BNP at Home Recommends: Chew

Writer: John Layman / Artist: Rob Guillory / Image Many moons ago, at the start of what would be the longest March in recorded history, Image dropped the cover for a spinoff to a series that was very near and dear to my heart.

Hungry for more? @themightylayman serves CHEW fans two extra helpings: new spinoff series CHU this June, OUTER DARKNESS/CHEW trade paperback in July https://t.co/mOlARbPWor pic.twitter.com/nqGN5zXtLw — Image Comics (@ImageComics) March 6, 2020

Seeing the cover to Chew immediately triggered a flush of endorphins and nostalgia. I typically buy comics in single issues nowadays and on occasional will hold out for the trade because I don’t have the patience for collector’s, but Chew is one of those rare series that I was fortunate enough to find near the end of its run and managed to acquire the three beautiful, over-sized hardback covers of what is one of my personal favorite comic book stories.

The synopsis of Chew starts weird, but almost certainly gets weirder as each issue passes. The very basic premise is that Tony Chu, a Chinese-American detective, has cibopathy or the ability to get psychic visions from whatever he eats (as the above panel describes in a bit more detail). What the ever-loving hell does that actually mean? I’m glad you asked. It means if he eats a tomato, he sees everything that tomato has ever gone through. We’re talking from being a seed, being on the vine, being picked by a farmer, being hauled away in a moving van, and …