To cap off this brutal week of comics we got the midway point of Chew. This has been a funny book since day one and only a few times I can say that this series went away from being a humor book. (Tony getting kidnapped and getting his ass kicked comes to mind) But this midway point delivers what could be the saddest thing I’ve read in a long time.

For the sake of spoilers I won’t say what happens here but if you read this you know what I am talking about. It doesn’t help that John Layman builds this up on not one, but two uber-depressing moments. The first one leads up with a shocking reveal and it was a bit uncomfortable to watch I must admit. Even when Layman tries to pepper in some type of humor into these I just couldn’t find myself smiling. Nothing but saddest came across this face the entire time. Then we get an even more depressing moment with a certain character finally remembering something and it’s not only sad but sweet at the same time. Damn you Layman for making my heart bleed!

It is nice to know that Rob Guillory can handle these depressing moments just as well as his comedic moments. We do get some hilarious moments in the beginning and he does pepper in some hidden jokes in the panels as usual. But once we get to the second half of the issue, where the saddest starts, he delivers on some gut punches along the way. His handling of the shocking reveal and the double page spread later on was just downright perfect. They are unsettling moments to be sure but Guillory really blew me away this month with these pages.

I feel like I’m repeating myself in this issue but I’ll just say it one more time: This is one depressing issue but it also one of the best John Laynan and Rob Guillory has ever worked on. As sad as this issue is, it is nice to know that these guys can switch it up from time to time and keep hammering home on why CHEW is one of the best series on the stands. From here on out no one is safe.