The schools of culinary thought have always been divided but not as boldly as they are in Get Jiro! – an action thriller that takes America’s newfound obsession with exotic cuisine to a manic, violent extreme.

C0-Written by renowned chef Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose, Get Jiro! is set in a not-too-distant future Los Angeles, where master chefs rule like crime lords and people literally kill for a seat at the best restaurants. It’s a world where food and the secrets of how to prepare it are the source of all power. This is a stylized send-up of food culture and society. The art is provided by Langdon Foss.

I missed this graphic novel the first time around, but with the release of it in trade paperback, it’s a perfect opportunity to see what everyone has been raving about and what I missed.

The story is a foodie comic geek’s dream with inside jokes and a send-up of food culture and the various sects it has sprung. In this story, the power is split between two powers, the “Internationalists,” who blend foods from all over the world into exotic delights or the “Vertical Farm,” who prepare nothing but organic, vegetarian, macrobiotic dishes. Both sides want the talented sushi chef Jiro to join their side.

What I enjoyed most is the lampooning of food culture, calling out some of the hypocrisy and showing how much the use of pop words has tip-toed into the industry and how some people live and die by them.

Then there’s the crazy action. The comic is a bloody, over the top, bloody and hilarious. The story is unlike anything else out there, blending food with something I’d expect out of a Tarantino movie. To say it goes in a completely different direction than I expected, is a bit of an understatement.

I found myself pouring through the graphic novel, reading it in one sitting. The story is original. The story is funny. The story is entertaining. For something different, this is a definite buy.

Story: Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose Art: Langdon Foss
Story: 8.25 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics and Vertigo provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review