Chew - bull with a bite

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Cover picture of Chew # 15 (2010)

Chew - Bull with Bite (Original title: Chew ) is an American comic series that has been published by Image Comics since 2009 . The series by author John Layman and draftsman Rob Guillory is made up of 60 booklets.

Location

Chew set in a world after allegedly by a bird flu strain caused pandemic , primarily in the United States . The US reacts to this by banning the distribution and consumption of all poultry products, and the powers of the FDA and the Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) are extensively expanded. There are growing voices, however, that the death of 23 million Americans (and 116 million victims worldwide) was not actually due to bird flu and that the government only used it as an excuse to curtail civil rights.

In the world of Chew , supernatural abilities manifest themselves in a relatively large number of people, commonly referred to as "superpowers" in comics, but here provided with pseudoscientific "technical terms", all of which have to do with food.

characters

  • Tony Chu is a "cibopath", which means that he can make psychic contact with his food. When eating a fruit, he can not only recognize the brands of the pesticides used, but also the location and circumstances of the growth and much more. The ability goes so far that he can convict murderers if he bites them or their victims. In addition, “cibopaths” can acquire certain abilities from their “food”, at least if it is of human origin. In principle, any organic evidence from Chu can be analyzed orally, with the exception of beets. As long as it is not necessary for work, he primarily feeds on beets. Chu started his career as a police officer in Philadelphia but is soon assigned to the FDA on the show.
  • Mason Savoy is also the "Cibopath" responsible for Tony Chu's move to the FDA. However, he is convicted as a murderer, which is why he has to leave the authorities and flee.
  • John Colby is Tony Chu's partner, only in the police force after he was seriously injured in the last joint mission and kept alive with cyborg technology, also in the FDA.
  • Amelia Mintz is "Saboscrivner". Her special ability, which she also knows how to use as a restaurant critic, is to be able to describe the taste of food so accurately that the reader can taste it himself. Tony Chu falls in love with her immediately, not only because she enables him to experience the enjoyment of food undisturbed by the undertones that arise in him.
  • Chow Chu is Tony's oldest brother and a celebrity chef. At times he had his own television program, which was discontinued when he claimed live after the establishment of “chicken prohibition” that the bird flu was a hoax. Chow also buys chicken at the black market whenever and wherever possible.
  • The vampire is not a real vampire, but another "cibopath" who has filed two teeth off in order to appear as a vampire. He sees himself as a collector and kills other people in order to suck out their blood and thus acquire their talents. Most people think he's Russian, but he's supposed to be Serbian.
  • Director Applebee is Tony Chu's manager at the FDA. He doesn't like him but is nicer to him after John Colby slept with him.

action

Funeral feast

Tony Chu and John Colby, while still policemen, observe a "chicken whisper bar" in anticipation of the well-known dealer D-Bear. Savoy intervenes, explains to both of them that D-Bear is under special protection by the FDA and invites them to make amends for a meal in the whisper bar. Chew uses the food to unmask the sous chef , who cut his finger during preparation, as a serial killer. In the course of the arrest, Colby is thrown in the face with a meat cleaver, and Savoy has Chu transferred to the FDA.

While investigating a missing health inspector, Tony notices Amelia Mintz twice and falls in love with her spontaneously: first in a burger joint where one of the inspector's fingers has appeared, then in a miserable sushi bar run by Yakuza . Mintz has had problems at work since she mostly visits the worst places. Applebee sends Tony to arrest her after vomiting, like all the readers of her previous column. Meanwhile, a group of militant EGG activists who want to blackmail the government into giving up Prohibition occupy their newspaper and take Tony hostage. Amelia is able to put her out of action with her gift and, before Tony can speak to her, flies to the island of the governor of a Pacific state, who has shown her a strange fruit.

The death of a senator brings a project funded by Chew and Savoy into the focus: a polar station with a telescope that has been observing a planet 24 light-years away for years, on which life should be possible. You go there just in time to witness a Russian killer kill the staff, supposedly on behalf of a certain vampire. At the same time, the planet goes out in the starry sky of the earth. Twenty-four years earlier, the inhabitants of this planet witnessed strange letters appearing in the sky, causing the planet to explode.

