Chew Volume Three: Just Desserts
Alright, we’re rolling again with my go-to comic for a good time. This volume contains issues #11-15, with #15 marking the quarter mark for the team of author John Layman and artist Rob Guillory as they had originally planned a 60-comic run.
I think this gives some idea of the forethought that went into the series and explains the way hints keep getting dropped as we go along to characters and events that didn’t seem all that important at the time, or that we might have thought we were finished with. To be sure, I knew that Gardner-Kvashennaya, the arctic observatory that hosted a vampire bloodbath, was going to play a big part in what was to come. Ditto the “Frog Man” Montero (so-called because he breeds frog-chicken hybrids). But I wasn’t expecting the return of the killer rooster Poyo, or the introduction of new characters like a mysterious food taster, Tony’s sister, and all the rest of his family, including his daughter(!) and one very weird ex.
The other thing about planning so far ahead is that it allows Layman and Guillory to play with the arrangement of the narrative blocks. This happens in almost every issue, as we begin with a scene (often the aftermath of some act of violence) that only gets explained later. They know what they’re doing here, as they even make fun of it in issue #12, which begins with the editorial note “The pages got shuffled out of sequence. This is actually page 18.”
Given all this preparation I feel confident that I’m not going to be disappointed in how things turn out. In the meantime, I’ve enjoyed everything so far, down to all of the little background gags you really have to be on your toes to catch (and a few of which I’ve missed). On to the next course!
Alex Good 
Did they complete all 60? How many volumes is that?
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12 volumes of five issues each. I think they’re all done.
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You’ve a ways to go then, lots to look forward to! Have you read them before?
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I’m only up to #44 for Groo, so this comic has me beat already.
Glad to hear you’re having such a good time with it. I think the timing would get on my nerves and I’d be calling the author/artists pretentious wankers. So it’s nice you can see it as clever and enjoy it 😀
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Nothing pretentious about Groo! I think those stories are more episodic. This series had episodes, but there’s also this larger story they’re telling which is really interesting. But I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t like it.
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Oh yeah, I wouldn’t. Just from what you talk about, I can tell that. But as long as I’m not dipping my toes into it, I’m good with other people enjoying it 😀
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Why does “his daughter” get the exclamation point?
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Good question!
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It’s because up until then she’d never been mentioned. In fact I don’t think it’d had ever been mentioned that he’d been married. And then she’s introduced at a family get-together and it’s a surprise.
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So with all the time-shifts, you’re expecting this to be explained…?
Also, in this…uh…unconventional story, why are you equating a daughter with marriage? Or did his marriage come out at the get-together?
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I thought there would have been some hints. It was a surprise. You also get introduced to his ex at the same time and she was a surprise too. I guess it’s hard to explain, but as a reader it felt really unexpected.
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