Chew, Vol. 8: Family Recipes by John Layman

Chew, Vol. 8: Family Recipes Reviews

• 
  karen

  let's do this again, yeah??
  
  i burned through all ten published volumes of this series in a matter of months, and while i managed
  a fairly coherent review of the first volume, i am overwhelmed by the thought of going back and reviewing volumes 2-10, trying to recapture that innocent mindset that didn't know what happened in subsequent volumes and trying to stay within the lines of the volume i'd be reviewing.
  
  my hat is off to you serial comic book/graphic novel reviewers who are able to consistently churn out smart, comprehensive, and entertaining reviews that manage to discuss the book itself as well as its place within the larger universe of the series or character's existence.
  
  i can't do that. i read these so compulsively and so quickly - like jamming cookies into a mouth that was already crammed with cookies - that it's just too much road to backtrack and too many metaphors to mix and since i have so many other books that i have to review, i'm going to take a totally cheap opt-out review path and just post pictures from each book that i enjoy for reasons pertaining to the plot, or just cuz i like the damn pictures.
  
  and maybe now that i have to wait a couple of months until volume 11 comes out, i'll be able to do that one proper review-style, but right now - too full of stress and anxiety and just wanting to make this stack of books needing reviews go down LGM.
  
  this one gets a little weird. and i like weird.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  and proof that they will never ever run out of bizarre food-related superpowers:
  
  
  
  
  
  come to my blog!
• 
  Matthew

  I continue to be very entertained by the Chew graphic novel series!
  
  
  
  Always funny! Slightly irreverent! Maybe not something to read around mealtime – it might either make you lose your appetite or get sick to your stomach. But at least you will be laughing while you do!
  
  
  
  While the story is great, the artwork is even better. It is a carnival for your eyes! The goofiness and cartoonishness (is that a word . . . cartoony-ness maybe? 😉) will have you looking at panels multiple times to take it all in. And, if you do check out this series, definitely be sure to look at each panel carefully as there are many little jokes hidden in almost every one of them.
  
  
  
  As my experience with this series has always been good, I highly recommend it. But it is not a book for everyone. If you enjoy a bit of morbid, dark humor delivered in a bright and sparkly package, this series will not disappoint.
  
  
  
• 
  Sam Quixote

  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 favourite 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!
  
  Add some psychedelic chog to the gallsaberry and… I’m not giving it away here but: whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
  
  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 realise 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.
  
  Family Recipes is home-cooked yumminess slathered in awesomesauce – winner, winner, (banned) chicken dinner!
• 
  Lindsey Rey

  I think this one was my favorite so far! :D
• 
  Jedi JC Daquis

  Now this is Chew! The tone shifts back to its very core: light, funny and crazy entertaining. Thanks to Toni Chew's poat mortem hologhost, things are way happier than the last chapter. It is great to see how Toni (in her point of view) handles her incoming death with a sort of happy send-off to those she holds dear. Cheerful and practical, she is no less crazy than her twin bro Tony, as she chomps healthy servings of fresh flesh off people.
  
  
  Here's Toni Chu telling Tony Chu about how to kill the Vampire, the Collector.
  
  
  With Toni around, glimpses of the future is revealed either to the readers or secretly only to Tony Chew, which simply Layman's way of saying 'stay with us until the end, bastards'.
  
  And we will.
• 
  Mike

  More Antonelle! More Antonelle! Yes, I'm in Camp Toni, where purple nurples, Indian burns and sarcasm-as-PDA are the rule, and no one escapes her infectious (and probably manipulative) good nature.
  
  Who doesn't want a sibling whose love for you is never in question? Even if it's immediately followed by "and you wouldn't want me to go in there alone, would you???" (bats eyelashes like they're instruments of KGB torture), or a swift punch to the nuts?
  
  Toni shows up through extraordinary means, even though she's most firmly dead, and provides a little ridiculous Obi-Wan-ness to our hapless hero. This leads to many completely ridiculous sequences of hallucination, food weirdos and food-themed goon squads, which kept me amused and wondering "where the hell do these guys keep getting these increasingly bizarre concepts for food as villainous inspiration?" Licorice Rope Fetish Club - let that one roam around your noodle for a little while.
  
