| International Flavor | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 2009 – April 2010 |
| No. of issues | 5 |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Creative team | |
| Writers | John Layman [1] |
| Artists | Rob Guillory [2] |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | Chew |
| ISBN | 978-1-6070-6260-8 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Taster's Choice |
| Followed by | Just Desserts |
International Flavor is a graphic novel written by John Layman, drawn by Rob Guillory, and published by Image Comics as the second volume of the American comic book series Chew , set in the Image Universe. Following Tony Chu, a Cibopathic Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agent who solves crimes by receiving psychic impressions from whatever he eats, Chapter One was released November 25, 2009, Chapter Two, Meet Lin Sae Woo, was released December 23, 2009, Chapter Three, Introducing Poyo!, was released January 27, 2010, Chapter Four, WTF, Vampires?!?!?, was released March 3, 2010, and Chapter Five, Cannibal vs. Bloodsucker, was released April 14, 2010. Preceded by Taster's Choice , it is followed by the story arc Just Desserts . [2] [3]
The series received a universally positive critical reception. [4] [5] [6] [7] In 2010, Chew won the Eisner Award for Best New Series for Taster's Choice and International Flavor, as well as two Harvey Awards, and was nominated for two Eagle Awards.
Cibopathic federal agent Tony Chu is reunited with his old partner turned-cyborg John Colby on a bizarre new case, as a newly discovered fruit takes the duo to a remote island full of secrets, strangeness-and a shadowy killer with a sinister appetite. [8]
Tony Chu finds himself pursued by Lin Sae Woo, a covert operative and one of the most lethal assassins in the employ of the United States Department of Agriculture, with the equivalent of black belts in four different disciplines of martial arts, an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and equally deadly with swords, throwing knives, sniper rifles and handguns, aiming to make a corpse out of anybody who tries to stand between her and completion of her current assignment. [9]
In the world of chicken fighting, Poyo is almost undefeatable, making his owners absurdly rich, and more often than not dead, as he passes from owner to owner as one is killed by the other, as Tony Chu aims to track down the latest murderers to have stolen him. [10] [11]
Tony Chu attempts to rescue food critic Amelia Mintz and his brother Chow from a prison camp, learning of the existence of vampires. [12] [13]
Continuing off of his rescue attempt, Tony Chu encounters his nemesis The Vampire for the first time. [14] [15]
On July 23, 2010, Chew won the Eisner Award for Best New Series for Taster's Choice and International Flavor. [16] On July 26, 2011, it won two 2010 Harvey Awards (Best New Series and Best New Talent) for the volume, [17] and was nominated for two 2010 Eagle Awards. [18]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chew: International Flavor | Chew (vol. 1) #6–10 | June 9, 2010 [19] | ISBN 978-1-60706-260-8 |
| Chew: The Omnivore Edition: Volume One | Chew (vol. 1) #1–10 (Taster's Choice and International Flavor) | August 4, 2010 | ISBN 978-1-60706-293-6 |
| Chew: The Smorgasbord Edition: Volume One | Chew (vol. 1) #1–20 (Taster's Choice, International Flavor, Just Desserts , and Flambé ) | November 14, 2013 | ISBN 978-1-60706-805-1 |