Remember Mark’s maliciously benevolent mom who is also Eden’s mayor? Well this issue gives you a whole lot of her backstory and perspective. Is it good?
Postal #6 (Top Cow Productions)
Ugh. I really don’t want to describe too much of this because it would give so much away, but I’ll do my best.
I’ve always thought the mayor was tough as nails, but writers Bryan Hill and Matt Hawkins immediately go to work showing us a much more vulnerable woman due to a violent and traumatic past. And yes, I know that’s what’s expected with the forged-from-adversity-steel-heart narrative, but holy crap is her history messed up.
We also learn some of the nuts and bolts about how the town operates while watching the character deal with life both as Laura and Mayor Shiffron. There’s a twist at the end, but not in the vein of David Lynch. Think the ending of True Detective season 1 if it carried a similar message while retaining a lot more of the darkness from before.
Is It Good?
The only thing that really brings this issue down at all is how good the others before it have been…or maybe my attention span is just too short. Despite the incredibly tense standoff scene and the brutal flashback at the beginning, I was disappointed that we never got the showdown being teased throughout the book.
That’s still not enough to keep this from being another great issue, though. Despite Mark only getting one page, Mayor Shiffron’s point of view is fascinating enough to easily to keep our interest. Hill/Hawkins do an excellent job revealing a lot of new information while also keeping some things about her a mystery.
We also get to see Shiffron as her alter ego, Mayor McCougar.
As usual, Goodhart’s art is beautiful, particularly in the flashback scene. And speaking of that flashback, I am curious as hell to see more from that time period in Laura’s life, particularly when she began to break free from it.
There’s also a cool puzzle at the end of the book along with a contest for readers to solve it. I won’t be entering since I’m the type of guy who solves a Rubik’s Cube by peeling off the stickers and reapplying them so all the colors match. I will, however, be picking up Postal for the foreseeable future. Seven issues in and we haven’t had a weak one yet.
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