Along with the release of its third issue this week, Image’s Chew saw a second print of #2 and a third print (well, three-and-a-half if you count the one in The Walking Dead) of #1. We sat down for a brief conversation with series writer John Layman about setting up the series, and his plans for the future.
Blog@Newsarama: What made you decide to just jump in headlong, rather than spending an issue or an arc getting readers acclimated to this new world?
John Layman: What issue are we talking about? I was sorta under the impression I WAS getting readers acclimated to the new world. There’s a whole of aspects to it people have not seen. Trust me, I’m rollin’ it out slow!
Blog@: What has made you and Kirkman so sympatico? It’s been made no secret to The Walking Dead readers that Chew is something they want to read!
JL: I’m not sure. I’m still not entirely convinced it is the same audience, but you figure people who read The Walking Dead are less inclined to read the average, ordinary superhero stuff and more inclined to read stuff that’s off the beaten path.
Blog@: How many of the names are in-jokey? It’s a trope of the comics business so old that it’s actually stopped being used and seems clever in this book now.
JL: I’m not sure in-jokey is the right term. In-jokey is when you stick your buddy’s name into the book and have a laugh about it. The names in Chew are a little more deliberate. Chew is, at its heart, a very food-centric book, and every single name in the book in some way relates to food. Whether a character’s last name is “Applebee” or “Baker” or “Colby” or their first name is “Frank” or “Olive” or “Candy,” every last name relates to the ingestion of some thing edible or relating to foodstuff.
Blog@: Everyone knew coming in that he’d have to eat horrible things–it was funny watching him be so hesitant about it.
JL: Well, sure. Just because you know the hero is gonna nibble on corpses does not make it any less gross!
Blog@: You know, it’s interesting: In issue 3, the terrorists kinda win no matter what if this is real life instead of a comic, right? Even if they get arrested or killed, newspapers would line up to publish their ramblings. Was that something you had in mind when writing?
JL: Maybe in the real world, but in Chew, the FDA is all-powerful, and the government is a little more fascist. If the government wanted to kill the newspaper story, or even take out all the witnesses, they probably could. So the terrorists would not exactly win in that case.
Blog@: That said: Will Chu eventually deal with (or Chew, as in themes of the comic) the nature of that kind of power and whether it’s right for a small number of people to wield it with such a cavalier attitude?
JL: Yes. That’s one of the primary themes and overall storylines to the book.
Blog@: With the internal politics of the FDA taking a center stage at some point, will the sides be predictable? Or will we see Chu maybe getting into bed with some people he doesn’t particularly like, against people who the readers may have more sympathy for, a la Marvel’s Civil War? That story had this guy named Tony…!
JL: There will definitely be a moral grey area. Who’s to say that Tony is even working for the right side?
Blog@: Is Chu more or less immune to the vomit-inducing properties of Mintz’s recent writing?
JL: No, he’s just a lot more used to eating gross shit!
Blog@: Is there a specific plan in place for when we’ll see Mintz again?
JL: Yes. Sooner than you think.
Blog@: And what of that fruit? Any chance Chu will be able to eat it?
JL: Count on it.
Blog@: How much thought did you put into the history and backstory of this world? How detailed is the history of the poultry prohibition and all that?
JL: Quit a bit. Chew has been developed for at least three years or more prior to publication of the first issue, possibly more, so a lot of the world is in my head. It’s been something I’ve been planning out for a long time.
Blog@: Were you always developing this series to take to Image, or how did that relationship come about?
JL: I’d explored other options. On the surface, it seems like it would be a good Vertigo series. But I certainly would not have the freedom to do whatever the hell I want with Chew, which is exactly what I get with Image. Or to own it without any interference, which is something else I get with Image.
Blog@: With so much planning having gone into it, is this something that has a specific endpoint?
JL: Yes. It’s several years away, but there is a definite ending the book is working toward.
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