A mafioso dies during a raid on a chicken store, whom Tony can identify by the taste of his blood as the man who chopped off the finger of the health inspector. Cho is somewhat unsettled about his vision; and so he overcomes himself and later bites into the corpse of the inspector's dog, which was secured and vacuum-packed by forensics. So he is certain that Savoy killed the inspector and confronts him. He claims he only infiltrated the FDA to get to the bottom of the truth and is able to escape.

Ready for the island

John Colby has recovered using cyborg transplants, which cover the half of his face and contain computer technology, and as a partner of Tony has also been assigned to the FDA. When he is arrested, Tony costs the gumbo that the gang cooked with supposedly finest chicken after a supposedly successful coup. He identifies the chicken as vegetable, the strange fruit from the Pacific island.

Tony flies to the island on his own initiative, together with his brother Chow, who was invited by the governor as one of several prominent chefs. After Tony had a violent clash with a close combat expert from the USDA in front of witnesses, she was killed by the so-called vampire and her pet, a rat, sucked out. Tony is locked up on suspicion of killing the agent, but rather as a ruse by the police chief, who himself does not believe in Tony's guilt. Rather, he makes use of his abilities to track down the award-winning kidnapped fighting cock Poyo. While tasting the raw fruit, called galsa berries, Tony tastes "the universe".

While Amelia is being held on the island against her will on the orders of the governor, Tony examines other victims of the vampire in the pathology, all of whom have bite wounds. The police chief has meanwhile left the island with Poyo. John struggles to keep Tony's unauthorized investigation into foreign territory a secret from Applebee and sleeps with him to appease him. Tony advances into the area where Amelia and some cooks are being held. He frees Amelia and Chow, the latter against his will, because he is enthusiastic about the plant. The vampire, on the other hand, is targeting another celebrity chef. He is committed to freeing him but instead bites him to death. In truth, the "vampire" is also a cibopath, but he makes use of the myth, has filed two teeth and draws his knowledge from the blood of the victims. Food industrialist Ray Montero crossed frogs with chicken DNA and sent his supposed employee Caesar to the island to eliminate competition from crops. With the support of local chicken farmers, he burns down the plantation with the new crops, but he does not follow his boss's instructions to shoot Tony. The failed governor commits suicide. Back home, Tony notices that Applebee is suddenly friendly to him. He also succeeds with Amelia, who agrees to go on a date. She has a little galsa berry plant on the window sill in the flower bed.

Served ice cold

Tony gets a strange call from Caesar, in which he reports as a spy who has to come from the cold , which Tony does not understand. The date with Amelia mutates into a covert operation in an illegal gala dinner in which Amelia is taken hostage. Tony shoots the perpetrator, Amelia, who is soiled with blood all over her body, then sleeps with Tony.

The former police chief of the island state is found dead. With the support of D-Bear, the murderers can be tracked down and Poyo freed. Amelia gives Tony and John an article she wrote about an artificial chicken substitute about "tasting", John doubts that it is artificial, and Tony analyzes the product as "Fricken" (Frog + Chicken). This is followed by a raid on producer Montero for illegal research on chicken DNA, in which Caesar knocks his boss out and reveals himself as an undercover FDA investigator. He was apparently not informed that Savoy, his only contact who knows his true identity, no longer works for the FDA, but is actually spying on Tony for him. He meets Savoy and tells that Tony could be dangerous for him. Savoy then decides to kidnap Tony's daughter Olivia. Tony wants to introduce Amelia to his family on Halloween. Except for his twin sister Toni, no one welcomes him, but he jumps over his shadow and does not report anyone for the illegal turkey that Brother Chu has prepared. The feast is disturbed by the appearance of a large, strange script in the sky, the same one that announced the destruction of the distant planet 24 years ago.

Flambéed

The writing in the sky puts the surveillance of poultry prohibition in the background and means that NASA, where Tony's sister Toni works, suddenly becomes the most important and highest-budgeted agency in the United States. Since John gets drunk in the face of the apocalyptic sign, Tony and Caesar see the FDA agent Daniel Migdalo. He can increase his intelligence by taking in food, but has now turned into a fat colossus, whose genius overwhelms his mental powers and who attacks the two colleagues. He rushes out the window, Caesar warns Tony not to try it, but secretly takes a sample for Savoy.

