Hospital Food
Wait, I'm confused, wasn't Chew supposed to continually go in 5 issue arcs? Not only that, while I haven't read it myself, as far as I heard the experimentally early released #27 is part of the Space Cakes story arc. So why is this 'Part 1 of 1?'
So this is my first time reviewing Chew, because this is the first time I got an issue at the release date. I'd been casually interested in this series for a while, heard some good things, liked the premise, etc. So I got the first trade from the library, to see what all the fuss was about. And within a few short pages my mind was completely and utterly blown. This series is UTTERLY AMAZING. I toss around words like that to describe key great things, so at times like this I'm at a loss for words to describe just how 'above and beyond' something like this is. The premise is unique, and interesting, and could've worked out really well with a traditional 'food murder plot a week' kind of story, but John Layman is apparently WAY too good for that, because beneath the high concept appearance is a series with an INCREDIBLY right ongoing mystery, and some amazing writing skills. The pacing in this series is always among the best of the best, and Layman's ability to weave running jokes is second to none.
This issue is absolutely no exception. We get some very unexpected running joke continuations, but also a very serious and tender moment. The last arc ended on a pretty dark note, and this issue needed to take some time to deal with that, and reassures us in a very heartwarming manner.
And like bits of the previous arc, this time we're getting an interesting 'side' story headlining a different Chu than Tony, this time his sister Toni. I say 'side' in quotations because, let's face it, Chew doesn't HAVE side stories. NOTHING is not important in some way. In fact, most arcs aren't even straightforward arcs, they're a collected set of one-shot tales that connect to form one bigger picture story from beginning to end; and then those arcs are similarly weaved into the overall story. But it was really interesting to get one of these tales from Toni, though I think I enjoyed Olive's excursion from the previous arc more.
In Conclusion: 5/5
One of the reasons I didn't go back and review the rest of this series is that, besides thanosrules having that covered nicely, is that I honestly don't think it would be that productive. I don't think I would have given any issue anything but 5/5, and trying to blast through a bunch at once would quickly devolve into an amorphous blob of general praise for everything always in the series. Just... freaking... BUY CHEW. RIGHT NOW. It's got EVERYTHING. HILARIOUS comedy; storylines, concepts, and characters like NO other; a deeply rich setting; and some of the most concise writing I've ever seen.
