"Get Jiro!" - Review of a foodie comic book

Anyone who knows me (or at least has read my May 2012 blog post) knows I'm a huge comic book nerd. I've got longboxes of Marvel and DC comics and graphic novels in my basement next to action figures of my favorite characters still in the original packaging, and I can go toe-to-toe with any Comic Book Guy at ComicCon about obscure superhero minutia. More recently, I've become a fan of the writings of the enfant terrible of the celebrity chef set, Anthony Bourdain. So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I discovered that Bourdain has written a graphic novel called "Get Jiro!", about the world's most dangerous chef. A story that allows me to embrace both my foodie and comic book sensibilities? That was something I had to read.

Co-written with Joel Rose, drawn by Langdon Foss, and inked by José Villarrubia, "Get Jiro" was inspired by Bourdain’s favorite sushi chef, Jiro Ono. The story is about a sushi chef caught in the middle of a war between two very powerful chefs in a world where food preparation and cooking is taken very seriously. And by serious, I mean the protagonist will decapitate someone disrespecting his sushi by ordering a California roll without hesitation. With the popularity of Food Network and the new crop of food-related shows on other networks, this story is an inspired take on Western food culture wrapped around a grind-house action thriller. I'm thinking Jet Li as Jiro if Hollywood ever runs out of superheroes to make movies about, with either Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez directing. While this is a story with a lot of blood being spilled, it also had a lot for foodies to enjoy, as the artwork makes the reader appreciate the art that is making proper sushi. I highly recommend this graphic novel if you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain or comic books in general.



Also recommended:

• Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
• The Layover Season 1 [Import]