CHEW, Volume 1: Taster's Choice

    In the not-too-distant future, an outbreak of the bird flu has caused the selling, ownership, and eating of poultry to be a federal crime. Leading this fight is agent John Chu, the newest member of the Food And Drug Administration's Special Crimes Unit. John's got a special power- he's cibopathic, which means when he takes a bite out of an apple, he can see it being grown, picked, and shipped to the store. It also makes eating meat kinda gross. So when an FDA inspector goes missing, John's diet is going to consist of eating some of the clues, such as the missing agent's dead dog. Mmmmm... that's good detectin'!

    Where was I when this series first came out? This 2009 series by John Layman (Detective Comics) and Rob Guillory has everything I look for in a series. It's got humor, a compelling mystery, great action, and it's got heart... and lungs...and spleen.

   As a chef, I appreciate the food aspect of this story and the main character of Chu is awesome. He's awkward in the love department but when the chips are down, he's a total badass! If this was ever made into a series or movie, I could see Ken Leung (LOST, The Night Shift) tackling the role.

   But I wasn't 100% sold on this series. For some reason around issue 3, the series starts to focus on an alien planet and it just didn't seem to fit. The whole conspiracy behind the bird flu is a good enough to keep me coming back. CHEW did not need to become a sci-fi all of a sudden and the quick change isn't adequately addressed in volume 1. Thankfully, everything else I saw in this opening round was enough to keep me coming back (for the next volume at least.)

   In volume 2, if Layman didn't properly tackle the mystery planet plot almost immediately and with a smart explanation for its inclusion, I might be going on a fast from CHEW after the next course. But for now, this crazy cool series is on my comic book shopping list!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Classic Star Wars, Volume 2: Rebel Storm

    Continuing the newspaper series by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson. In this collection, the Rebellion sniffs out a traitor amongst some new allies, Han enters Chewie in a gladiator match to the death to retrieve a mystical gem, Luke faces an ancient evil lurking in the Massassi Temples on Yavin, Darth Vader christens his super star destroyer, The Executor, and the Mon Calamari join the rebellion.

   The stories are excellent and I think after 2 volumes, I finally have the unique pacing down pat. But what I really love is the artwork. Not every panel of Luke, Han, and Leia look like their real life counterparts. But the renderings of droids, Lord Vader, and vehicles by the talented artist, Al Williamson is stunning! It also helps that the editorial team at Dark Horse did a museum quality job on the restoration and coloring of these strips.

   I am so glad that I have volume #3. This book ends on a cliffhanger and I don' think I could wait very long to find out what happens next in what is, unfortunately, the swan song to a fantastic run of Star Wars universe tales.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Snowman: 1944 Special

Cover #1A.

  What a difference a year and another publishing company make. Snowman 1944 was supposed to end with issue #4. But for some reason be it creative, financial, both, Entity Comics never got around to publishing it. So in 1997, Avatar Press became the new home for Snowman and saw and end to the 1944 miniseries with this special one-shot.

    The creative team stayed the same with the move to Avatar. So, you'd think that would have kept the quality of the book up to the same level of the original 3 Snowman 1944 issues. Well, you'd be wrong.

   First of all, the book starts out with an 8-page rehash of everything that happened so far in this story. I understand that since so much time had elapsed between issue 3 and this special, that some sort of reminder was needed. I appreciate that. But none of the artwork was new! It was all cut and pasted from issues 1-3! For a $4 comic from the 90s, that's unacceptable!!!

   Then comes the story itself. When we last left Tommy Gunn, his Nazi hostage had been killed by the Snowman. Though Tommy seemed to hate to see her go, there didn't seem to be any love lost. Yet most of this issue becomes some sort of twisted fantasy between the American soldier and the Nazi officer as Tommy seeks to escape Occupied territory in a stolen German plane. Yet all this daydreaming really detracted from the story.  Not to mention that the language was (now) left unedited and nudity abounds in a book known only for being violently gritty.

   Lastly, the story does something completely unexpected and really dumb- it becomes a time travelling romp with a trio of characters that didn't even appear in either the Snowman 1944 or Origin story from the Entity books. Maybe those characters are from the original Snowman book. But if they are, I'd expect some sort of mention of them somewhere (ANYWHERE) in this book's summary or issues 1-3.

 Speaking briefly on the Snowman #0 story. It's completely gone from this issue. But I did learn that with Avatar's undertaking of the Snowman franchise, that story finally got to see print as a stand alone series. Yet, with how god awful this special was, I'm not sure if I ever want to venture out into the frigid world of the Snowman.

