Chew (comics)

Note: After Chew #18, the story then leaps to Chew #27 showing the reader events taking place a year later. It then returns to issue 19.

Tony is in the hospital after being injured in some way. Toni goes to visit him and after chatting with Caesar who came to wish him well, heads back to work. An old friend of Toni's shows up, he had gotten his hands on some Chogs (AKA Frickens) that had been bred with some psychoactive frogs he had. He tries to sell them, but D-Bear shows up and steals all of them. Toni and her supervisor, Paneer, go to D-Bear's restaurant to confiscate the Chogs. D-Bear tries to escape but Toni, who had a gun already in her hands, jumps and bites him in the shoulder. She then lets him leave, D-Bear is then hit by a truck and is taken to the hospital. Later, Tony has a mysterious visitor.

Chew #27 went on sale May 11, 2011. A second printing, subtitled "2nd Helping Edition", went on sale June 20, 2012 between the release of issue 26 and issue 28, and included a bonus short story titled "A View to a Pill" which had previously only been published in the Hero Comics 2011 anthology from IDW Publishing. "A View to a Pill" was not included in the trade paperback releases of the series.

The protagonist. Tony is a cibopath. Oddly enough, beets are the only things he can eat that don't trigger his cibopathy. Tony originally worked for the Philadelphia PD, and then for the FDA. He's been called a "By-the-book square that never met a department regulation [he] couldn't love." He's a great detective, but he's not so great around women. Not much of Tony's backstory has been revealed yet, but he has a large family. Back when he was a beat cop, he proposed to his girlfriend, Min "Mindy" Tso, but she went insane and wanted Tony to eat one of her toes. It turns out that Tony still has the toe.[14] Later we find out that Tony had a daughter with Min, whose name is Olive.[15] During his time in the FDA, he falls for Amelia Mintz. When Tony is fired from the FDA, he is transferred to the Municipal Traffic Division.[21] In Chew #27, Tony is in the hospital after being injured in some way, he keeps saying the names of other characters while in a seemingly comatose state.

John was Tony's partner in the Philadelphia PD. When Tony gets a psychic sensation from his chicken soup and goes to arrest the chef, John is incapacitated by a butcher's knife to the face.[5] After Mason runs, John joins the FDA, with cybernetic implants where his face was injured.[22] John becomes Tony's new partner. John is often seen eating illegal chicken products whenever he can, and is apparently gay after sleeping with his boss to keep him from pestering Tony.[10] John was turned into a cyborg after Mason Savoy suggested it. He was informed about this after Mason attempted to get John on his side and attacked.[14] After alien writing appears in the sky John begins drinking heavily. Forcing Tony to team up with Mason's former partner Caesar.[16] Later, Colby has sobered up enough to work with Tony again. He can control electronic devices with the computers in his head, even though he doesn't understand how.[17] Colby is transferred out of the FDA to a position in the USDA. There he is partnered with a cyborg lion named Buttercup.[21] It is revealed he has sex with the director of the USDA in order to get a new partner, a newly rebuilt Poyo.

Chow is Tony's older brother. He is a former Chicken chef and used to host a TV show called In The Kitchen With Chow Chu. After chicken was banned he freaked out on air and his show was put on permanent hiatus. He began buying illegal chicken[5] He found out about Montero's business and informed Tony.[23] He was tracked down and sealed inside a vault.[7] Chow moves to Yamapalu, where chicken is not illegal and he opens a restaurant there. However he finds out that Yamapalu does not serve chicken but Gallsaberries instead.[8] Tony saves Chow from the island but has to break his jaw to get him to leave.[10] For Thanksgiving Chow cooks his family an illegal turkey, and because of his broken jaw he cannot give grace so Tony has to do it.[15] Chow eventually gets back on TV, and in an alternate future was shot in the head by a member of E.G.G.[19]

Also known as Deshawn Berry, D-Bear sells Black Market Chicken. He informs to the FDA so they let him continue. He may have killed at least 5 people. He leads Tony and John into a black market chicken restaurant which results in John getting his face cut and Tony getting outed as a cibopath.[5] John confronts D-Bear, beats him up and extorts him for a month.[22] D-Bear partners with Tony to shut down an illegal cockfighting ring and free Poyo.[12] D-Bear sells a huge shipment of black market chicken to Mother Clucker's.[16] In Chew #27, D-Bear steals some Psychoactive Chogs from one of Toni's friends, he uses them in his restaurant to get customers high and then steal from them. Toni bites him in the shoulder, he's hit by a truck and is sent to the hospital.

