The premise of this graphic novel had a lot of potential, but it required more suspension of disbelief than I was able to muster: it's LA in the near future, restaurants have replaced all other commerce two rival culinary mafias (locavore vegetarians vs. corporate minimalist carnivores) carve up the city into their distinct territories and strangle independant competition. The art is INCREDIBLE, and I liked the characters, in theory, but they were pretty thinly drawn (pun unintended). I could not understand the motivation of the main character and the story lost me. I also couldn't help but getting turned off by the depiction of a "Mexican" cook in a sombrero. The whole enterprise felt a little like Vertigo Comics was capitalizing on Bourdain's popularity, and not enough thought was given to the story. Get Jiro is certainly enjoyable and the concept of a world controlled by literally warring culinary ideologies is both fun, plausibly absurd, and would probably lend well to a movie screenplay. Think Mad Max but with food involved. This is a first fiction book Anthony Bourdain that I've read and it's riveting enough for me to want more. I'm not sure if the art is a good match however. Because while the illustrations would probably work well for any other mainstream comic (this is by Vertigo, after all, which is still part of DC), the fact that the drawings are for a narrative driven by food, I expected the pictures to look completely tantalizing ESPECIALLY since I'm supposed to believe that people were literally dying to eat at these restaurants. The art is not bad but I don't think it is suited for this sort of story.Fortunately, Anthony Bourdain has a talent for describing food unlike any other so what I don't see with my eyes, he helps me imagine with his words.
What do You think about Get Jiro! (2012)?
Fun light read, a tale of revolution and food! I look forward to reading another Bourdain comic.
—theo
Nicely illustrated, very violent yet somehow still makes you hungry.
—jkool
A fun quick read that reminds me of his Bobby Gold series.
—Brook
