Is there a more inventive comic universe than that of John Layton and Rob Guillory’s Chew? If so, I don’t know of it. The adventures of cibopathic federal agent Tony Chu, who can read the history of whatever he eats, have spiraled in ever weirder directions for forty-plus issues now, and its most recent omnibus volumes—Chicken Tenders and Blood Puddin’—continue that fine tradition.
Chicken Tenders is perhaps the weaker of the two volumes, but it’s still a great romp, with a heavier focus on the series’ badass battle chicken Poyo, a throwaway character who became incredibly popular. Meanwhile, Tony and his rabble of daring colleagues and rivals at the FDA are tracking down the vampiric Collector, whose super power—to absorb the abilities of others—has him scouring the globe gobbling up every food-based ability he can sink his teeth into. In Blood Puddin’, Chu ramps up his pursuit of the Collector, building inexorably to an explosive confrontation.
When I saw John Layton speak at Wondercon a while ago, he spoke to Chew‘s future: chiefly, that he has an end game in mind, and that issue #60 will be the last. Knowing it was all building to a planned finale only made me more excited about the title, and these two recent volumes continue to propel the series headlong towards that conclusion. Colorful, zany, weird, gross, highly entertaining, and surprisingly dramatic stuff.
