No massive releases this week means I get to tout an underrated fave in my Book of the Week slot! Huzzah! Let’s get to that in this week’s edition of The Pull.

Book of the Week: Chu Vol. 1

While I’m not going to go wild and say this is already Chew levels of good, as that was a complete 60 issue series and this is just one volume. But Chu is off to a very strong start, as this sequel but also prequel but also neither of those things from John Layman and Dan Boultwood scratches some similar itches while also delivering some new wrinkles.

For one, the inversion of this story to be told from Chew lead Tony Chu’s sister Saffron’s perspective is an inspired angle, as she’s a criminal + ne’er-do-well loaded with charm and her own special gifts, making her a nice counter-point to her brother’s general law-abiding (and enforcing) nature. Layman’s clearly enjoying himself, and he’s done a good job of fitting Chew’s world/feel without it feeling too similar.

For two, Boultwood is pretty dang incredible. Similarly to Chew’s Rob Guillory, Boultwood has an artistic voice completely his own, but it fits Chu’s world in the same way Guillory’s did the previous series. Much of the spark and vivaciousness and energy within this book stems from Boultwood’s wonderful cartooning, as he gives these characters so much life it’s hard not to want to dig into their stories.

Even if you didn’t read Chew, I’d recommend this series. It’s a low cost first volume from Image, so there’s no excuse to skip it unless you were really out on its predecessor. But this is strong work with a good idea and tremendously fun execution. I’m a fan of this one.