Graphic Novel/ Detectives (FDA)/Culinary: Chew: The Omnivore Edition, Volume 1 by John Layman

Summary


In Chew, an avian flu in the chicken population caused a worldwide pandemic leading the governments of the world to ban chickens.  Now seen as a threat to human survival, the sale of chicken on the black market is an incredibly serious crime, and the FDA is now the most powerful agency in the world.  The main character in Chew, Tony Chu, is an FDA detective with an extremely strange ability: his gets information from anything he eats.  If he eats an animal, he can tell how it was killed; if he eats a human corpse, he can find out the same information.  The only food that doesn't given him these psychic impressions is beets, so he eats a lot of beets. Chu uses his ability to hunt down black market chicken dealers and protect the public in this new series by John Layman.


Review


Of all the strange graphic novels my husband has had me read, this one may take the cake.  Ok, bad choice of words there.  Anyway, the concept of Chew is just weird.  The author seems more bent on shock value than on story quality: take away Chu's ability and the story is mediocre at best. The book was a 2010 "Best New Series" Eisner Award nominee and has  received rave reviews, but I just didn't see it. Luckily, my husband wasn't blown away by it, either, or I would be more than a little concerned about the man I married. In fact, he wanted me to read it to get my take on it, to see if he had missed something. He didn't.

References


[Cover art for Chew]. (2011). Retrieved from http://goodcomics.

     comicbookresources.com/2011/07/06/committed-independent-comic-

     book-gifts/

Layman, J. (2010). Chew: The omnivore edition, Vol. 1. Berkley, CA:

     Image Comics.

Graphic Novel/Thriller/Psychopathic Killer: Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke

Summary


Parker is a graphic novel adaptation of the Richard Stark (the pseudonym for Donald Westlake) novel Parker: The Hunter. The novel, set in 1962, is a story of revenge.  The title character, Parker, a career criminal, was betrayed by his partners and his wife during bank robbery.  Parker was left for dead but survived and wound up in prison.  When Parker is released from prison, he begins his quest for revenge, determined not only to get back the money his partners and his now ex-wife took from him but to also everyone involved in his betrayal--and anyone else who stands in his way. Will anyone be able to stop Parker before he exacts his revenge? Read Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter to find out.

Review


I always try to include a couple of graphic novels when I'm doing required reading for a class, just to add some additional variety.  My husband, of course, is quite the connoisseur of graphic novels, so I asked him to recommend a couple, and Parker was one of his suggestions from him personal collection.  The novel was a quick read and is actually the first in a series.  The most interesting aspect of the novel is really Parker himself.  He is an unusual protagonist in that he really has no redeeming qualities.  Unlike the protagonist in The Lock Artist, whom the reader developed some sympathy for, Parker is just a criminal and a killer--completely unlikable.  He seems ambivalent about murder--he can sort of take it or leave it--but has no issue with following through if it will lead him closer to his goal of getting his money back and giving him the satisfaction of revenge.  In fact, he is so determined that he doesn't even hesitate to go up against the mob in order to get back at one of his partners.  It is important to note, however, that Parker is written for an adult audience.

References

Cooke, D. (2009). Richard Stark's Parker: The hunter. San Diego:

     IDW Publishing.

[Cover art for Parker: The hunted] . (2009). Retrieved from

     http://1979semifinalist.wordpress.com/category/darwyn-cooke/