Ten years ago, I started as a news assistant at the local daily newspaper. I worked the general pool for the first few months, filing away newspapers and handing out mail — a very glamorous job — and soon found myself assigned to the business department. The news assistant there was leaving for Wildstorm — a branch of DC Comics — in La Jolla and I was in awe. I loved comics and told him in passing before he left that my favorite artist growing up was George Perez. Little did I know that he told his friend and my future husband about that.
I soon found myself having conversations about art and comics with Paul. I hated didn’t like Paul at first but he was very convincing and charming — all the girls in the newsroom liked him and laughed at his jokes. Out of our common interest grew a friendship. And we got married last year.
The person that I replaced in the business department was John Layman. Back then, I thought John was a bit snarky but I admired him because he was going to work for a comic book company. I’ve followed John’s work over the years, both as an editor and comics writer: Fantastic Four’s House of M, Puffed (with a character named Darlene), Gambit, Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness and Bay City Jive just to name a few. All the books had some degree of success but none as successful as his most recent book, Chew.
Chew is about a Tony Chu, a “cibopathic” police detective assigned to the FDA– a person that gets psychic impressions of whatever he eats. This on-going series makes for interesting reading because the main character usually has to eat his way to find a clue. For instance, eating a carrot can bring up images of about the dirt it was grown in and pesticides used. Chew is essentially CSI meets Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations starring Miles from Lost. It’s a very enjoyable read and has received a lot of critical rave.
The first issue of Chew has sold out and has had multiple printings. And the collected first volume has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for a few weeks. John is about to embark on a trip to Italy to promote his book. Chew has gone international!
The success is sweet to me as I’m sure it is to him, and without him, I wouldn’t have met my husband.
You can purchase a copy of Chew here or at your local comic book shop.
My Burning Kitchen 
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