, although having a such a gem in the collection to re-experience whenever the mood takes me will be no bad thing either. 4/5
OmniBen.
June 23, 2024
Forget riding into the sunset, Chews painting that sunset with an extra coat of dark red. I want to say more about this volume, I really do. It's by far the best set of issues of Chew I've ever read, but the catch is that you need to have read the majority of the previous issues for it to be as great as it is. It's why long form storytelling is so amazing because you can deliver issues like this. Now the anticipation is even higher for the final showdown. With a solid hook at the end to launch readers into the last 10 issues, the last issue of the volume may be the most satisfying issue of Chew in quite some time with just enough of a tease to keep readers coming back for more. Ultimately, fans of Chew are not going to be disappointed at all with the volume.
July 6, 2017
The number of "gifted" individuals continue to increase, and I must say, I am amazed at the imagination of the author! However, this volume has an overall darker mood and sombre tones. It is also more bloody and gruesome than previous versions; to be expected, given the progression of the storyline. The book itself is a great quality construction, stitched binding and the attached fabric strip bookmark. I really do like Image deluxe versions, since the product reflects the price. Instead of purchasing two trade paperbacks, the one deluxe is almost the same price, for much more.
March 21, 2020
The glorious thing about this volume is that it’s past the point of caring what it thinks. It’s just so purely Chew in all its glorious excesses, and watching Layman finish off a storyline as it rockets into the last leg is a nice bit of propulsion amidst the madness of having an FDA Director named Breadman who is just a guy made out of gingerbread and turning Applebee into a Cyborg Centaur and coming up with even more outrageous food-based powers that are treated as throw away ideas.
Really great.
4.5 Stars (rounded down)
Really great.
4.5 Stars (rounded down)
January 1, 2021
The focus of volume 5 of the Chew Omnivore Edition is the relationship between Tony Chu and The Collector, with only minimal reminders of chicken, fire-writing in the sky and doom. Admittedly, I was less taken with the story arc in this particular volume than I have with other volumes. Similarly character development was good overall- poignant moments were interlaced with those a little bit too silly for my taste.
However, the artwork works well with the writing creating a really enjoyable reading experience. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all ends.
However, the artwork works well with the writing creating a really enjoyable reading experience. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all ends.
May 25, 2021
Finally, Tony Chu encounters the Collector after he destroys his entourage. Things happen with Poyo! The plot is seemingly over, yet there’s several more issues. Now that threads are being connected, the graphic novel continues to prove both heartbreaking and hilarious. Can’t wait to see where it goes.
December 14, 2017
This has always been a quirky series but oh boy is it reaching new heights in this volume! Recommended if you like absurd humor, are not afraid of a bit of comic book violence and have a thing or two about food.
December 28, 2017
I did kinda see it coming but wasn’t certain. As always great art and story in a fun and funny world.
October 3, 2018
Starts to wrap up the series. Very much looking forward to seeing how it all ends!
February 20, 2020
It's running out of steam. The Poyo stuff is annoying.
April 6, 2020
A ton of Poyo in here, which I love, and the thrilling conclusion to Chu vs. The Vampire!
October 25, 2020
This omnibus leaves me confused. With everything that went down, this feels like the ending. It makes me wonder how this is going to wrap up.
December 26, 2021
Another rousing tale and a fitting end for a bad, bad man.
A rather less fitting end to a bad mamajama.
A rather less fitting end to a bad mamajama.
March 10, 2024
The Chew storyline just gets better with every book. Characters are outstanding, never a dull moment, beautiful panelling. Every page is perfect. Gush gush gush
May 21, 2025
Continues to be a good time that concludes some long-running plotlines.
December 22, 2016
Very colorful and clever comic love it
July 2, 2023
I love this horror/crime/fantasy/family drama comic series - only one more to go - boo!
June 9, 2024
It's like being on a really fun roller coaster, and you feel like you're about to be sick.
January 20, 2016
Every time I read a volume of Chew, it makes me want to read 10 more volumes of Chew. This omnivore edition feels like it's winding down. Some things are concluded (not everything!) but the story moves on and that makes me a) sad for the end, b) happy for answers and c) want to re-read all the things.
I'm glad to see some confirmation that Colby actually cares for Applebee, that was cute.
But noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Poyo!!!!!! I did like both the origin story for Poyo (which didn't happen) and the hell-sequences. Those were nice. But I am totally going to miss that crazy, badass bird. Why couldn't Tony have just taken a bite or something? I think if you'd explained it to the bird... Pfft.
So, yeah. It was great and now I want to re-read all previous volumes and I probably will. Because, CHEW.
I'm glad to see some confirmation that Colby actually cares for Applebee, that was cute.
But noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Poyo!!!!!! I did like both the origin story for Poyo (which didn't happen) and the hell-sequences. Those were nice. But I am totally going to miss that crazy, badass bird. Why couldn't Tony have just taken a bite or something? I think if you'd explained it to the bird... Pfft.
So, yeah. It was great and now I want to re-read all previous volumes and I probably will. Because, CHEW.
April 19, 2016
Another great book in the Chew series, and one that (seemingly) ties together a lot of long-running storylines. This makes me both excited and (very) concerned regarding what's to come for the next (and final) edition of the book that'll eventually be released. Additionally, this was one of the most emotionally-provocative books of the series, and I really went through a gamut of feelings from issue-to-issue. I wanted to cry as much as I laughed (and as for the teaser page at the very end... *shudder*).
February 12, 2016
If you like this series up to date just stop. This book was disappointing from how much I enjoyed the rest of the series. There's not terribly much that happens, and it feels like poorly written George R.R. Martin. However the art is beautiful, even though a lot of the more intricate pieces from the earlier books seem lacking.
April 10, 2016
Very good. The story progressed well and the characters have grown. I am excited to keep reading. Reviews of the previous volumes can be found here: http://raforall.blogspot.com/search?q...
September 5, 2016
Volume 5 is as action-packed as ever. Plot lines are resolved, heroes are cooked, thrown out, recooked and eaten and many bad guys are chomped upon. Only one more of these omnivore editions to go and they have been a most excellent way to consume the series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews