Comics Review: OUTER DARKNESS / CHEW #1

OUTER DARKNESS / CHEW #1 (Image Comics, March 2020) Writer: John Layman.  Artists, Inks, Colors: Afu Chan, Rob Guillory. Letters: Pat Brosseau, John Layman

    I’m a fan of CHEW, the 60-issue humorous series by John Layman and Rob Guillory that wrapped up some years back, so this was a welcome return. I wasn’t so excited by the more recent OUTER DARKNESS. I only read the first issue.  I was expecting it to be funny like CHEW. Layman took a different direction with this one, a lighter tongue-in-cheek mash of science fiction and horror themes. However, after reading the first issue of this crossover, I’m seriously considering giving the OUTER DARKNESS series a second chance.

    With such disparate elements as these two stories, this team-up shouldn’t work but it does. Also, readers not familiar with either series can still follow this and enjoy it. 

   The crew of The Charon (nice reference) from OUTER DARKNESS have to placate an alien diplomat who only communicates through food. If he’s not happy with the menu, he’s very likely to eat the chef. That forces Captain Rigg to time-teleport detective Tony Chu and partner John Colby onboard for assistance. Chu is a cibopath, who gets psychic impressions from what he eats. 

  Both artists share duties during the beginning of the issue, respectively illustrating their co-creations - -Chan on Outer Darkness, and Guillory on Chew. After teleporting Chu and Colby to The Charon, Chan takes over on art. There’s a funny aside on these pages where Colby asks “Why do we look like this?”

   Layman also breaks the fourth wall later when first officer Alastor Satalis tires to explain the time/teleportation technology to Chu and concludes “It’s obviously very complicated, something a layman could never understand.

Layman replies in the footnotes/writer’s notes: It’s true! I can’t!”

RATING SYSTEM

 STORY: A promising debut with lots of familiar fun from the Chu gang and more fun than I expected from the Charon crew.  2.5 POINTS.

ART:    That great homage to classic cartoon art that helps enhance the humor without going too far.  2.5 POINTS

COVER: Simple and effective. Here he is. 1 POINTS

READ AGAIN?  Disturbingly funny.  1 POINT.

RECOMMEND? Fans of either series won’t need my recommendation — they already picked up this book. For others, if you like humorous adventure comics, check this out.  1 POINT

TOTAL RATING: 8 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10 POINTS. ABOVE THE PACK, AND RECOMMENDED.