Postal #1 (Image)

CREDIT: Image Comics

Rating: 4/5 – Don’t Even Think About Committing a Crime in a City of Criminals.
by ComicSpectrum EiC Bob Bretall.

Matt Hawkins has done some comics that really showcased him doing his research to give them a feeling of reality (like Think Tank and Wildfire).  This time around he’s teaming up with co-writer Bryan Hill to tell a tale of Eden, Wyoming a town populated by people in the Witness Protection Program who pretty much want to stay off the radar of the outside world.  As such, they really frown on any of the residents backsliding into their past proclivities that landed them in Eden in the first place.

What made this comic stand out to me was the focus on Eden postal worker Mark Shiffron. It’s Mark’s Mom, Dana, who was relocated to Eden and is currently Mayor.  Dana was in organized crime before she ended up in Eden.  Mark is there because his Mom is there, he doesn’t actually have a criminal past.  Oh, and Mark has Asperger Syndrome.  Watching Mark interact in his socially awkward way with the colorful characters inhabiting the town was fascinating to me.  Reading up on Asperger’s, Mark appears to have been written true to form and in any event, felt like a very real character to me as I was reading the issue.  The driving force in this story is a murder.  There are 2,198 people in Eden, Wyoming and now we’re going to follow along with Mark as he tries to figure out who the killer is.

While this book isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, it was a solid “win” for me in my search each month for comics that feel and read different from every other comic I’m reading.  This didn’t feel similar to any of the other 140 or so current series I’m reading and as such will be really easy for me to keep straight in my mind without blurring into any others (a concern I have that is probably fairly unique to me).  But for any other reader, I’d recommend it as a solid read with a lot of well-written and very unique characters.And if you don’t speak French, I’d recommend using Google translate on The Chef’s dialogue.  A little thing, but I thought it was a hoot.  I’ll be back to follow along with the investigation as well as getting to know more about the inhabitants of Eden.  Postal #1 delivered exactly the what I was looking for in a #1; just the right amount of setup, an array of characters I want to get to know better, and a killer hook on the final page.

Reviewed by: Bob Bretall
(bob@comicspectrum.com)
https://comicspectrum.com/ Covering the full spectrum of comics culture

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