  This book feels a little diversionary, despite the fact that the plot is most definitely escalating and moving forward. In fact, we learn something key about the alien sky writing that I wasn't expecting to find out until much later in the run of this tale, and which probably means there's even more juicy surprises afoot for us in the next few books.
  
  I can see however where some folks might find this frustratingly slow and off-track - there's more fun being had here than grinding the plot forward, and if you're not just enjoying the ride but want to see this wrapped up already, it could be a little exhausting watching these characters keep poking at the nooks and crannies of this universe.
  
  Me? Sign me up for the food weirdos, the icky love stories, the uncomfortable family dynamics, and most especially the freaky food goon squads that just keep pooping up for no reason other than to bend my funny bone. And don't ever shy away from hallucinating Tony and John as bunny and fox - righteous.
• 
  Sesana

  Now this is more like it. This the story escalation that I was really expecting to see out of volume seven. And Layman manages it, in part, by making the series even weirder than it had been before. Having Toni manipulate events so she can (however temporarily) be Tony's Obi-Wan postmortem is... Well, it's an interesting idea, but it seemed to be an incredibly specific thing for their power sets to be able to do in combination. Yes, this is where I finally have a little trouble suspending my disbelief. I did get over it, because it is fun to read, even as it does get weirder and weirder as the book goes on.
  
  Best part, though, is the first issue. It's a flashback entirely from Toni's point of view, from just before her death. That was good to see. I really liked her, and I'm glad that Layman gave me one more chance to see her in action. Yes, things did seem to work out awfully easy for her (and, indeed, for every protagonist in this book) but I could deal with that.
• 
  'kris Pung

  The day is always a bit brighter when my library gets in a new Chew book. This series is just good old fashion fun with a healthy dose of eating human body parts.
• 
  Andrew✌️

  This new chapter sees the return of Antonelle Chew, Tony's sister, though in a “special form”.
  
  Thanks to Antonelle's toe, found at the end of the previous chapter, Tony is able to have visions on her sister, from which he receives instructions that will serve him to face the vampire. Of course, not everything will go so smoothly, there will be unforeseen events and difficults to deal with that will involve the people closest to the detective. Meanwhile, Savoy is also carrying out his plan to find out the truth behind the chickens flu.
  
  I was happy to see Antonelle, one of the most successful characters in this series and perhaps my favorite. His presence brings with her a good dose of humor and cheerfulness, giving rise to a couple of exhilarating adventures, one of them featuring John and Tony under the influence of hallucinogens substances.
  
  The story is very funny, but also absurd and incredible, with jumps back and forth in time to sew together events still to come up with other things already happened. It’s made up of several adventures that add further pieces to the mosaic, in a scheme already seen before. Both groups, Savoy and Tony's, try to collect information, though in different ways, providing the reader with a more accurate picture of the events and preparing the ground for the next. This volume also has a faster pace, thanks to a series of twists and unexpected revelations.
  
  It has also been given greater emphasis to the character of Olive and I expect that in the future numbers her skills will not go unnoticed. I'm just wondering which side she will choose in the end: her father or Savoy.
  
  By now, I think can’t give to this story less than 5 stars, also thanks to the original ideas supported by an excellent artwork.
• 
  Laura

  Chew is always fun to read....It's like a fun roller coaster waiting to be ridden. One of the first things I like to do is thumb through to look at the backgrounds because there is always little hidden messages, most are quite funny and tied in with the storyline.
  
  This was a fast paced, action packed volume but at the same time it also pulled at the heart strings and conveyed emotion that I don't feel I've really read in Chew before PLUS it was done so well..I was really feeling sorry for Tony.
  
  By far and always true Chew is always a strange comic with a weird storyline but that is also part of the fun, it's what makes me come back for more each time..OR to even pre-order the volume and wait with excitement like a kid in a lolly shop.
  
  Lots of chomping on flesh (Tony's sisters toe to be exact), memories (Tony gets to see his sister again called Toni) and a possible romance (not for Tony Chew)...While that might sound strange to someone who's never read this comic believe it or not this all makes perfect sense.
  