Savoy was Tony's first partner at the FDA. He's a towering man who fights with a pair of sai. He is also a cibopath and has worked with the FDA for a very long time. He is very interested in what actually happened on the day of the bird-flu incident, and a flashback showed him holding a dying woman in his arms on that day. It is revealed that Savoy is the one who killed Evan Pepper, but his motive is never touched on.[7] When Mason is found out by the FDA, he kills most of the agents and wounds John Colby. Apparently, Mason is the one who got Colby turned into a cyborg.[14] Mason now has a vial of blood from the Voresophic Daniel Migdalo, which, if he drank it, would give him Migdalo's incredible intelligence—and his insanity.[16] Savoy is currently a fugitive but is still continuing his investigation, with the aid of Agent Cesar and Olive Chu.

Applebee is Tony's boss at the FDA. He has it out for Tony from the start, and tries to make his job as difficult as can be. When he was informed of a hit that was put on Tony, he only decided to inform Tony after realizing that a dead Tony would mean more paperwork for himself.[23] Applebee picked Colby to be Tony's new partner, mainly because Colby pretended to blame Tony for getting injured.[22] To get Applebee to leave Tony alone, Colby has sex with him.[10] Afterwards, Applebee tries to be more friendly towards Tony but this is clearly very hard for him.[24] Later, Applebee decides to partner Tony up with D-Bear.[12] When Tony decides to do surveillance on Montero, Applebee tries to make sure that Tony is the one doing surveillance all the time, but Colby decides to do it instead.[13] When Colby confronts Mason, Applebee tells Tony that if Colby is hurt he'll demote him to meter maid.[14] Applebee invites Colby over for Thanksgiving, but Colby never shows up.[15] Soon after, Applebee begins sending Colby and Tony on progressively more dangerous and suicidal missions.[12] John Layman, the author of Chew, has revealed that Applebee will survive until the end of the series.[25]

Amelia is a food critic at a newspaper. She is a saboscrivner. Tony knows her only from her articles—until he's assigned to get her fired. Why? Lately, she's gotten bored with her job and has begun writing exclusively about the most disgusting food she can find. These recent articles are so intensely unappetizing that they induce vomiting in anyone who reads or listens to them. Tony, however, seems to be immune to this nauseating effect, possibly due to his previous experience with disgusting food. When Tony goes to her office, she helps him defuse a situation with some terrorists from the group E.G.G.. She goes with the governor of Yamapalu.[26] After finding out that he's imprisoning people, she is also captured.[10] She is one of the people Tony saves from Yamapalu, and soon after they start dating.[24] She starts writing about food for him, so he can experience taste without triggering psychic sensations.[12]

The Vampire (Real name unknown, also known as Collector) is a cibopath from Serbia. Not much is known about him. He pretends to be a vampire to inspire fear, and drinks the blood of his victims to learn about them through cibopathy. He also eats the flesh of powerful people in order to "collect" their abilities. He sent agents to the Gardner-Kvashennaya International Telescope,[23] he murdered the USDA agent Lin Sae Woo and her specially trained cyborg Rat Jellybean,[8] invaded a compound on Yamapalu,[10] and saved the Cibolocuter Fantanyeros only to kill him and feed on him.[11] His minion sabotages a space station, escapes and brings The Vampire some computer files and a Gallsaberry.[17] He speaks Russian and English. His Russian-speaking minions address him as Upyr, which is a Slavic folklore undead monster similar to a vampire.

Poyo is a rooster from Yamapalu, who started out as a cockfighting champion. He was kept in a secret safe house by the gambling ring, until his location was discovered by Tony Chu and chief of police Raymond Kulolo. [9] He later became a secret weapon of the FDA, considered to be a weapon of mass destruction, and then an agent of USDA. Poyo is the star of three spin-off one-shot comics - Chew: Secret Agent Poyo, Chew: Warrior Chicken Poyo and Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo.

Toni (short for Antonelle) is Tony and Chow's sister. She works for NASA. Toni worked for a long time at the Farmington-Kapusta International Telescope in the Amazon.[27] She was supposed to be transferred to the Gardner-Kvashennaya International Telescope[15] but she stays in the States after alien writing shows up in the sky.[17] She teams up with Tony at Area 51 and foils an E.G.G. plot to kill the President of the United States, the Queen of the United Kingdom, The Pope and her brother Chow.[19] Toni also stops D-Bear from selling psychedelic frickens at his black market chicken restaurant.[27] It is revealed that Toni has a food-related power in issue #19. Unlike Tony, Toni's power only works on living tissues, so she doesn't receive psychic readings from eating cooked food. It is later revealed that she had a drunken, sexual experience with Caesar, though she doesn't want him to remember it, possibly out of shame. Toni is eventually kidnapped by the Vampire. After telling him she's already helped being about his downfall at the hands of his brother, he kills her. But, having foreseen her death, Toni ate a diet of beets beforehand so that the Vampire could not gain her abilities by eating her flesh. Toni had foreseen the death of at least four major characters, including her own.

