CAN TONY STOP HIS MOST DANGEROUS ENEMY? Presenting a new storyline of the New York Times Best Selling, Harvey- and multiple Eisner Award-winning series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals, and clairvoyants. Collects CHEW #46-50
LAST TIME, GUYS! now that i am all caught up on reviewing the chews (if not the other giant stack of pending reviews) i will hopefully be able to review them book-by-book as they come out like a normal person and not like the laziest person in the world as i have been up to now.
i will say that this volume was a little bit of a letdown, considering how strong chew 9 was. that's not to say there's nothing cool in this one, because there are some very big things that happen in realizations
and … other things
and somehow still more weird food-related powers popping up whose reveals get funnier and funnier as the series goes on and you think "surely this well has run dry!!" but no - the well provides.
but despite there being some closure to some storylines here, it felt a teensy bit fillery to me, and the whole "brace yourself for tragedy" thing these guys like to do in this series fell flat for me only because they already murdered my heart 4 books ago so anything after that is anticlimactic
but i'm still completely invested in this story and i'm not going anywhere. so, last lazy time, here we go:
i burned through all ten published volumes of this series in a matter of months, and while i managed a fairly coherent review of the first volume, i am overwhelmed by the thought of going back and reviewing volumes 2-10, trying to recapture that innocent mindset that didn't know what happened in subsequent volumes and trying to stay within the lines of the volume i'd be reviewing.
my hat is off to you serial comic book/graphic novel reviewers who are able to consistently churn out smart, comprehensive, and entertaining reviews that manage to discuss the book itself as well as its place within the larger universe of the series or character's existence.
i can't do that. i read these so compulsively and so quickly - like jamming cookies into a mouth that was already crammed with cookies - that it's just too much road to backtrack and too many metaphors to mix and since i have so many other books that i have to review, i'm going to take a totally cheap opt-out review path and just post pictures from each book that i enjoy for reasons pertaining to the plot, or just cuz i like the damn pictures.
and maybe now that i have to wait a couple of months until volume 11 comes out, i'll be able to do that one proper review-style, but right now - too full of stress and anxiety and just wanting to make this stack of books needing reviews go down LGM.
good things, big things, gingerbread things and more.
what will happen now???
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i know i still have to review volumes 2-9 of this, and this isn't going to be a proper review, either, but just a loooong groan about how i already burned through all of the published books in this series and now i have to wait until MAY to continue with the story and that is so UNJUST!
and yes, i read this volume while i ate an entire rotisserie chicken with my hands. like a fox in my own chicken speakeasy.
come and get me, tony chu...
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It’s been fun but we’re now onto Volume 10 (with at least two more volumes to go) and shit’s become formulaic, boring, and messy in contrast to the fresh and exciting earlier books.
I’m assuming you’re up on your Chew so if you’re not, spoilers ahoy!
Plot-wise, not much happens and, this late in the game, that’s unforgivable.
The fallout from the attack on The Collector is dire - Olive, Mason, Applebee and Caesar are in hospital and Poyo is dead. Tony and Colby are no longer bros and Tony gets partnered up with D-Bear for some reason. Middle middle middle and Tony goes up against The Collector.
This is what I mean by formulaic: John Layman basically has characters putter around for four issues and then gets back to the main story for the fifth and final issue to give the volume the semblance of an arc, before throwing in some random cliff-hanger on the last page. That’s what he did in the last book and the one before that (and probably the one before that but I can’t remember for sure).
There’s more weird foodie powers, more time-killing cases, and the space fruit and fire-writing plotlines are ignored again. Also, Layman can’t tell a straight story and jumps around from random flashbacks and flashforwards (there’s a panel from Chew #60 which is how I know there’s at least two more books to go) to scenarios that aren’t real and scenarios that are but don’t have any connection to anything.
And that last page comes out of nowhere - it’s a total non sequitur that annoyed me more than enticed me. It’s a jumbled crapfest of an approach. He’s always been a bit like this but after Blood Puddin’, I’m just fed up with his nonsense. Get on with it, man!
Layman does finally get around to resolving one of the major story threads in this book but the way it’s been dragged out this long - with other storylines still untouched - has been insufferable. My impatience overwhelmed the sense of satisfaction I think Layman was going for.
