Review: Postal: Deliverance #8
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Creator: Matt Hawkins
Writer: Bryan Edward Hill
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Letters: Troy Peteri
Reviewer: Tony Farina
Summary
Laura takes her old job back. Mark, harmed from his last run in with the Eden Killer, simply wants the whole thing done. Magnus is back on the job helping Maggie hunt the killer down. Of course, the killer is on the prowl and he ends up taking matters into his own hands. The pandemic is not over, but you are welcomed back to Eden.
Positives
Where to begin? Postal: Deliverance #8 is essentially a masterpiece. In the future we could use Postal: Deliverance #8 as a template for how to write a comic script and, more importantly, how to pull it off. Bryan Edward Hill is essentially one of the top 5 working comic writers right now. This story is so tense. The characters are so realistic that we forget this is fiction. I like Mark so much. I think we all can identify with him. He has a complicated relationship with is family. His life is not totally in his control. His work may kill him if he isn’t careful. Sure, for most of us, that is all metaphor and for Mark it is real, but still, we relate.
Then, there is Rafe Ienco, whose visual storytelling is haunting and beautiful. Half of this book has no words in it and while it is always nice to know what our characters are thinking, Ienco’s craftsmanship is such that we don’t need them. Even when we don’t see faces, we know what is going on because he has manged to capture the body language of each character so well, it feels like we are looking at a photograph. Take a look at Maggie’s face down below. You’ll see what I mean.
Negatives
The only problem is that I have waited months to get my hands on this book. Damn you yet again pandemic.
Verdict
It has been a long wait. It was worth it. I simply love this comic series and Postal: Deliverance #8 reminds me why. The tension is always ratcheted up to 11. I have never been more concerned about the fate of a bunch of psychopaths and killers, but because Bryan Edward Hill is a master story teller and because Rafe Ienco is a master artist, I care. I don’t want Mark to die. I don’t even want Laura to die. I mean, I should. She is a monster, but I don’t and you shouldn’t either.
