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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
Fun idea but I felt like they could have done more with it.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The artwork is nice, but the story is poorly developed.
Well, I'll certainly give Bourdain credit for coming up with the most bizarre future scenario I've seen: an urban landscape dominated by warring gangs of chefs, each with their own turf, supply lines, and roving gangs of thugs weilding butcher knives and ladle spoons. Outside of these gangs, there are also numerous independent chefs, suffering under the tyranny of the rival chieftains. One of these independent chefs is the genius sushi artist Jiro, who is being wooed by both sides in the conflict. After that setup, the story is actually pretty straightforward, and kind of dull, unless the reader is a serious foodie and understands some of the more subtle industry humor. The real treat is the artwork from Langdon Foss. I probably missed at least half of the in-jokes and other sly references on billboards, t-shirts and other background images. But the stuff I caught was clever. For example, the lieutenant of one of the rival chefs wears a bandolier across his chest. But instead of bullets, it holds wooden spoons for stirring sauces. Unfortunately, the subtler material is a bit overwhelmed by the ultra-violence overlaying it, and the main character Jiro isn't fleshed out enough for the reader to invest emotionally in him. I'll be generous and give this book 3 stars, although I would prefer to give it 2 1/2, because it's somewhere between OK and Like.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was so fun. It’s an easy book to knock out in one sitting and when you do you feel refreshed.
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really like the artwork. The premise is funny in general. I didn’t like some of the troupes, took me out of it sometimes. It wasn’t for me but I appreciate that a small group of very dedicated foodies and most likely men would eat this up.
Didn't know what to expect. It ended up being a social commentary mixed with the Japanese movie, Yojimbo. It was a 'meh' sort of book but entertaining enough to get me to finish it.
A super-cool debut in graphica from Anthony Bourdain. It's Yojimbo, set in a dystopian future Los Angeles where rival chefs run organized crime syndicates around food. I hope this isn't the last we see of Bourdain in comics!
I find Tony Bourdain amusing. He is smart, arrogant, funny, and that special kind of rich which involves focusing entirely on his authentic connection to the goodness and purity of the poor and disenfranchised. He also talks about food in ways I find exciting. This comic is such a great idea, but in it Bourdain goes from arrogant to insufferable and from underlying anger to Texas Chainsaw Massacre levels of violence. Seriously, you can't make fun of the pretension of vegans and locavores and then justify the murder of people who eat nigiri incorrectly. I know it's tongue-in-cheek, but its important that tongue-in-cheek castigation be consistent to be amusing, and it also helps if the humorist learns to laugh at himself and not just at others.
A side note: I have spent a lot of time in Japan in my life, and I have seen plenty of people eat sushi with chopsticks even at the most expensive restaurants and in the company executive dining rooms of several Japanese companies. Yes, the sushi soy dunk is purely American, but if you are eating run-of-the-mill sushi, its also pretty delicious. I look at it as fusion, but food miscegenation is clearly a bigger deal to Bourdain than it is to me.
A side note: I have spent a lot of time in Japan in my life, and I have seen plenty of people eat sushi with chopsticks even at the most expensive restaurants and in the company executive dining rooms of several Japanese companies. Yes, the sushi soy dunk is purely American, but if you are eating run-of-the-mill sushi, its also pretty delicious. I look at it as fusion, but food miscegenation is clearly a bigger deal to Bourdain than it is to me.
Never really lived up its potential. Ending felt rushed. Could have been the next Transmetropolitan.