  When Amelia brings out a gallsaberry (which apparently tastes like chicken) it makes Tony and his sidekick trip out BIG TIME...Where they end up is pretty funny..Yes kicking pillows and fighting them is TOTALLY normal thing. Oh and the gallsaberry makes Amelia write a story all in some strange alien language..I'm wondering how much this will affect the story later down the track.
  
  AHH so much goes in this volume but all so amusing..you'll probably giggle while reading..I know I did.
• 
  Baba

  Ken Keebler is an erosciopictaros -able to take pictures of food that inspires erotic feelings in the viewers, longing and sexual desire. Family recipe tops the series as a dejected and depressed Tony sees no way of getting the information he wants until what happened at the end of the previous volume sees the reuniting of family and a quest for the truth, unlike most quests you've ever seen before.
  
  This volume feels a lot better with some great continuity, concepts and lashing and lashing of foodsters :) 9 out of 12.
• 
  Melania 🍒

  2,9/5
• 
  Gavin

  FINALLY!
  
  I've been waiting for this from the library for so long, I almost forgot what was going on. I gave this 5 stars because it's been too long since I've enjoyed a book this much. This is fun, bright, colourful, yet funny, violent, weird, and sweet. This is exactly what non-Superhero comics should be. I feel positive and happy after reading this, you get a bit of everything, and it reassures me that John Layman is a genius.
  
  So without having too many spoilers, Toni is dead, but through the magic of eating and food powers, Tony is able to eat her toe and see her again. It's kinda sweet for a bit, and then goes to funny appropriately. Then shit gets weird, and we go back and see Toni help their other sister, Sage, who got into trouble because of her food powers...then we flash back again, and Toni jokes about losing track of past present and future stuff...she's a spirit helping Tony, and even makes him help Chow, so it really is a Family book, like the title implies.
  
  Let's not forget Olive, Tony's daughter, who kicks some major ass like her dad, and Amelia, the loyal girlfriend. They get into adventures to help Tony, which sets up the trippiest part of the book where Tony hallucinates and fights crime alongside Colby, but only after visiting a strange future planet with Toni's spectre....lol ya. I wish I was high, because I would have loved this part even more!
  
  Colby and Caesar are involved in some shifty business, and Savoy isn't gone either...
  
  All in all, the long awaited return of Chew to my life was a roaring success...
  
  I can't forget to mention, the funniest shit in the book is the little things in the background (poo cleaner, made of Battery Acid and anger; a vending machine that says 'enjoy your diabetes!') I could go on but I want everyone to enjoy it themselves...
  
  This is one of the few books I know I want to own because I would reread this every year.
  
  Ready for Vol. 9, hurry up library!
  
  
  
  
• 
  Kayla Charisse

  I honestly don't think I can rate any Chew volume lower than five stars. I love this series so much! <3
• 
  It's just Deano

  Chew, volume eight (or Family Recipes) specifically continues with the central story arc from the previous two volumes here, which does make this seem like quite a extensive element to the series. That said, it's still massively fun and the intriguing plot does appear to feel like it's starting to pull together towards a single goal in this book.
  
  It feels like we're seeing a different Tony Chu at this point in the series - darker, more driven and more ruthless - and that's a good thing! Characterisation has undoubtedly been the shining star of this series up to this point and as the plot continues to grow so do these whacky characters.
  
  With just four volumes left to read to finish the series now, I can safely say the pacing has never been off with this series and I'm finding myself eager to find out the conclusions to these really fun story arcs and looking forward to seeing how it all ends for these fantastic characters.
  
  Overall, at this point it's clear that Layman and Guillory have never taken their foot of the gas with Chew - and seeing as at this point you enter the last quarter of the series - it's looking like their setting things up for an equally impressive conclusion to the series.
• 
  Juho Pohjalainen

  Maybe I shouldn't binge the whole story like this. I feel like I'm going crazy.
• 
  Ginger

  This is getting so weird.....
• 
  RG

  It is getting a little samey but I'm still really enjoying it.
• 
  Lashaan Balasingam

  I found this idea of playing with time quite refreshing for the storyline as it also allows Tony and co. to come to terms with relationship issues. The series continues to be strong and quirky as always.
• 
  Ashley

  My up and down journey with this series continues.
• 
  Alan

  Before Chew there were times I had serous doubts about Layman as a writer. Then Chew came along and he appeared to have tightened up his story telling and pacing. The over the top factor of the premise, an avian virus led to banning of the consumption of chicken, people had food based abilities (such as lead character Tony Chu being able to discern the past of something by eating it). A lot of the lead and secondary characters were non-white, and hey diversity is good.
  