A general in North Korea threatens to detonate a bio-weapon in view of the signs in the sky. The USDA, whose agents are all female and have an animal with a glowing red cyborg eye as a partner, sends a suicide mission to stop him. Since director Applebee only wants to get rid of Chu and Colby lately, he lends them to his "colleagues" for support. They are supposed to ignite the ultimate weapon in an emergency, which they carry in a box. The job fails because the night sky is brightly lit by the writing. Chu activates the weapon and Poyo emerges from the box, who rips the general's heart out of the body.

Toni Chu causes her brother Tony to take on a job at her side in Area 51 , where NASA hides, among other things, radiation-damaged babies that have degenerated due to weightlessness, whose conception they had induced in a space station in the face of the pandemic. She already suspects that an employee there wants to sell weapons to EGG and can now confirm her knowledge by biting the traitor. She has the ability to predict the future of living people or animals if she bites them, but wants to keep it a secret from NASA. The main reason she lured Tony onto the premises was to make him take her "investigation" on his head.

Mason Savoy tasted a tiny sample of Migdalo's corpse and fell into a delirium with visions about the heavenly writing for days. When he wakes up, the signs are gone. Alani Adobo, a woman who fled the Pacific island on a boat and ate only galsa berries for 40 days, predicted this event to the minute. She claims to have read the scriptures in the sky and written it down in a book, and has started a cult that condemns eating chickens. Tony and John sneak into the cult community to steal the book. They are successful with it, but in the meantime Adobo has poisoned their followers and escapes them. The writing is just as illegible as the signs in the sky. Meanwhile, Savoy kidnaps Tony's daughter Olivia as he hopes she will be a possible ally.

First League

Tony is kidnapped by a former lover of Amelia. The sports reporter has been planning a book about the secret sex life of former baseball greats for a long time and feeds Chu body parts from them so that he can tell him their bed stories. But Amelia tracks him down when he mentions to her that Tony has disappeared and is giving himself away. Tony is finally able to free himself and kill him with the hard throw of a baseball, an ability that he has acquired by eating the dead stars. Then he collapses in Amelia's arms.

Olivia is initially unruly towards her kidnapper, but ultimately accepts Savoy as a teacher and is then released by him. She also seems to be gifted cibopathically, but on a higher level: she can already read certain information from the aroma of food. But Savoy is unsure whether she doesn't have other, hidden talents. The first time they go together, they prevent the vampire from acquiring the ability of the Xocoscalperen Hershel Brown, a person who can recreate objects made of chocolate that are fully functional. Brown is cut in half by his own chocolate laser pistol, while Olivia, who is next to him, can avoid the laser beam, as Savoy had previously given her the blood of a karate world champion.

John Colby has meanwhile been transferred to the USDA for a long time and assigned to a Leo as a partner. His elderly boss, director Peñya, bullies him just like Applebee recently and he makes her submissive, just like the FDA boss before. After he has slept with her, she is well-disposed towards him for the time being and gives him her best agent as a partner: Poyo.

Space biscuits

Tony is in a coma after Toni bit him, but she knows that he will recover. She also bites Paneer, her supervisor at NASA, after sleeping with him to see if their relationship has a future. She thinks not. He confirms that and scolds her as crazy. They later reconcile, Paneer proposes marriage and lets himself be bitten a second time. Tomi assumes that she knows he really loves her, but is sad because she saw that the vampire will kill her. That's why she only eats beets for the remaining time. The vampire actually kidnaps and kills her but cannot absorb her ability.

Stylistic

Recurring motifs

With Chew , certain motifs are deliberately repeated. In particular, this applies to the way in which individuals, places and also circumstances ("Tony Chu was kidnapped") are introduced. These introductory sequences each go over one page, emphasize a narrative style in the third person more than usual in the series and usually begin with a black panel . They are also repetitive in terms of content. For example, on such pages in issues 1, 2, 11, 12 (together with Amelia Mintz), 21 and 23 Tony Chu is introduced mainly through his ability as a cibopath. Up to and including issue 30 there were pages designed in this way in every issue except for numbers 15 and 30. These two issues each conclude a quarter of the series and have a three-page cover motif, so that this special position could possibly also be found in issues 45 and 60.

