The World is Going Postal

By: JD Hardin

It’s no secret that we here at The Nerdery are huge fans of Top Cow and Postal. Matt Hawkins has been a favorite here since we began nearly two years ago. Back in June, we confidentially received the news that Postal’s TV options had been sold to Legendary TV, and a pilot was in the works. Now that the secret is out, you can watch that video.

It’s now been confirmed, Postal is coming to Hulu. So, there’s several things that should be expected, and things that shouldn’t be.

(For those who don’t know what Postal is all about Click Here to read the first issue!)

First off, let’s talk about the incredible production crew that has been attached to this project.

Matt Tolmach will be taking the position of Co-Executive Producer. Those who don’t recognize the name will, most certainly, recognize his resume. The Amazing Spider-Man 1&2 both bare his name as producer, as well as the upcoming franchise reboot, Spider-Man: Homecoming. He is also announced to be attached to the expansions of the Spider-Man franchise, Venom and The Sinister Six. The Amazing Spider-Man was arguably the best adaption of the character to date, as far as comic book readers go. We’re excited to see all the new Spider-Man films, and even more excited that such a loyalist will be producing the Postal series.

Comic book readers are no strangers to the phenomena of The Walking Dead and what happened to the value of those early issues when the TV show aired (we’ll get to those implications later). It’s a breath of fresh air to know that Walking Dead alumnus Seth Hoffman has been tapped to write the series. Hoffman also wrote another loyal comic adaptation Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Don’t roll your eyes at that, I agree that the first Ghost Rider film was terrible. It was more about creating a blockbuster action flick than creating a real piece of art. Spirit of Vengeance is more of a film to satisfy all of those long time Ghost Rider fans with a truly loyal adaptation. His experience as producer and writer and producer on two comic book sourced projects will be a great addition to Postal

Matt Hawkins is no stranger to our fans and readers. Voted The Nerdery’s Best Writer of 2015, Hawkins also received the Comic Spotlight treatment back in August. We’ve had the pleasure of interviewing and speaking to Matt Hawkins on several occasions and it’s always been a treat. Undoubtedly Matt will be heavily protective of the representation of Postal on the small screen. As a Co-Executive producer, Hawkins will be able to ensure that the series will stay as loyal to the book as possible. Hawkins is no stranger to the TV set, having written several episodes for Power Rangers back in the 90’s. We just hope he finds a Producer’s chair just as comfortable as a writer’s desk.

Marc Silvestri will also be bearing the title as Co-Executive producer. As co-founder of Image Comics and founder of Top Cow Studios, Silvestri will be just as protective, if not more so, than Matt Hawkins. Silvestri is no stranger to the Producer’s chair having been Executive producer of the Witchblade anime series. As CEO of Top Cow Productions, Silvestri no doubt has his hands full. Although, it will be nice to have the man who started it all behind the camera.

 

 

 

How well will the show do?

Of course, this is impossible to answer currently, but we can speculate. Postal was originally written as a TV pitch. With that in mind, it will be no surprise if the series does phenomenally. Once you take into account the story itself, I will be shocked if it doesn’t do extremely well.

How true to the books will the series be?

Just like any comic book adaptation, there are somethings that don’t translate well onto the screen. So, variations are inevitably unavoidable. However, with it’s team of executive producers, we expect this to be the most “true to story” comic book television series ever made. Postal is a no-nonsense story with absolutely nothing that wouldn’t be plausible in reality (thanks to Matt Hawkins). Once again, the fact that Postal was originally conceived as a television pitch, adds to the idea that the series will be very close to the comics themselves.

Will Think Tank and The Tithe make any screen time?

That all depends on numerous factors. While the series may stay true to the comics as far as the tone of the plot, this doesn’t mean that it will stay true to the story (even though, I expect it will). If it does stay true to the story, tying in the characters from other Matt Hawkins titles is ultimately up to Matt Hawkins himself. Seeing as how they are completely separate titles, it’s safe to assume the rights to put them on screen are separate as well. The way I see it, the best way to go about integrating them would be to produce them all in their own separate television shows. Currently, that possibility is a long way away (but not impossible). Its probable that since those character’s interactions mostly occur in their own respective titles, and the current mini-series Eden’s Fall, the odds of us seeing David Lorens, Soup, or Sam in the show is rather unlikely.

What does this mean for my issues of Postal?

Well, that is heavily subjective. For instance, when The Flash kicked of it’s series premier, the value of the correlating comic books didn’t really move. Of course, that’s a title with decades of history. However, we have seen a significant jump in value for Preacher, with first prints of issue 1 going as high as $99 (CGC 9.8). The Walking Dead has seen an astronomical value increase, with some issues reaching into the thousands of dollars to buy. That being said, both of those examples have their shows on cable television. On the flip side of that coin, the Netflix Jessica Jones series provided a spike for Alias #1 (her first solo issue) with some examples selling as high as $155. Luke Cage and Punisher can’t experience the same spike due to the fact that these are much older characters whose first appearances already carry a significant value. Nonetheless, Jessica Jones is evidence that a streaming series can provide an investment status for it’s correlating comic book. Hulu has yet to replicate this trend, but it’s definitely possible for Postal. I myself have four copies of issue #1 and have made sure to have Matt and Isaac sign every issue I own, just to be safe.

For more on Matt Hawkins CLICK HERE to see our interview, or HERE to see our interview with Isaac Goodhart.

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