Chew Vol 9: Chicken Tenders

Title: Chew Vol 9: Chicken Tenders

ISBN: 9781632152893

Price: $14.99

Publisher/Year: Image, 2015

Artist: Rob Guillory

Writer: John Layman

Rating: 3.5/5

Just so we’re all on the same page, Chew features a number of people with strange, food-related super powers. Most prominent among them is Tony Chu, a detective for the US Food and Drugs Agency, who along with his food, or in fact anything he eats, ingests a whole lot of background information about its source. This doesn’t apply to beetroot, but, as unsavory as it may seem, it does apply to cannibalism. His partner John Colby has no food-related power, but instead has bionic implants following an accident in the first volume. Family Recipes detailed how they achieved the biggest bust in the FDA’s recent history, in the period since poultry was outlawed after 23 million Americans died in a bird flu epidemic. In that time Chu has discovered many things, not least that the world may end.

John Layman doesn’t want you concerning yourself with that, though. It’s nice outside, and who wants to be depressed? Wouldn’t a nice wedding cheer us all up? Of course it would, so that’s what we get as Chu and Amelia plight their troth in the Hunka-Hunka Burnin’ Love chapel in Las Vegas during the FDA convention. Unfortunately the honeymoon is cut short and the first chapter ends with… Well, actually, it’s been a running joke throughout the series to date that unexpected people end up in bed together, splendidly illustrated by Rob Guillory, and he ends the first chapter with a doozy.

Chu’s then dispatched to a top secret underwater research lab where he needs to discover who murdered Sammy the Navy Seal. It doesn’t matter, though, because in what’s typically hilarious Chew fashion, that’s irrelevant, and elsewhere a broad conspiracy is expanding. Super combat rooster Poyo’s not involved, despite his cover status, as he has a fairytale world to save from a groceryomancer who’s bringing killer vegetables to life. Elsewhere, among other matters, we learn of “the secret discipline where cooking and war intersect”.

Anyone unfamiliar with the lunacy that is Chew may be wondering what the hell they’re reading about here. Then again, they really should get with the program (or wake up and smell the coffee, whichever they prefer) and feast on Chew, the most consistently funny series of graphic novels being published today.

MtG Decklist - Chatterfang, Squirrel General

 

One of the first decks that my friend created was a squirrel deck. It was for a 60 card format, but it was lethal. Since she created hers, she has made modifications and also helped me to create one of my own. This is the next evolutionary step from 60 card deck to a commander deck.

Originally I had purchased the Chatterfang commander deck from Moonveil Games. It was good enough as it was, but I felt like it needed more. The lethality of this deck is being able to make so many squirrel tokens. In a recent game, I found that there were a couple of infinite loops when generating tokens. Since I play with friends and we are not CEDH players, I made sure my friends were aware of the loop and kept the process to a single interaction of tokens.

Parallel Lives and Doubling Seasons were the main ingredients that I needed to add to make the token generation aspect work effectively. In the afore mentioned game, I had so many squirrel tokens on the battlefield, but it didn't feel like it was enough to be able to win because my opponents not only had higher life totals, but also had bigger blockers to my 1/1 tokens. That all changed when I pulled Preposterous Proportions.

Fairest Vol 4: Of Men and Mice

Title: Fairest Vol 4: Of Men and Mice

ISBN: 978140125058

Price: $14.99

Publisher/Year: Vertigo, 2014

Artist: Shawn McManus

Writer: Marc Andreyko

Rating: 3.5/5

This book kind of passed the Fairest test, which is the requirement that the tales be about women. Cinderella and Snow White were at the heart of the tale, though Marcel, Ramayan, Crispin, and three blind mice, along with Fairy Godmother and Leigh factor largely into the story. This book also hinges a bit on the other Fables tales, particularly the one where they discover that Fairy Godmother has gone bad/has Alzheimer's and the last Fables trade where one of the young girls discovers a bunch of evil rats.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention how excited I got that Cinderella was going to India, and there wasn’t any culture appropriation and we even had Indian Fables, including the fabulous Ramayan, join in. However, there was a cover where Cinderella was portrayed as a Hindu goddess with multiple arms and holding her shoes. Fail.

There was, however, a big win for diversity. Andreyko made Crispin blatantly gay and made the Huntsman his partner. Yay! How many issues of any Fables story did it take before having two gay characters?! Seriously. And it doesn’t go without notice that it was Andreyko, a gay man himself, who made it happen.

I really enjoyed the team up of Cinderella and Dickory together. Seemed like both were greatly underestimated by any of the foes that they went up against. Thought it was hilarious that Fairy Godmother’s guards believed she was meditating. Also that Cinderella and Dickory found her smoking pot in an Amsterdam cafe.

A bit problematic that Fairy Godmother’s dementia was shot away with a bullet. I liked that Snow pointed out how popular Cinderella was as a musical, and that it was at the height of the season.

The whole story about Marcel being the errant rat who stayed human after Fairy Godmother’s spell and loved all the women he slept with. Who then gave birth to his children: human, rat/human hybrid, or rats. Gross. Seriously, glad that the dude stopped on his own and Cinderella gave him shit about putting them up for adoption, taking them to the circus, or letting them go in the wild.

MtG Decklist - Erebos, God of the Dead

 

I remember playing a game one time and casting Whip of Erebos and thinking what a wonderful card. I ended up doing some research on the character of Erebos and worked on designing a commander deck around him. Here we have the product of that work.