Another recurring motif is a splash panel that shows a bed from above with two people sleeping together. Most of the time, the person on the left lies asleep on their side, with their back turned to their partner, who lies on his back with his eyes wide open. See on the last page of issue 9 (John Colby and Director Applebee), 11 (Amelia Mintz and Tony Chu) and 23 (John Colby and Director Peñya). In the last example, the situation is varied slightly, as Colby is only pretending to be asleep. In the sixth anthology, Toni Chu and her superior Paneer are shown for the first time twice in such a picture and not at the end of the episode. In volume 26 Toni also pretends to be asleep, in no. 29 they are both awake, facing each other and forming an almost heart-shaped figure.

The sensual perceptions of a cibopath are sometimes represented as a tile-like background, sometimes with repeating individual images, sometimes similar to a mosaic.

characters

In the beginning, when designing Tony Chu's appearance, the intention was to portray an American of Asian descent as unstereotypically as possible. Mason Savoy is characterized as the "love child of Orson Welles and a grizzly bear". Outwardly, Caesar is reminiscent of Samuel L. Jackson. This is not proven, but probably not a coincidence in view of the cover picture of issue 13, which is a parody of Pulp Fiction . His hairstyle is not particularly similar to Jules Winnfield's curly hair, even if he wears a black suit like him.

Others

The faces of extras are sometimes reduced to the cross lines with which draftsmen first determine the proportions and which are usually only used for preliminary drawings.

The cover of Chew # 15 pays homage to The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci . Guillory first sketched the motif in Milan.

publication

The series was rejected by some publishers, including the DC imprint Vertigo . It has been published by Image Comics since June 2009 , initially in magazine form. In July 2009, # 1 was reprinted for the first time in black and white in the regular issue of The Walking Dead # 63, which increased awareness of the series. The first two issues were in their original form in the fourth edition, the third still in the third. Issue # 27 was first published between issues 18 and 19. So far, 39 of 60 issues have been published. The end of the series was certain for the authors from the start.

Anthologies are available in three copies, each comprising five, ten or twenty issues. The first two books with five issues were listed on the New York Times comics bestseller list.

The German version follows the issue with five issues each and has been published by Cross Cult since December 2010 . Delcourt publishes the series in French and BAO Publishing in Italian.

Offshoots and crossovers

In July 2012, the offshoot Chew: Secret Agent Poyo # 1 was published , a single story that was reprinted in the sixth volume of the main series as an interlude after the second issue. A crossover with the Revival series, also published by Image , has been announced for May 2014.

reception

Chew won the Eisner Award in both 2010 for “Best New Series” and 2011 for “Best Continuing Series” (best ongoing series) . In 2010, the comic also won the Harvey Award in the “Best New Series” category, and illustrator Rob Guillory in the “Best New Talent” category .

The comic was reviewed in the Tagesspiegel on the occasion of the German publication of volumes 1 and 3. After Marco Beringer consistently praised the amusing, cross-genre surprise success in the light-footed semi-funny style , Thomas Hummitzsch also found weaknesses in the overarching narrative . In the Taz, Waldemar Kesler describes the semi-funny style as an anatomical misunderstanding: “ Diseased bloated bellies are on spiky legs. “He sees this, however, as a quality feature of the comic, as well as the general fun of facing the disgust of the matter.

