#CBR5 Review #46: Chew, vol. 3 – Just Desserts by John Layman and Rob Guillory

The third volume in the Chew comic series is all about relationships. In particular, Just Desserts focuses on chibopath Tony Chu’s relationship with his new girlfriend, Amelia Mintz the saboscrivner. They have been dating for a while now, and things seem to be going swimmingly between them. Things are also working out splendidly between Tony and his partner John these days. Now if only Tony’s job would stop getting in the way of his newfound love of life; that, and his dysfunctional family’s apparent disgust for him.

This volume of Tony’s story also brings back Tony’s old partner-- and overall nemesis him the series so far—Mason Savoy, as he tries to uncover the truth behind the poultry bans across the globe.  The story is a rolling, my friends.

What I love about this series is how humorously it manages to handle some dark and gruesome subjects. It is ridiculous, yet still hits on some serious political and conspiratorial issues. I also thoroughly enjoy the artwork that Rob Guillory produces, with it’s crisp and comic-y, yet still detailed nature. The only thing that kind of throws me off every now and again is the portrayal of women: both men and women are drawn with overstated and strange body features, yet while the men still feel natural despite being so comically exaggerated, the women often come off as… heavy and disproportionate?

Despite that, however, and even though I sometimes find some of the action and eating sequences to be slightly unpleasant, I can’t help but like this series for some reason. It’s just so different from anything I’ve ever read. So if you are a fan of comic books and don’t mind the strange every now and again, you should totally check out the Chew series, and just hope I haven’t led you astray.

[Be sure to check out more reviews on the Cannonball Read group blog]

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