Chef's Kiss

Chef's Kiss is a coming-of-age graphic novel about a college graduate who majored in English. Ben Cook could not find a job in his chosen field. He applied for jobs as a copyrighter, journalist and proofreader but because he had no job experience, no one would hire him. One day he passes by a restaurant and sees a help wanted sign. Ben decides to apply. After all, he is a gourmet cook at home. However, the restaurant owner requires a series of tests before hiring Ben permanently. With sous chef Liam's help, Ben begins his culinary journey.

Right off the bat I could tell the dialogue between the characters was true to life. It's what you would look for in a novel and it helped to depict the characters and their relationships. There was alot of small talk between them but it was relevant to character development. I got to know each character by the way they spoke, the words they used. There was no exposition. The back story of the expectation of Ben's parents for him was all told in dialogue. 

Chef's Kiss is filled with humor. The taste tester at the restaurant is the owner's pet pig. The back story on how Chef Davis met the pig was fantastical but made me laugh. Ben's crush on Liam is a major component of the story so if you don't like queer YA stories, you will want to skip this one.

5 out of 5 stars.

Cold Iron #1

Cold Iron is a 5 part comic by Andy Diggle. While the copyright is from 2020, Issue 1 was just released as a Comixology Original in May. Next week Issue 2 will be released. Cold Iron is a supernatural thriller that takes place on the Isle of Man. Steeped in Celtic myth, Viking history and Faerie folklore, the island is nestled in the Irish Sea midway between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. However, to aspiring singer-songwriter Kay Farragher, it feels a million miles from anywhere. She dreams of escaping the humdrum life of a sleepy backwater, and gives no credence to her grandmother’s old folktales and odd superstitions. But when she saves Mona, a traumatized girl lost in the night of Hop-tu-Naa, Kay quickly realizes this is no mere Halloween prank gone wrong. In the mossy glens and rainswept valleys of the island, the shadows of a forgotten past are gathering once more. There is another world, an older world, close by our own but out of reach. On this night the walls grow thin, and someone, or something,  has clawed its way through and it is here to hunt.

The story has a lovely British flavor with slang terms and a British accent here and there in the dialogue. The setting is dominate in this installment of the series.  We see neolithic burial sites, Celtic stone circles and Viking castles. The use of Celtic folklore creates a specific mood for the island and sets up the plot. All of the characters were introduced and they are fully developed in the comic's short 27 pages.  The author did a great job of setting up the story that will follow. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Red Tag

I have read Issues 1 through 3 of Rafael Scavone's Red Tag comic. He co-wrote the comic with Rafael Albuquerque and Roger Cruz. Issue 4 will be  released tomorrow and issue 5, the final issue for Season One, will be released next month. It was a captivating story about three friends searching for justice on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Lis, Lu and Leco are street artists and they bonded over their love for Brazil's unique street art called "pixo" which is a Sao Paulo fixture. After discovering that dangerous people, holdovers from Brazil's brutal dictatorial past, are plotting against the reform movement in Sao Paulo, the three of them gain the attention of these people and their lives become endangered. Afraid that one of the reformer's life is in danger, overnight they spray paint warnings to him in pixo on Sao Paulo's buildings. 

This is a fast paced thriller with appealing characters.  I especially loved the villain - Noronha.  He is a military policeman who works undercover and earns money by extortion. The drawings of his facial expressions were amusing. The plot itself could take place anywhere on the planet, not just in Brazil. Youths from many countries are protesting against corruption wherever they see it. In this respect, the story is timely.

I loved this comic and plan on reading the 2 future installments of the series.  5 out of 5 stars.

The Panic #1: Coffin

Issue #1 of The Panic was recently published. It's a 5 part comic that is one of Comixology's Originals. Release #2 comes out next week and in early November a paperback version containing all 5 issues will be published.

The Panic opens with Annie Delgado on a train for her commute into New York City. The train suddenly derails and Annie's best friend dies. The train car that she is trapped on is beneath the Hudson River and neither she nor her ten other fellow commuters can get  their cell phones to work. The group decides to help each other in order to survive the night. They begin to make plans on how to climb out of the train to safety but they each have cultural, racial and political biases that get in the way of communicating. They soon realize that one of their fellow commuters was not on the train before the crash and all are suspicious of him. 

The comic is advertised as a horror story but I felt is was more a suspense thriller.  I did not see any horror aspects in issue 1. Perhaps it is coming. The artwork was interesting. Most of the pages are colored in blue and the varying funky hairstyles of the characters helps the reader figure out who is who. The publisher stated in their summary that the theme of the comic is loss of security and control of your surroundings. I did not analyze the story as such but enjoyed it immensely.

5 out  of 5 stars.