Review: Get Jiro!

The violence in this comic is immediate and unsuspected as chef warlords fight over the restaurant market of the future. The universal importance of food is so extreme that a random gang beating ceases when the victim gets a reservation at an exclusive restaurant and when war breaks out the cops simply discuss their desire for a good steak. 

Both Bob (representing corporate greed) and Rose (representing moral greed) want Jiro to work for them. Jiro accepts both offers with the intention of starting a war. The result of the war Jiro manages to start is that the restaurant scene returns to one of liberty, with individuals being free to open their own restaurants. It's not utopia though, as customers at Jiro's sushi restaurant still ask for California rolls.

I enjoyed this comic. It was the right balance of interesting food jokes/references, food violence, and actual statements on the nature of the food industry. It would be usual for the protagonist to be the vegan moral crusader but by making Rose greedy, exploitative, and economically motivated the comic manages to discuss real issues within the food industry.

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Review: Sack Lunch

This series of mini-comics manages to explore some of the most tragic themes of humanity through the medium of lunch. The foolishness of romantic love, the honesty and bravery of brotherly love, and the loneliness of peer rejection are explored in comedic, unexpected, and insightful ways.

These three comics, written by pranas t. naujokaitis, can be purchased here arrive in a thematically correct brown paper bag complete with a love note from mom!

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Review: Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory

I do not read that many graphic novels but I picked up the Chew books due primarily to their heavy food content. The main character Tony Chu is a F.D.A. Agent who is also a Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. The graphic novels are set in the future, where chicken is outlawed due to the deaths that resulted from the avian flu. The first volume entitled “Taster's Choice” is basic and sets out back story of Tony Chu and his move to the F.D.A. The second volume “International Flavor” sets up the stories of the villains in more detail.

The villains in the Chew graphic novels are fun because they are food based. The first villain presents as a vampire but is actually a Cibopath, as he can learn as much from blood as he can from flesh. I enjoy the speciality talents that revolve around food in the Chew books. One man is an cibolocutor which means that, as a mute, he communicates solely through his cooking. Amelia Mintz (later to become Chu's girlfriend) is a Saboscrivner, which means that she can write about food so accurately and with such precision that people reading her words get the actual sensation of taste when reading about the meals she writes about. 

 

The later volumes of Chew are more fun than the first volume because they include more surprisingly violent scenes. In the later volumes almost all of the villains and allies have food related skills. This makes the graphic novels more interesting to me. In general I find these graphic novels refreshing and interesting. They would make an interesting addition to any food lover's bookshelf!

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