Bibliography of the German editions

  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: funeral feast (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Band 1 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-942649-18-6 (American English: Chew. Volume One: Taster's Choice . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 1–5).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Ripe for the island (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Band 2 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-942649-19-3 (American English: Chew. Volume Two: "International Flavor" . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains volumes 6–10).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Served ice cold (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Ribbon 3 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-942649-20-9 (American English: Chew. Volume Three: “Just Desserts” . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 11–15).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Flambéed (=  Chew - bull with bite . Band 4 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-942649-21-6 (American English: Chew. Volume Four: Flambé . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 16–20).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: First League (=  Chew - bull with bite . Band 5 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86425-130-6 (American English: Major League Chew. Volume Five . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 21-25).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Space biscuits (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Band 6 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86425-131-3 (American English: Chew. Volume Six: Space Cakes . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 26-30 and Chew: Secret Agent Poyo issue 1).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Rotten apples (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Band 7 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86425-132-0 (American English: Chew. Volume Seven: Bad Apples . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 31–35).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Family recipes (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Band 8 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-86425-133-7 (American English: Chew. Volume Eight: Family Recipes . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 36–40).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: breast or club (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Ribbon 9 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-86425-375-1 (American English: Chew. Volume Nine: Chicken Tenders . Translated by Marc-Oliver Frisch, contains issues 41–45).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: blood sausage (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Ribbon 10 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-86425-376-8 (American English: Chew. Volume Ten: Blood Puddin ' . Translated by Annika Klapper, contains issues 46–50).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: The Last Supper (=  Chew - Bull with Bite . Band 11 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-86425-377-5 (American English: Chew. Volume Eleven: The Last Suppers . Translated by Annika Klapper, contains issues 51–55).
  • John Layman, Rob Guillory: Saurer Apfel (=  Chew - bull with a bite . Band 12 ). Cross Cult, Ludwigsburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-95981-577-2 (American English: Chew. Volume Twelve: Sour Grapes . Translated by Annika Klapper, contains issues 56–60).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Layman, Rob Guillory: Taster's Choice (=  Chew . Volume One). 2nd Edition. Image Comics, Inc., Berkeley (California) 2011, ISBN 978-1-60706-159-5 , Making of CHEW # 15 Cover, pp. 126 .
  2. ↑ Chew (2009) - # 13 "Just Desserts (Part 3 of 5)". ComicBookDB, accessed February 28, 2014 .
  3. ↑ chrisstahmer: How to Draw a Face !!! Drawing Lessons: Face Drawing Course. (Flash) YouTube , June 14, 2012, accessed on February 28, 2014 (approx. From 1'09 "to 1'39").
  4. ^ A b John Layman, Rob Guillory: "Just Desserts" (=  Chew . Volume Three). 1st edition. Image Comics, Inc., Berkeley (California) 2010, ISBN 978-1-60706-335-3 , Making of CHEW # 15 Cover, pp. 140 .
  5. ^ A b Marco Behringer: Thriller satire. Morbid food. Der Tagesspiegel , February 12, 2011, accessed on February 27, 2014 .
  6. ↑ The Walking Dead (2003) - # 63. Fear the Hunters, Part Two. ComicBookDB, accessed February 27, 2014 .
  7. ^ Chew (2009). ComicBookDB, accessed on February 27, 2014 (English, to open the different editions you have to click on the plus signs).
  8. ↑ a b George Gene Gustines: Graphic Books Best-Seller List: Casting About. The New York Times , January 15, 2010, accessed February 27, 2014 .
  9. ↑ George Gene Gustines: Graphic Books Best-Seller List: Food for Thought. The New York Times, July 2, 2010, accessed February 27, 2014 .
  10. ↑ Chew - bull with a bite. German Comic Guide, accessed February 8, 2014 .
  11. ^ Chew: Secret Agent Poyo (2012). ComicBookDB, accessed February 27, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Kat Salazar: Tony Chu wants to stir things up in Wisconsin in CHEW / REVIVAL. Image Comics, February 12, 2014, accessed February 27, 2014 .
  13. ↑ Eisner Award Recipients 2010 - present comic-con.org, accessed on February 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ 2010 Harvey Awards ( Memento of the original from November 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. harveyawards.org, accessed February 2, 2014.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.harveyawards.org
  15. ↑ Thomas Hummitzsch: satire comic. Doubtful delicacies. Der Tagesspiegel, May 31, 2012, accessed on February 27, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Waldemar Kesler: "Chew" - the comic about the dioxin scandal. Alone against the chicken mafia. the daily newspaper , January 31, 2011, accessed on February 28, 2014 (according to Perlentaucher from the print edition of January 29, 2011).