Spotlight on Graphic Novels: Chew #1

Posted on May 9, 2014 Updated on May 9, 2014

Chew #1 is available on ComiXology electronically or in print form here*. 

After a Bird Flu outbreak, the Constitution was amended. Now chicken is illegal. Tony Chu is a vice cop for the Philly police department. He’s sent in to examine D-Bear, a chicken smuggler with an underground chicken restaurant. But Tony is a cibopath and can see visions through the food he eats, and there’s more than just chicken in the soup.

Highlights:

• There’s a really great color palette in this series. Going back and forth between eye-catching color and muted, dark tones, the pages are stunning.
• The artwork catches exaggerated expressions and has  a great sense of humor and timing.
• The sense of humor extends to the writing and storyline. It’s funny enough to think about some guy walking around and seeing into people’s lives just by eating, but the characters all have humours names and proclivities. For instance, Tony’s brother is named Chow and went on a tirade about the chicken ban on national television.

Chew is funny and has a lot of room for growth. Be warned it’s pretty graphic as far as gore goes. It’s not for the feint of heart.   

*Amazon recently acquired ComiXology, but ComiXology’s current electronic viewing system is optimized for the comic. I don’t know if Amazon’s has been updated to host at the same quality.