Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Chew #9
Image Comics
Layman & Guillory
This issue heats things up for Tony Chu and those around him as he begins to unravel the mystery. While this issue moves quickly through the plot it isn’t light on the humor or the in-your-face visuals. It’s another fun issue of a terrific series all about a guy who has the ability to eat something and see everything that object’s ever lived through before.
The comic book begins as we are shown the gist of the plot. Essentially this little guy, The Governor, is running a compound on the Island with some various food folks of fame held captive for his own pleasure. It’s not entirely clear what his ultimate end game is here but it’s clear many of his captives fall right in line, either personally or professionally, with Tony Chu.
Meanwhile, Tony’s partner, John, continues to cover for him with their boss Applebee. Tony is still AWOL and cases are mounting up back home for Tony’s special skill of eating things and solving the cases. During this sequence Tony reveals his information about the dead bodies on the vacation Island. Apparently Tony isn’t the only one searching for the Governor’s compound as a vampire, yes a vampire, is also in on the hunt.
The remainder of the comic book is basically Tony trying to figure a way into the compound and then trying to get back out with his friends and/or colleagues. The ending of the comic definitely makes the finale of the arc a “can’t miss” issue from the looks of the cliffhanger.
The comic book isn’t as flashy as some of the previous issue with the plot twists or character traits being revealed. This comic works well because it gets back down to storytelling basics. However, it stays true to its characters as Tony behaves as you would expect him to act while infiltrating a compound instead of, say, how Captain America would go about it. The comic book is also at its best when it makes you laugh every couple of pages and this ties directly into the artwork.
The artwork conveys the humorous parts very well. Whether it’s just a sign in the background about Savoy being banned from the FDA morgue or final page’s grizzly image of Applebee in a precarious position, the comic book is littered with items that will make you laugh. The art is also tremendously consistent as none of the panels are missing any level of detail that this series has produced. It’s difficult not to appreciate this issue simply by looking at the pictures.
Chew is on a roll and this arc looks to be another winner as it enters the finale. I definitely recommend this comic book for someone looking for something different that has a little cops and robbers mixed with some science fiction, and, apparently, vampires. If you are reading this review you are probably already very informed about this series so just add this to the rest of the praise the series is receiving.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