I still love Rob Guillory’s art though and the Poyo in Hell sequence was awesome, as are so many of the other pages in the book. Chew remains a really enjoyable visual feast.
Several books ago, I was excited to see the resolution to The Collector, the space fruit and fire writing storylines but after 10 volumes, with only one of those storylines resolved, my interest in the series has completely vanished. And that’s really sad as I used to love this title! I’ll probably check out the remaining collections once the series is done but for now I’m out - stick a fork in this book! Don't string on the fans and deliver scraps when you promised us a meal!
Look closely, and you'll see Cerberus peeing on Hitler's head, a box of 90's comics labeled "Superheroes with Mullets," and a special level of Hell reserved for flatulent airline passengers.
I see some reviewers are growing weary of the dragging-on-too-long plot lines and I suppose they have a point. Me? I'm so taken with the artwork, wacky food-related gimmicks and general weirdo vibe, I don't really care what's going on.
In this one, we meet the CREOSAKERER who can turn glucose and fructose molecules into machinery, leading to such nifty gadgets as the gummi tank and the jawbreaker cannon. There's also a dude who wears spaghetti to increase his muscle mass and golems made out of mashed potatoes. Even the sound effects made me smile.
WABAM! KLAPOW! SPLUTCH!
Yeah, I admit - I'm easily amused. This is the only series I buy instead of borrow, so let me keep on wearing my candy-colored glasses. I'll see this one through to the umami-flavored ending.
The cover of this 10th volume pretty much say what eventually happened here. Although it felt a bit rushed, at least, one major plotline in Chew has been resolved. The whole crew is up and running again (except one, but technically, he's still part of the group). D-Bear in particular is a breakaway character here by the way.
I kinda thought that what Toni told Tony on how to beat The Collector will still linger for a while, but this volume revealed it, humorously and straightforwardly. Moreover, the plotline that concluded here seemed more of a climax for Chew since all of the characters are emotionally invested with this story. This might be an indication that the last 10 issues will be more of a wrap-up arc than a climax, something that will resolve the fire writings in space.
At this point, I'm thinking that the best part of this series is in the past. And that's a shame, because parts of the series have been deeply imaginative, beautifully paced, and with engaging characters. But at this point, I'm kind of getting the feeling that Layman has less stories than he has issues remaining. He committed himself to going for 60 issues early on, but so much lately has been filler. Which is strange, because there's a lot of unanswered questions still. Granted, this volume does finally deal with the Collector, but most of the volume isn't about facing him at all. Instead, there's a lot of dithering about not actually doing that.
But there are still moments. The Poyo in hell sequences are funny, and it's a good send off to a character who'd been really fun at first but who was starting to get a little old. The means that Tony uses to fight the Collector make perfect narrative sense, and the confrontation is pretty awesome. There's still some good left in this book, and with only two volumes left, I'm definitely going to tough it out. But Layman is kind of running out of time with the alien fruit/fire in the sky/EGG stuff and he should probably get on it.
I really like this series. In this volume, the story concerning the "Collector" is brought forward and ends, with the characters that face the consequences of the failed attack in the previous volume and the relationships between them.
Gradually, the pieces go in their place, the visions had by Chew through her sister and the actions of Savoy and his band, will lead to the final confrontation that will take place between the “Collector” and Chew.
Despite its premature death, Poyo appears in some very funny pieces, emphasized by an high quality artwork that convey the right emotions for every situation. Exhilarating characters' expressions in comic situations, but also in moments of greater intensity.
In addition to showing us new subjects with powers concerning food, we see Tony joined in a couple of cases by an unlikely colleague: D-Bear. His presence carries hilarious situations, even if not always worthy of an FDA agent.
Now that this plot is over, I expect in the next issues to see how the mystery of the bird flu will end. Until now I am very satisfied.
My enjoyment of this series mainly revolves around the artwork. It makes me feel slightly nostalgic for an old PC game I played when I was little. Don't bother asking me why my goofy brain has made this connection. I don't even know, but there it is.
The point to this randomness is: I am enjoying the artwork but the overall story is starting to lose me. I get that there is some big reveal coming for the whole 'sky writing' thing but I am starting to not really care anymore what it is. I just want to see some more hypnotoad alternate reality / 9th level of hell with POYO / or something like that.
The Good: We finally get some plot threads resolved (Tony deals with The Collector); No Poyo issue. D-Bear as an FDA agent was a blast.
