Comics Experience Book Club

December 14, 2010Chew, Taster’s Choice

TOPIC 3

Cibopath: real or imagined?

The Horse’s Mouth

NFZ: Chew begins with a really intriguing premise. As a cibopath, Tony Chu could solve almost any crime with just a bit of evidence to munch on, but it means eating a lot of strange stuff.  Was there any basis for the idea of cibopathy or is it completely made up?

RG: If there is a basis, John ain't telling even me, and I draw the damn thing. From what he tells me, he just had a lot of food-based stories, so I assume Tony Chu's ability came from another one of those.

Rob Guillory, Interview with No Fly Zone, June 03, 2009

Definition• Back Cover—”gets psychic

impressions from whatever he eats .”

• Websters Dictionary—No Definition

• Wikipedia—No Entry• Encyclopea—No Entry• Homeless Guy on E St., NW –

“Gimme a quarter and I’ll tell you!”(He Didn’t Know)(Andy owes me a quarter)

CibaPath

Ciba PathFrom Latin cibus

Noun:cibo m. (plural cibi)“food”

From Greek pathes, from pathos

Suffix: "one suffering from“ "one versed in”

Etymology

“food” "one suffering from“

CibaPath

Linguistics weren’t the answer.(All due respect to Prof. Henry Higgins.)

Science• The Iroquois were known eating their more respected prisoners of war to

steal their strength.

• There have been experiments done with flatworms that suggest they can recover the memories of other flatworms... by eating them. (More recent experiments with stricter controls, however, have led to the conclusion that actually they were just reading scent markings left by their unfortunate predecessors.)

• In North and South Africa, it is believed that eating the flesh of human albinos will confer superpowers to the eater.

• In Tarabuco, Bolivia, the native

Quechua people ate the hearts of their Spanish conquerors.

NOTHING ON POINT.

ParapsychologyLairgustance: The ability on a psychic level to taste the energy of something within the aura or the energy of a certain food and not the actual food, that is tasted on the tongue.

Clairolfaction:The psychic ability to pick up the energy of the food or aura around the body, you can smell the energies. .

Psychometry, or “token-object reading”A form of extra-sensory perception in which a psychic is said to be able to obtain information about an individual through paranormal means by making physical contact with an object that belongs to them.

AGAIN, NOTHING ON POINT.Science Wasn’t the Answer

Movies• The Creeper has eaten so many hearts that he has

become superhuman (Jeeper’s Creepers)

• "Such a brave boy. I think I'll eat your heart...“--Hannibal Lecter

• The Thing proved that you are what you eat.

Television• The Greatest American Hero got vibes off the food

he ate, including a very old hamburger.

• Mulder and Scully investigated a cult where they ate humans to gain abilities.

• (PS: Happy Holidays.)

Literature• Deadhead, from the Wild Cards novels, absorbs the

memories of creatures (and people) whose flesh he eats, getting the clearest 'read' from the brain.

• The Marvel Zombies gained the power cosmic after eating Galactus.

• “"They say meat makes blood an' flesh, an' gives ye new life, so I wondered ef 'twudn't make a man live longer an' longer ef 'twas more the same - “--HP Lovecraft, The Picture in the House

• DC’s Everyman can change into anyone he has eaten.

Freedom of Information Act Request

FOIA Request

Are Cibopaths real?

FOIA REQUEST 1: Are Cibopaths real?

FOIA REQUEST 2: Are Cibopaths real?

FOIA REQUEST 2: Are Cibopaths real?

Conclusion: The reality is a Cibopathy is a mystery and we will have to wait for the Next Dan Brown Novel to solve it

Comics Experience Book Club

December 14, 2010Chew, Taster’s Choice