I’m glad to be finally branching out to other graphic novels that aren’t the Saga series. I liked the premise of this graphic novel, and I liked that I was branching out to a different genre: more spooky, scary, murder and mystery.

POSTAL brings readers into the fictional town of Eden, Wyoming, a place founded by criminals for criminals. A place where, despite its inhabitants, no crime is allowed. Local postman Mark Shiffron has Asperger’s, and through his peculiar eyes we see a town struggling to keep its fragile peace, a town on the constant brink of chaos. When a murdered woman’s body is found on Eden’s main street, Mark’s need to solve her crime leads him into darkness and truth about the town he’s known his entire life and the hidden realms of his own psychology.

Collects POSTAL #1-4

I will start by saying this: since I do not suffer from Asperger’s so I cannot say whether the representation in this graphic novel series is a positive representation or whether it is problematic.

When I first started reading this volume, I wasn’t that keen on the characters and the plot felt a bit messy. But as the storyline continued, things started to fall into place and plot points started to make more sense. The premise of the book is amazing: a town full of criminals where they are left to their own devices and are hidden from the rest of the country. I was fascinated by how a town full of criminals would live together and it was fun to read about it.

“Asperger’s is like having a billion lights blinking at you all the time and the only way you can find peace is to name them all. But the more you name, the more lights that come. Doing things helps, things that force me to focus.”

– Bryan Hill and Matt Hawkins, Postal Vol.1

I am planning on reading the rest of the series because I’m very curious as to how the town carries on working out and IF it does actually work out. I’m also very curious about Mark’s mom. She’s very mysterious and is the keeper of what seems like a lot of secrets and I do want to find out more about Mark’s dad.

Another thing that I really liked about this graphic novel was that it included file extracts on the criminals, which gives it that extra dimension.

The artwork is amazing and Isaac Goodheart does a brilliant job in conveying the world of Eden to the reader.