The Bad: The never-ending stream of food-derived powers is definitely getting tedious. The gingerbread man agent/director dude literally made my eyes roll.
2 more volumes to go. I'll be along for the ride, but - for me - CHEW has run its course. Turns out too much of a good thing isn't good for you.
Finally. The Showdown we've all been waiting for. Unfortunately...it should have gone down sooner.
The funniest? D-Bear returns, as Tony's new partner!! He's a breath of fresh (recycled) air.
The best? Tony becomes more powerful than you could ever imagine...and strikes down his enemy.
His enemy also gets a second dose of ass-kickery courtesy of the badass mofo Rooster Prince of Hell...Poyo! For eternity.
Then we get a stupid cliffhanger out of nowhere, to make people come back for more.
They should have left it where it ended, taken a break, and thought of more ideas. There's too much filler, like the last few volumes. It makes it feel like they're really stretching this as much as possible, which reeks of milking the audience, and doesn't make me happy.
My goodwill is not all gone, but when I get around to the next volume? It better be balls to the wall.
No food powers, no double,crosses, no new robot human hybrids, no stupid cults, sky writing, other Chu family members, no Poyo resurrection, no more Colby Chu breakups.
As usual, the story gets ridiculous pretty damn fast:
And that's *after* the Poyo fantasy sequence, de rigeur:
OTOH, the Very Serious is in play as well:
But super-silly is the name of the game 'round these parts:
What always cheers me up is how ridiculously illustrated this book is:
And then Layman and Guillory hand us a last page that makes them deserve to die in a carcinogenic tire fire. Fuck.
Pretty satisfying book, all in all. Thank christ they moved some stuff forward. It was getting excruciating in the last couple of books. Good news fellow Shallow Comic Readers - there's hope left in this series! Come back, it's redeemable! I swear.
One of the things I like most about comics in long form storytelling is the way their creators juggle all of the different and varying plotlines. For Y: The Last Man, Vaughan established every major plot line in a kick ass first issue and had them ebb and flow throughout the rest of the series all the way to the final arc. Sure, he introduces new complications throughout the run (Beth 2 being a prime example of this) that thread all the way to the final issue, but he always made sure that his plots were heading towards an inevitable end.
Chew takes a slightly more traditional approach. It's no secret that Layman considers Y: The Last Man as the standard bearer for the modern conception of a comic book epic (and rightly so: not only is Chew planned to end at issue 60 but Jason Aaron's Scalped also ran that long as well), but the major plotlines of Chew are all established in that book's very first arc with the mysterious skywriting, the avian bird flu conspiracy, Amelia Mintz, and the nefariousness of Mason Savoy. Other elements were introduced later (Olive, Poyo), but the majority of what will constitute the forthcoming Chew endgame were all established in that first arc.
That's never more clear than in this volume, which wraps up The Collector, one of the major storylines that's been threaded since the middle of the book's second arc. It's a bit of a surprise that he wraps it here (ten issues before the series' ultimate conclusion), but given that it isn't one of the original storylines percolating since the first issue, it's an inevitable and confident conclusion to something that, frankly, needed to happen. A culminatey fight between Tony and The Collector was always coming, and it was as exciting and wonderful as it should have been given the history between these two characters.
Oh, and it's a batshit crazy Cibopath fight. Gotta love that.
Where it's let down is the density I talked about in my last review. If Chew has a fault it's the way Layman needs to make things happen very quickly. That Tony forgives Colby within three issues of the cataclysm that was the end of the previous volume is rushed at best. That what Colby did at the end of the last volume ends up being a major plot point here doesn't change the fact that it's still a massively contrived decision that left me scratching my head for the majority of this book (and I won't spoil it because it's a pretty major spoiler for the series).
And yet, this series is still as wildly imaginative and glorious as it has ever been. This truly is one of my very, very favorite comics and I am excited for it to end even though that means I will have no more Chew. I am undoubtedly going to re-read the entire series going into the last volume (possibly the last two, haven't decided) because it really does bring me so much happiness and so much joy. Surely it will bring you joy. Because it is about as madcap, crazy and fun as anything I've ever read.
And seriously, Tony's boss is currently a dude named "Breadman" who is a living, walking, talking gingerbread man. Come on.
