Chew #14 – Review

by John Layman (writer & letterer) and Rob Guillory (art & colors)

The Story: Tony’s past love life is detailed and John has the unfortunate task of confronting the always deadly Mason Savoy.

What’s Good: While Chew is a very funny book, it’s issues like this that remind you that John Layman’s ongoing series isn’t just a series of gags and jokes.  It’s also about human relationships, and that’s what shines through this month.  Amelia and Tony’s relationship continues to be a fun read; it’s always touching, tender, and lovable, while always being just self-aware enough, especially thanks to Guillory’s art, to keep it from ever becoming nauseating.

Then there’s the relationship shared by John and Tony.  Never has there been a stronger proof of John’s loyalty for Tony than what we get this month.  It’s so strong that it could easily enter bromance territory.  It’s also a great character moment for John, again showing that he really does care a great deal about Tony, though he’ll never outright say it to Tony’s face.  It’s stuff like this that makes John such a great character and far more than just a two-dimensional sarcastic joker.

There are laughs to be had as well though.  Layman introduces us to Tony’s psychotic ex-girlfriend Mandy through a series of flashbacks, leading us to believe she’ll be important in the long run of the series.  Suffice it to say that Layman takes the qualities of your typical psycho girlfriend and drives it to over-the-top excess.  It’s great fun.

Rob Guillory’s artwork also helps with all of this.  His illustrations of the despairing Mandy are hilarious and across this issue, he once again proves why he’s one of my favourite comic artists when it comes to characters’ facial expressions.  Guillory’s figures are also great, especially when it comes to portraying the ludicrous action scenes involving the absurdly ninja-like Savoy.

What’s Not So Good: Chew plays the long-game this month, which may seem like an odd choice for the second to last issue of a story-arc.  A new character and story is introduced with the psycho ex-girlfriend while relationships are highlighted for the long-term purpose of character development.

I’m not really sure where Chew will go from here, or how this issue is going to work in a trade given that it’s basically eschewed any conventional notions of a story-arc.  In many ways, it feels like the final issue of this arc, but if it was, I suppose it would’ve been an underwhelming issue.

None of that’s necessarily bad, but it does mean that the laughs aren’t quite as uproarious as usual and events not necessarily as explosive as one might expect.  Even John’s confrontation of Savoy feels a little anti-climactic, especially as it’s been built up for some time now.  In the end, things move along, but somehow this issue just doesn’t quite seem up to Chew’s usual standard.  Perhaps I just need more fricken in my diet.

Conclusion: An issue that has the unfortunate role of being merely a very good issue in a series that has been consistently awesome.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans