By Dustin Cabeal
There has been a slew of cooking-themed comics in the past year. While manga has always dominated the genre and found new and interesting ways to present it, the Western comics are still getting their footing. The problem tends to be the story itself. The rules for cooking and the setting are always interesting, but then the stories seem to spend more time reminding you of the concept than building on it. Unfortunately, Flavor isn’t looking to be much different.
It’s a fantasy world plucked out of an RPG. We meet Xoo who is on her way to get some special truffles. She and her dog that clearly understands everything she’s saying are riding along going over their prep list when she’s hit in the face with peppers… they blind her, and she doesn’t get her truffles. The boy that did it to her gets arrested, and we learn that the use of peppers if forbidden in combat. The story then introduces Xoo’s uncle that’s arriving by train and meeting a woman that’s there to assign him to Xoo and her parents as a caregiver. The short version is that the Uncle doesn’t want to be there but is getting paid to be there. He has a massive sword that he states is no longer a sword, foreshadowing a turning point or loss in his past that has made him sheath the weapon.
From the story we can tell that cooking is serious business, there are likely to be battles between people and everyone has special weapons. It’s likely based on the relationship and the set up that Xoo will at first hate her Uncle, come to appreciate and love him like family and then the twist of him being paid to be there will divide them at a crucial time. And hey, I could be wrong, but that’s what the story is setting up and to use a cooking analogy, there is only so many ways to slice ham. It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s nothing particularly new either.
The story already shows a reliance on its setting and the “rules of cooking” that we don’t fully know. Xoo can’t cook on her own because she’s unlicensed but can’t go to school because she must cook in her parent’s place. It’s a wacky rule that is completely locking her into the path her character is on, and that type of forced narrative often feels unnecessary or convenient. It’s like climbing every part of the mountain before getting over it instead of climbing the part that’s necessary for the journey. Time will tell, but there are so many aspects that are already locked in place. It’ll either stay the course or abandon it so abruptly that it’ll stand out more so.
The artwork gives the story a family-friendly look. It reminded me of indie RPG’s in which there is a clear Western style, but it’s heavily influenced by traditional RPGs. The world is lively and vibrant. The dog is adorable, and even though he’s damn near anthropomorphic (he is chopping on the cover so maybe he is?), he gives the world a personality. The backgrounds are rich and full. There are only a couple of blank backgrounds, and they are intentional as they drive the story forward without distractions. The character designs are the weakest aspect. The family members all look too similar. Yes, they are family, but no one is a carbon copy. It was distracting when they were all together. The facial expressions were good and had a range to them, but there wasn’t a lot of detail on people’s faces. Without the older woman having a few forehead wrinkles and white hair, there isn’t a lot of difference to her face compared to Xoo’s, who is a teenager. There’s always room for growth, and frankly, I’ll take full backgrounds and a world that looks alive over super detailed characters any day.
There is a bit of a mystery going on in Flavor which is likely to bring a lot of people back for… wait for it… seconds. (Puns – 1/ People that don’t like Puns – 0) While I’m not turned off by this series, it did feel familiar. Not because of the cooking, the battling or the fantasy setting, but the journey the characters were setting out on emotionally. We’ll see if ham can be sliced differently, but if not… its still ham, yum!
Score: 3/5
Flavor #1
Image Comics