Chew Vol 8: Family Recipes

Title: Chew Vol 8: Family Recipes

ISBN: 9781607069386

Price: $12.99

Publisher/Year: Image, 2014

Artist: Rob Guillory

Writer: John Layman

Rating: 3.5/5

I think we can all agree Chew is a weird comic. A cop who eats bits of people to find out how crimes were committed in a post-avian flu ravaged world where chicken is outlawed and vampires wander about, intergalactic flame writing fills the skies, and Poyo, a fighting cock with cybernetic implants, is so cool and badass he could give James Bond a run for his money? Yeah that’s pretty weird. And yet - 8 volumes in! – John Layman and Rob Guillory somehow make Chew an even weirder series (by the way I’m using the word “weird” as a definite positive)! 

Right away, #36 opens with a fake-out – ha fooled ya, it’s really #29.5! We’re taken back to when Toni was still alive and about to cut off her toe for Tony to eat later on. She also helps out Sage who’s gotten in some trouble with the mafia. It’s interesting to see how Tony has been side-lined as the main character by a number of the female characters like his sister Toni, his girlfriend Amelia and his daughter Olive. 

There’s more family business as Tony helps out his brother Chow and Olive learns about her mother and father’s courting days through chomping on her dead mother’s bits (she’s inherited Tony’s powers – and then some!). I’m really glad that Layman’s brought focus back to Mason Savoy who we catch up with at the FDA Supermax Food Prison. He’s a great character who’s been missing for a while now – here he gets some awesome scenes as he continues his search for the truth behind the bird flu epidemic. 

The usual foodie craziness ensues in this volume (my favorite being the Pastransformers!) and there’s a Poyo splash page as he battles Mutant Corn and Superfish, but that’s not what makes this book weirder than the norm – hell, if you’re a regular (and why wouldn’t you be if you’re reading a review of Volume 8!), then this stuff is what you’d expect from a Chew book! 

Amelia brings out a gallsaberry (a weird alien plant from Yamapalu from earlier in the series – it tastes like chicken but it’s not) she’s been secretly growing and nibbling on. It’s been giving her weird visions and she’s been writing a novel in an alien language she can’t read. Pretty odd stuff. Couple that with Toni, who’s been wandering about now – dead – like a Jedi spirit nattering to Tony, the only person who can see her and that’s crazy. But there’s more! 

Family Recipes is one of the funniest volumes of Chew I’ve read in a while. Stoned Tony and John are super-funny – they become a rabbit and a fox in their minds – especially when they raid the pillow factory! 

If there was one criticism of this comic, it’d be that things are a little too easy for the characters when they face adversity. Toni defeats the mafia easily, ditto Olive and the Frenchie food terrorists, ditto Mason and the candyman – I realize they’re comedic bad guys but still, they’re framed as obstacles and they’re really anything but. Anyway it’s a very minor point in an otherwise brilliant book. 

And Chew Volume 8 is brilliant. 8 volumes in and the series is still exciting, original, inspired, and funny as hell. Layman’s writing was already very good but he’s getting better and better, while Guillory’s art is as beautiful as ever - he even shows a few new tricks in this volume with regards to the psychedelic weirdness. 

MtG Decklist - Tiamat

 

Tiamat has always been one of my favorite characters from Dungeons & Dragons. Ever since the cartoon from the 80's, I have been a fan of the 5-headed mother of dragons.

In 2015, there was a woman who had an incredible Tiamat costume at a local event I was attending. It's no surprise that she won the cosplay contest.

This deck is one of my favorite commander decks that I have in my collection.

Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tide

Title: Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tide

ISBN: 9781684056293

Price: $17.99

Publisher/Year: IDW, 2021

Artist: Max Dunbar

Writer: Jim Zub

Rating: 3.5/5

The forces of evil are back in Baldur’s Gate and this time, they have some truly heinous stuff planned in Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides. As they try to force the plane of Avernus into the more natural world, a group of heroes will need to rise up and stop them. A group with a good balance of skills. Possibly, one with a miniature giant space hamster. Yes, Minsc and company return to Baldur’s Gate to kick butts.

I feel that there is a lot to like about Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides. It brings back Jim Zub and Max Dunbar. All the creative teams have knocked it out of the park but Zub is a bit more involved with the properties and it just shows in how these tales are delivered. Quickly, you know who is who and what they can do. We see the threat quickly and the story builds them up. But, the one thing I think that might be the most important is that when you have a cast like the one that Infernal Tides has, it’s important to craft their individual voices. Zub makes them feel like a true party and while a character like Minsc has such a strong, outstanding personality, he doesn’t drown everyone out.

Max Dunbar illustrates another great Dungeons & Dragons story. Paired with Sebastian Cheng, David Garcia Cruz, and Neil Uyetake, Infernal Tides features a lot of great character design and action sequences. I thought there was a really great 2-page splash in issue 2. As someone who has been reading these adventures since Evil At Baldur’s Gate, it’s good to have a colorist that I think is perfect for Max Dunbar’s art.

Ultimately, IDW Publishing does Dungeons & Dragons right. I’ve been really happy with all of the stories they’ve done but I do feel there’s something a bit more special, exciting and enjoyable about Jim Zub and Max Dunbar working on a tale set in Baldur’s Gate. Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides ends up as another truly enjoyable tale of Minsc and company that’s sure to keep fantasy readers enthralled.