In its previous explosive (and excellent) issue, Postal laid the groundwork for a bloody battle between the town of Eden and a bunch of Trump supporters a white supremacist group.
This week, storm clouds gather as Mayor Shiffron prepares her community for war.
Is it good?
Postal #14 (Image Comics)
Observations
- Dang. I’m digging 1970’s Laura Shiffron.
- 1970’s Issac, on the other hand, is just as terrible as you’d imagine.
- Meetings usually suck, but this is pretty intense.
- I like the way Mark thinks, but I like the way Laura feels about this even more.
- “No one avenges the expendable.”
- Molly locked inside a cage (and interacting with Mark) is like watching Hannibal Lecter, but with better hair and less inhibition.
- This dude leading the Ayrans is like an InfoWars article’s comment section that has become sentient and physically dangerous.
- Every once in a while, Mark’s complete lack of social skills can come across strangely/surprisingly smooth.
- Wait…what?
- NO!!!
Is It Good?
If you’re looking for a lot of action, last issue is your jam. Postal #14 instead provides us with some space and much needed internal turmoil over the conflict to come.
Despite plenty of good reasons not to engage in it (especially from Mark), Mayor Shiffron makes a surprisingly effective emotional appeal as to why they should…which Mark still manages to counter despite his complete willingness to help her.
From there, we see a lot of pieces being moved into place via Bryan Hill’s exceptional script. Even the Ayrans are presented as complex and conflicted.
Bigoted and evil, but still complex and conflicted.
There’s also an absolutely riveting scene between Mark and Molly, who serves notice that she’s not going away any time soon. Where Mark is detached from many emotions and behaviors that most people take for granted, Molly molds and shapes them to her will. She may be underground inside a cage, but she’s still as dangerous as ever.
The art for the entire issue is great, but the Mark/Molly scene is also by far Isaac Goodhart’s best. He and colorist K. Michael Russell do a fantastic job giving Molly an alien, almost inhuman aura. She’s simultaneously vulnerable and predatory, eyeing Mark like a shark that has somehow become smitten with a minnow.
The issue’s ending is shocking, but also feels a bit unfair. I trust Hill to make it payoff next month, though. He’s taken would could have been a very simple ‘Good(ish) Guys vs. Bad Guys’ story and deftly added layers to both sides, all while positioning everything for what promises to be a horrific (and awesome) conflict.
Buckle up, kids. Postal is going to war.
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