Olive is Tony's daughter. After her mother's death she was raised by her aunt Rosemary, and has a strained relationship with her father. Like the other members of Chu family, Olive has special food-related abilities. As a cibopath, Olive is potentially more powerful than both Savoy and her father. When kidnapped by a desperate Savoy who required a cibopathic partner, Olive resists his attempts to subdue her, and only agreed to work with Savoy on her own terms. [20]

The Gardner-Kvashennaya International Telescope is one of the three most powerful telescopes in the world. The operating budget is 34 million dollars per year. It spent 2 years focused on the planet Altilis-738. Mason and Tony head there to find out about the mysterious death of Senator Hamantaschen. When they got there they found out that the telescope only needed 3 million to operate and they used the rest of the money on prostitutes, drugs and a llama. It turns out the prostitutes worked for The Vampire and the telescope station was mostly destroyed.[23] The telescope was eventually repaired and made operational and Tony's twin sister Toni is going to be working there.[15] Later, Toni tells Tony that she will not be transferred to the station.[16]

Yamapalu is one of the smallest populated islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. The governor of the island has been recruiting and kidnapping some of the top chefs and food critics in the world to cook a plant called a Gallsaberry which tastes like chicken when cooked that only grows on Yamapalu. The island is eventually attacked by Montero and most of the Gallsaberries are destroyed. The governor shoots himself after a meeting with The Vampire.[8][9][10][11]

Altilis-738 is the third planet in a small solar system more than 24 light years away. It is populated by a species of purple people. 24 years ago strange writing appeared in the sky causing panic and then 24 years later, when the light reaches Earth, it is revealed the planet exploded.[23] The same writing appeared above the Earth.[15]

Mother Clucker's is a Kentucky Fried Chicken imitator that opened 35 years ago. After the Chicken ban it was closed down. The owner of the restaurant is bitter towards the FDA and still hangs around the closed restaurant. After alien writing appears in the sky he decides to buy black market chicken and reopen his restaurant to the public.[16]

Francis Bacon High School is a high school attended by Peter Pilaf and also Tony's daughter Olive. Their school's team name is the Shakin' Bacons. Several students there were killed in a food fight.[17]

A Cibopath can take a bite from anything and get a psychic sensation of what has happened to that object. The only thing it does not work on is beets. Tony Chu, Olive Chu, Mason Savoy, and The Vampire are Cibopaths. During the 'Major League Chew' arc, it is revealed that Tony, and possibly all Cibopaths, can absorb the skills of who he eats. The Vampire and Olive Chu are also capable of absorbing abilities.

A Saboscrivner can write about food so accurately that people get the sensation of taste when they read about the food. Amelia Mintz is a Saboscrivner.

A Cibolocutor is able to communicate through food, and can also translate written works like plays, poems and operas into their food. Fantanyeros is a Cibolocutor.

A Voresoph becomes smarter the more he eats. Daniel Migdalo is a Voresoph.

Seen through the series eating and mumbling, Special Agent Vorhees appears to have the ability to taste and identify every ingredient in whatever he's eating. At this point, this power has not been formally introduced. Also, he may be immune to the powers of the other characters, as The Barista's foam message had no effect on him (Though Caesar claims this is because Vorhees is illiterate).

An Effervenductor has the capability of creating mind-controlling messages in foams. The Barista is an Effervenductor.

This so far unnamed power lets the user control people through food. Peter Pilaf has this power.

A Xocoscalpere has the ability to sculpt chocolate—and only chocolate-- 'with such accuracy and verisimilitude' that it can mimic its real-life counterpart exactly. Hershel Brown was a xocoscalpere, having created many chocolate weapon sculptures with all the deadly capability of the original. Olive Chu, having eaten part of Hershel Brown, has acquired the ability of xocoscalpery.

A Cibovoyant can see the future of any living thing that he or she eats. This power does not work on the dead or on inanimate objects. So far, Toni Chu is the only Cibovoyant at this point, and uses this power to see the future of potential lovers as well as her injured brother.

Able to cut tortillas into sharp objects.[28]

Able to see the memories of anyone nearby eating the same thing. Sage Chu, Toni's sister, has this power.[29]

A Sabopictor is able to paint a picture that tastes deliciously what it looks like. Quindim Buongiovanni is one of three living Sabopictors, though he is last seen being attacked and likely killed by The Vampire.

Able to become stronger the more he eats. Dominic Partridge is a Ciboinvalescor.[30]

A Coquerafthartos is granted an extraordinarily long life after cooking a single special dish. Jeremiah Cumberland was a Coquerafthartos for close to 600 years before he was collected by The Vampire.

Able to seduce anyone they dine with.

Able to cook fast.

Able to cook memories into their dishes.

Able to speak the language of whatever nationality of dish they were cooking.

Able to string guitars with pasta noodles.