   Not Worth Consuming

   Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Secret Coders (Family Comic Friday)

  When a young girl named Hopper transfers to Stately Academy, it’s a rough transition. Her basketball skills aren’t up to par with the rest of the team, nobody wants to sit with her at lunch, and the really difficult Mandarin teacher is, in reality, her mom! But when she finally makes a new friend named Eni, the pair uncover a secret involving the birds at the school, it opens Hopper up to the world of computer coding. With a myriad of mysterious numbers and locked doors, Hooper and Eni work together to undercover the mystery of Stately Academy.

  Written by Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) with art by Mike Holmes (Adventure Time), 2015’s Secret Coders is a great new series that combines science, mystery, and technology. The book is designed like a graphic novel with mystery activities that the reader is encouraged to solve along with Hopper and Eni.

  Yang was just recently selected as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and I think that this book is an excellent reason why the author was chosen. Already an accomplished writer as well as a teacher in computer science, Gene Luen knows what it takes to make learning fun for kids, such as turning a graphic novel mystery into an undercover manual for computer programming!

  I wish him well in his tenure as a literary ambassador!

  Secret Coders ends with a cliffhanger. Usually, this is a pet peeve of mine, but I got this at the library and it’s the first book in the series, so I can overlook it. However, it won’t be until August of this year before book 2 drops! That’s a long time for kids to wait for a book sequel! (Heck, it’s a long time for me to wait! and I’m 38!!!)

  That being said, there are lots of unresolved conflicts such as the troubling dynamic of Hopper and her mom, why her father just up and disappeared, and what really is going on at Stately Academy. Hopefully, Yang will include a good 2-3 page ‘Story So Far…’ summary in volume 2.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Snowman 1944 #3

   Tommy Gunn is on the run for his life from both the Nazi army and the ancient evil of the Snowman. With the Panzer destroyed, the American pilot's only chance is to make it to the airfield on the other side of a concentration camp.  All out action and thrills develops a little bit of a conscience as the horrors of the holocaust are explored in this, the penultimate chapter in the Snowman 1944 saga.

    While the main story hasn't dipped in quality, I'm stumped by what happened to the backup feature. In the first issue, we got a very good opening chapter in the Snowman's origin. The next issue also contained some of the origin story, but it wasn't as detailed. By this issue, the origin has completely disappeared! I have no clue as to what has happened to it either...

   At least, it doesn't detract from the quality of the main feature.

   Parental Advisory

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Snowman 1944 #2

       

   The Snowman has been unwittingly unleashed and none are safe! Now downed fighter pilot Tommy Gunn and his Nazi hostage are in for the fight of their lives. Oh, and did I mention the Panzer?  It's modern warfare VS ancient evil in a frosty battle royale!

    Another great chapter in this supernatural story set in World War II. The swears are still edited and the gore level is set to 11 (just look at the freakin' cover on the right!) The only difference with this issue compared to the last is that there is a 'Parental Advisory' on the cover.

    Worth Consuming!

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Snowman 1944 #1

    When a waist gunner for an Allied bomber is forced to bail during the Battle of the Bulge, he inadvertently unleashes a Native America demon upon Axis and Allies alike. Thus begins a new series on a character that I am unfamiliar with. But this book from 1996 isn't the Snowman's first ever appearance. I learned from reading in on the letters page that the ice monster starred in another series in 1995-96.

   The brainchild of two cousins, Matt Martin and Cameron Enders,  the idea behind Snowman is that when Native American warrior was brutally murdered during a supposed peace treaty with the white man, the man's sister conjurors a demon out of an arrowhead talisman. When the projectiles touch snow, it summons the creature which kills white indiscriminately with looks of blood and gore. (It's the very same talisman that the doomed gunner is wearing around his neck as a good luck charm.)

    How do I know all this? Well, if you flip this comic over, you get the first chapter of Snowman #0. That's is the never before told origin story of Snowman and it's quite good as well.

    I enjoyed both sides of this comic from the now defunct Entity Comics. It was an original premise that mixed Old West folklore with the terrors of World War II. And it was full of action!

   However, this is not a book for kids. Though drawn in black and white, this book was bloody and violent. Oddly enough, for such a book there's no cussing. Let me rephrase that- there's adult language but it's either blocked out or '#$%#!' are used instead of spelling things out. A little weird but still an enjoyable gritty read! And not a bad find for only a quarter at a comics show!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.