  But, since volume 6 things definitely appear to be hovering. This volume include a nice, and near LOL interlude with Tony sister's Toni, and a prison scene that is also amusing. The ongoing mysteries need to move towards some sort of resolution. The appearance of letters in the sky, Tony's final confrontation with the vampire, and the truth behind the avian virus.
  
  For now I'm willing to call this a worthwhile read, in part because I'm hopeful Layman sees that he has to stop writing the The Two Towers and get onto the The Return of the King (yes this is a reference to what I think of those two LOTR books).
• 
  Nicole Bunge

  Much like "Saga", this entire story only works in the comics medium. It is brilliant, and if I ever meet the artist/author, I'm going to hug them for putting all that wacky stuff in the background. It's like a comic in a comic. (I have come to the conclusion that Brian Vaughan, Fiona Staples, John Layman and Rob Guillory all have the same drug dealer. Possibly an editor at Image.)
  
  The only thing better than reading this under normal circumstances is reading it while in an urgent care waiting room with a mask over your face and getting weird looks when you break into giggles about psychedelic chogs. (Because no, I couldn't wait to read this and don't care how weird I look.)
  
  If you've read this far in the series, there's not much to explain. This volume finally answers a few questions that have been building up, plus, there is a really awesome drug trip.
  
  
  
• 
  Himanshu Karmacharya

  This series is so crazy that one wouldn't expect it to get any crazier, but it does and it works as well.
  
  As the protagonist experiences a severe tragedy after the loss of a loved one, his drive to capture "The Vampire" grows even stronger and wilder. Before the pursuit, however, he also discovers something left behind by that loved one, something that will reveal many secrets.
  
  Once again John Layman and Rob Guillory have managed to incorporate drama, comedy, action and a whole lot of crazy, and managed to achieve wonderful results.
• 
  ♡︎Bee♡︎

  I'm beyond rating it any lower than five stars at this point .
• 
  Clare Carter

  I just read this to ~calm myself~ after speed racing through The Wicker King and it’s fine?? Idk I want to know how this series ends but I just don’t care that much lol??
• 
  Chris - Quarter Press Editor

  What can I say? I really love this series. I keep worrying that it will start to flag and weaken, hit that slump that most continuing series tend to hit this late in the game, but Layman continues to impress with his creativity that straddles the ridiculous and the genuinely heartfelt.
  
  In particular, I enjoyed how he's finally starting to revisit past plot points and elements that either never were fully explained or seemed to have disappear completely. It's starting to feel more and more like it's building towards something big, not just each volume and it's individual arch. I think he's found his direction and, honestly, I would hope that he does--in fact--have an end in sight. Much as I love these comics, I can't imagine he'll be able to keep them going for too much longer before things might go wrong. And I truly hope that doesn't happen.
  
  For now, though, like always, I'll be awaiting volume nine.
• 
  Chris Lemmerman

  Wonderful, as always. It's really no surprise that Chew continues to be innovative, clever, hilarious, and worth reading more than once just due to the layers of storytelling involved. This volume particularly introduces a load of new ideas that will play into the storyline going forward, and the art as always remains excellent and pitch perfect for the tone of the story. Plus, the little background details are always brilliant.
• 
  alittlelifeofmel

  I guess volume 7 was a fluke that it went back to the things I liked about the first volume. I enjoyed the Toni aspects in this but I really didn't enjoy Colby's storyline and I don't think I liked the LSD type trip at the end.
• 
  Roz

  This was my favourite!
• 
  Aarthika

  I don't know how i feel about the only brown person in the comic being named paneer. But i enjoyed this volume a lot since the past few volumes were alright but not as amazing as the first 3.