Image's Chew at NYCC'13

Guillory (Left) and Layman  (Right)

At NYCC'12, fans had the opportunity to sit down and listen to Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples discuss the creation process behind Saga. This year, we were given another incredible opportunity to sit down and listen to John Layman and Rob Guillory tell us the history and their creation process behind Chew.

Right off the bat, Layman told the crowd that Chew was rejected by other companies (one being Vertigo) before it found its home at Image. At one point, he made enough money from a freelancing gig to fiance the book himself. Thanks to a person Layman described as a frenemy, he and Guillory met at SDCC. It was during their first meeting that Layman drunkenly spoiled the ending of Chew #60. Originally, he planned to make Chew a darker series than what we are reading now, but Guillory's art allows Layman to take the story in a different direction and make it a little goofier. If you buy Chew: The Smorgasbord Edition Vol. 1, you are lucky enough to get a glimpse of Guillory's first attempt at drawing Chew, and I believe they both described it as ugly and too dark.

When Layman was asked about the creation of Chew's characters, he described comics as "too white" and "Rob designs the characters as he sees fit, and makes things more diverse." One of the most important questions asked was whether or not fans will get to watch Chew on Showtime. Layman had bad news, "The Showtime thing all went away," but he did have promising news. According to Layman, "We kind of broke up with our Hollywood people. We now have a new Hollywood person who's much more interested in animation." What matters to the two of them is that Chew stays true to its concept: cannibalism with a tint of goofiness.

Chew #38

My favorite question asked was about Chew's wonderful easter eggs. Throughout the series, we have seen Lost, X-Files, Fringe, and Kirkman's face on a firefighter poster. Layman said it is all Guillory, but Guillory was a little confused when a fan asked about the X-Files' easter eggs. I swear I've seen a handful of X-Files easter eggs, but he's never watched it before.

For those that attended the panel, they got exclusive news for the upcoming Chew story lines. #38 is about about Savoy and a villain we will see again in #60. #39 continues the space plants story that fans read back in #14. Do not worry, Poyo returns in issue #45. Fans will be rewarded with a tri-fold poster that has Poyo fighting all the villains he's ever fought. Also, there is talk about a second Poyo one-shot. Layman has not decided whether or not it is a sci-fi or fantasy story. 

For those who don't know Chew ends at #60. One of the questions during the panel was why. Layman's answer was that some of comic's greats have ended at #60, Preacher, Y: The Last Man, and Transmetropolitan.