The Gelatusdefero eats Jello, to communicate with anyone eating jello. As I've been saying the book finely balances slap stick and dark humour. I probably should mention that Rob Guillory's art adds so much to the book with some great visual gags. Here's Rob: Feeling hugely betrayed, where's Chu to go next? A decidedly slightly off-kilter volume further distances my liking / respect for the main character. Interesting reading nonetheless. 8 out of 12.
I just love this series! In this volume, quite a bit happens - Tony even goes head to head against the Vampire. I love reading the ridiculous descriptions and catching the funny little things in the background. Plus, Tony powers up in just about the best possible way! If you haven't started this graphic novel series yet, what are you waiting for?
Things are really starting to feel stretched and repetitive now, but that doesn't mean that Vol.10 of Chew doesn't provide the fans with the entertainment and humor that it usually does.
The story is now building up the inevitable battle that continues to haunt the protagonist so far and the ending of this volume is pretty much everything you'd expect in terms of revelation! Hopefully, the final two volumes don't drag it out too much.
Chew, Volume 10 (or Blood Puddin') brings us right up to the last ten issues of the series. With just two more volumes left remaining after this point we see a much more pissed off and darker Tony Chu as his friendships are strained and the inevitable confrontation with 'The Vampire' comes to pass.
Volume 10 definitely keeps the pace that's been set by the previous volumes so far and we finally start to get some conclusions to these fun story-arcs.
This volume didn't surprise with its plot twists here, but it is rolling into the big finale now so there's a distinct feeling that we're well on the way for the set up for that here.
The quality of Rob Guillory's art has never wained throughout this whole series and it's impressive just how consistent his work has been throughout.
Overall, volume 10 is another great offering for the series, but with that said some of the story-arcs are starting to feel a little stretched out at this point now while we await the conclusions to arrive. If you've stuck with the series this far though, you won't be disappointed.
This long running series continues in Volume 10 with more action from Tony and the other detectives.
Fans of the series will be glad to see it brought to a resounding conclusion, with Tony going up against the Collector and using his special foodie powers.
There is also the excitement of a new partner as Tony is partnered up with D-Bear and the two of them solve some crime and take down a few enemies before Tony sees the light and returns to his old partner Colby.
Poyo is gone but definitely not forgotten and Olive steps up and finds her stride and regains her power.
It is quite a busy volume with glimpses of back stories and behind the scene stories but the authors manage to keep the pace of the comic flowing.
The art follows the tradition of the earlier volumes and the story concludes with a satisfying ending.
UGH, Blood Puddin'. Why must you do these things to my heart? When I finished this book, I wasn't sure whether or not it was going to be the last run of the series. Luckily, it's not, so I don't have to complain about some of the bigger plot threads that were left unwoven. But I CAN tell you that, if you haven't already done so, go back through each issue of Chew and look at any sign on a building, note on a bulletin board, or newspaper headline. Because I swear to shit that the funniest parts of this book isn't in the actual script-work but instead is in the ephemera and the drawings and margins. Like the sign on the dump that Tony Chu and his partner go to that reads "One man's trash is another man's home" over a passed-out bum. Is it cultural commentary? Yes. Is it sad? Yes. Is it hilarious? Also yes. Or the fact that at one point in time Olive Chu can be seen wearing a Bitch Planet t-shirt, making this comic one in which a meta-universe exists so that Kelly Sue DeConnick's amazing work can also exist within the universe of Chew! It's little things like that that endear this series so much to my heart?
What's the thing actually about? Can't really tell you, because it's fucking volume ten. But let's just say that some character's we've been both loving and hating for awhile finally get their due, all the way around. In general, much like with Fraction/Zdarsky's Sex Criminals, my favorite part of this graphic novel series may have more to do with the content's creators than with the content itself!
Chew never disappoints, ever. Even this far into the series, the hits don't stop coming as Tony finally takes on the Collector, and the fallout from recent events continues to unfold. The artwork remains hilariously funny and yet poignant and emotional as needed (See: the final page of the volume) and the story now has an ending in sight. With only 10 issues left, there are still some outstanding plot lines to be resolved, but I have every faith that Layman and Guillory will round them off to satisfaction.
GASP NO Yesssssssssssss NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO YES, SHIT YES!!!!!!
And then that final epilogue: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!