Postal, Vol. 1

Dark ingenuity drives this suspense comic. Eden, Wyo., is a perfectly peaceful small town because it's a safe haven for criminals. Mayor Dana Shiffron and her accomplices have kept the lid on obvious lawbreaking for years since they tried to kill her husband, Eden's founder, after he went insane. Now he's back, hiding somewhere in the shadows as he plots revenge and tries to manipulate their son, Mark, the postal worker who's the story's protagonist. Mark has Asperger's syndrome and poor social skills; some townspeople think he's mentally challenged and that they can safely ignore him. They're wrong. Mark is quite intelligent and uncannily observant, and a frighteningly competent player when he chooses to intervene in the community's life. Goodhart's art is suitably gloomy, as Hawkins and Hill's script believably unleashes violence and sets the stage for much more. (July)