Able to create drinks that compel you to tell secrets.

Able to take on the form of whatever he's last eaten.

Able to create meals you could never forget.

A hortamagnatroph has skills in the garden which allow them to grow fruits and vegetables of enormous sizes.[31]

A literal food pornographer. Able to take pictures of food that "inspire erotic feelings in the viewer". Ken Keebler is an eroscibopictaros.[32]

Able to cook poisonous clam chowder. Marsala Kaczorowski is a molluhomicuquus.

Able to produce explosive flatulence. Brann Jerwar is a Pederexplodier.[33]

Able to eat pomegranates and experience a preternatural restorative effect alongside some other assorted anomalous benefits.[34]

Able to get stronger by eating spinach. The featured Viresarantheacist is unnamed but is referred to as a "sailor man," a reference to Popeye.[35]

Able to craft a unique preparation out of food to make facial beauty masks that yield amazing transformational (although temporary) results. Judy Heinz-Campbell of Judy's Beauties Beauty Salon & Boutique is a victuspeciosian.[36]

The series has been collected into trade paperbacks:

There are also large hardcover editions which each collect two consecutive trade paperbacks:

• Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 1 (collects Chew #1–10, 264 pages, August 2010, ISBN 1-60706-293-3)
• Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 2 (collects Chew #11–20, 264 pages, December 2011, ISBN 1-60706-426-X)
• Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 3 (collects Chew #21–30 and the Chew: Secret Agent Poyo one-shot, 288 pages, March 2013, ISBN 1-60706-670-X)
• Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 4 (collects Chew #31–40, 272 pages, July 2014, ISBN 978-1-63215-031-8)
• Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 5 (collects Chew #41–50 and Chew: Warrior Chicken Poyo one-shot, 304 pages, December 2015, ISBN 978-1-63215-623-5)
• Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 6 (collects Chew #51–60, Demon Chicken Poyo one-shot and Chew/Revival one-shots, 344 pages, April 2017, ISBN 978-1-53430-180-1)

As well as the omnivore editions, there are even larger hardcover editions called the Smörgåsbord editions, named after the large Swedish buffets, collecting 20 issues each:

• CHEW Smorgasbord Edition Volume 1 (collects Chew #1–20, 576 pages, November 2013, ISBN 1-60706-805-2)
• CHEW Smorgasbord Edition Volume 2 (collects Chew #21–40 and the Chew: Secret Agent Poyo one-shot, 576 pages, July 2015, ISBN 1-63215-428-5)
• CHEW Smorgasbord Edition Volume 3 (collects Chew #41–60 and the Chew: Warrior Chicken Poyo one-shot, Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo one-shot, and the dual crossover event, Chew/Revival, 640 pages, July 2017, ISBN 1-53430-212-3)

Tony Chu additionally appears in I Hate Image, a special I Hate Fairyland issue which crosses over I Hate Fairyland with many other Image Comics properties. This issue has been published as a Free Comic Book Day release, as a "Special Edition," and as a component of the I Hate Fairyland: Book Two hardcover release.

In July 2010 it was announced that production company Circle of Confusion, the same company that produces the Walking Dead television series, was planning to adapt Chew.[50] In March 2011 Showtime announced it was developing Chew into a half-hour comedy series, based on a script by Terri Hughes Burton and Ron Milbauer.[51]

Chew was mentioned in Hart of Dixie.

On February 1, 2013, John Layman wrote on Facebook, "Chew Showtime TV show not happening."

In April 2014, it was announced Chew would be getting an animated feature. This project would be produced by Jeff Krelitz and David Boxenbaum via their multimedia company Heavy Metal. Jeff Krelitz would also be directing and John Layman would write. The executive producers would be John Layman, Rob Guillory and Scott Boxenbaum. Steven Yeun of The Walking Dead fame would voice the main character Tony Chu and Felicia Day would voice his love interest Amelia Mintz.[52] On April 21, 2017, it was revealed in an interview with Rob Guillory, the artist of CHEW, that the animated film project was completely dead. Guillory simply stated that "it just didn't happen because Hollywood can be weird sometimes...we do have some movement on the live action show, though."[53]

On May 19, 2014, IDW Games announced a tabletop game. The game will feature multiple ways to play including board, card and dice games. IDW Games will be working with John Layman and Rob Guillory to create the game which was initially due to be released early 2015.[54] After multiple delays, it was eventually released on July 15, 2015.

On October 5, 2021, a Kickstarter for a Chew tabletop role-playing game went live, reaching triple its base goal on day one and clearing four of its stretch goals. On the same day, an actual play demo aired on Hyper RPG's Twitch channel with the cast of Kaiji Tang as The GM, Jimmy Wong as Tony Chu, Elyse Willems as Amelia Mintz, Malika Lim Eubank as Toni Chu, and Zac Eubank as John Colby.