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Yes, "Demon Chicken Poyo" Is as Wild as It Sounds [Exclusive]

Read the first 5 pages 'Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo,' the comic series that illustrates a chicken with a vengeance.
Excerpt from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics. Screencaps via the author.

Imagine if every bite of food you ate gave you psychic visions to how that food ended up on your plate. No problem when you’re eating an apple… but imagine eating bacon, or KFC? That’s the premise behind the long-running comic Chew, the story of an FDA agent John Chu who’s a Cibopath, and who uses his powers to help solve crimes, sometimes going so far as to lick blood from a crime scene. One of the most popular characters from this wild series is Poyo, a cybernetic, super-spying, kung-fu mastering, secret-agenting rooster… who’s about to star in his third spinoff. Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo hits shelves this month.

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Series creators Rob Guillory and John Layman have been making Chew since 2009, and the series is one of Image Comics’ most-beloved by fans. As they fast approach their final 60th issue, the duo looks back on the bizarre world that is Chew. “It’s very weird. It’s very hyper-expressive,” explains illustrator and co-creator Guillory.

Writer and co-creator Layman says, “It looks like a cartoon, but it’s also for adults. It’s got a lot of blood, nonstop profanity, and it’s got a lot of heart. It’s a character-based book, you really know what makes the characters tick, and they’re consistent."

Excerpt from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics. Screencaps via the author.

The book is a wild mashup of genres, as Guillory explains, “Over the course of one page we jump from comedy, to drama, to horror, all within a couple panels. So stylistically we jump all over the place. It’s all kind of within the context of one visual style.” Layman adds that, through all the genre-hopping and wild moments, it’s the character development that keeps the comic together: “There can be funny, amazing action sequences but if you don’t feel connected to the characters eventually you’re going to become uninvolved.”

Excerpt from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics. Screencaps via the author.

So are Demon Chicken Poyo and the other Poyo one-shot comics (Secret Agent Poyo and Warrior Chicken Poyo) the same in their characterization and tone? “It tends to be a little crazier. “With the Poyo one-shots we can go off and do whatever crazy things we feel like doing," says Guillory. "Poyo is a luchadore, cybernetic, homicidal chicken… so it’s a crazy character and it’s one of the more popular characters of the book.”

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Layman adds that “the thing about Poyo is it’s not terribly sophisticated. It’s really just an excuse to let loose and have fun. Chew can get so serious and so heavy, especially now that it’s so deep into the story, but Poyo is literally just a chance to blow off steam and do something fun and crazy.” John laughs, “But is it deep? Does it have a lot of meaning? Is it literature? No… Not exactly.”

Chew issue #54 is in comic shops now, and Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo hits shelves April 20th, 2016. Check out the first five pages below, exclusive to The Creators Project:

Cover for Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Illustrated by Rob Guillory. Photo courtesy Image Comics.

All pages from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics.

All pages from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics.

All pages from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics.

Click here to check out more Chew.

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