Eden’s Fall #1 Review

Eden’s Fall #1
Writers: Matt Hawkins & Bryan Hill
Artist: Atilio Rojo
Colors: K. Michael Russell
Letters: Troy Peteri
Publisher: Top Cow/Image
Reviewed by David Hildebrand 

The much anticipated crossover event between Postal, The Tithe, and Think Tank has arrived in the form of Eden’s Fall.  I have had my eye on this one since I first heard about it and told myself that I was going to catch up on The Title and Think Tank before Eden’s Fall dropped. I have been a faithful reader of Postal from the beginning, but I haven’t read the other two on a regular basis. I’m a failure at life and did not do so.  But that’s ok!  Hawkins and Hill has made up for degenerates like me and have included some pretty thorough background pages to catch everyone up on who is who in the world. (Thank you, guys!)

After I caught up on what I should know, I was ready to see what kind of madness was going to be unleashed in the familiar Eden, Wyoming.  And madness it is! A right-wing extremist named Thorton is relocated to Eden. Thorton decided it would be a good idea to blow up churches and try to frame it on Muslim extremists.  The FBI had him, he escaped, and with the help of a dirty senator (which one of them isn’t dirty?) he has found his way into the clutches of Eden’s Mayor Shiffron for sanctuary.  Hot on Thorton’s trail are a trio of operatives that are doing so without the permission of the FBI.  They want to infiltrate Eden and retrieve Thorton. Nothing to it, right?  Wrong, this is Eden!

Without knowing much about The Tithe and Think Tank, I enjoyed the hell out of this issue.  It might drag a little for some if the reader is already familiar with all the characters.  But for a guy like me, it was paced perfect, everyone was explained, and it made the issue a lot more enjoyable.  In fact, I am going to track down The Tithe and Think Tank because I want to read them even more now.  I did like seeing the characters I am already familiar with. I liked how the agent infiltrating Eden comes across Mark, one of the main characters of Postal, and has a conversation with him on where he can go to find new friends since he is “new” to Eden. New as in undercover.  And Mark is Mark, he has Asperger’s, so he answers as you would expect and continues about his business. It brought a smile to my face.

Hawkins and Hill had a big task at hand intertwining all the characters together to make the story work and they were successful.  I feel like I know these characters now and I’m ready for issue #2.  I also liked how for the first time I am on the outside looking in on Eden.  It was an experience to see Eden from a different perspective and it is frightening!  The art and colors are exceptional. Rojo’s details to the facial features benefit the story tremendously since there is hardly any action in this issue. The colors are solid, they make the art more alive and realistic. It really is a gorgeous book to look at. No complaints here!

Verdict:
Buy It! As I stated, out of the three books represented in this crossover, the only one that I read faithfully is Postal. (that will change though.) If you have zero knowledge about all three books, you can still pick this up and read it.  There are pages that breakdown who everyone is and you aren’t feeling left behind. Hawkins and Hill hold your hand here!  Let them! Go out and buy this book! Meanwhile, I’ll be tracking down The Tithe and Think Tank as I should have already done….bad David!  Bad!