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‘Eden’s Fall:’ Trade Paperback Review

When I first heard about the massive crossover that Top Cow Productions was undertaking with the release of Eden’s Fall, a series that would take three of their top titles (Postal, The Tithe ,and Think Tank) and place them all together, I was incredibly excited. The company, along with fearless leader Matt Hawkins, has always been one of the more interesting smaller publishers on the market, taking big chances with very unique titles. It seemed only fitting that they take all of their work and fold them into one another, something that could lead to a wholly new kind of crossover.

Unlike the crossovers that take place at some of the major publishers, where groups of superheroes jump into each other’s path for a time being, these three titles are all their own series, with different genres and audiences to both sate and expand. With this crossover, the goal was to bring in all of these worlds into one sprawling story.

Spearheaded by Hawkins and Postal writer Bryan Hill, Eden’s Fall takes place almost entirely in Eden, Wyoming, a city that basically doesn’t exist, but is also the setting for Postal. A city entirely run and inhabited by criminals, the city is so off-the-grid that it literally cannot be found on any map. It’s here that the crew of The Tithe make their appearance, heading into Eden on a mission of retribution for FBI Agent James Miller.

Mixing the concepts of an FBI force that focuses on religious corruption and adding in the rampant criminality of the populace in Postal is pretty fascinating, especially when Miller’s team is given an assist by DARPA scientist and immature man-child David Loren from Think Tank.

Hawkins, Hill, and artist Atilio Rojo have brought forth a very ambitious project, and one that I think is a great idea on paper. I think there are some missteps in execution, but given that it was a three-issue crossover, I think the team did a fantastic job.

Rojo certainly had a tough task ahead of him, attempting to bring three distinct styles into one series, while adding his own stamp to things. I think, for the most part, it worked out pretty well, with the only exception being how Loren was drawn. He wasn’t drawn poorly, but the difference in styles between Rojo and Think Tank artist Rasahn Ekedal are so stark that it’s hard not to be really taken aback when seeing Loren in this series.

That also brings a sense of balance into play. Namely, the lack of it. With the setting being in Eden, Postal gets the biggest focus of this mini-series, as far as broad view. And with Miller being the protagonist in his quest for revenge, he and his fellow agents get quite a bit of time, as well, to bring the plot along. But with Loren being the outsider in this, he gets very little focus. Only used in very sparing moment, Loren feels wasted in this. He’s a dynamic character and arguably has the most well-known of the three series, something that feels like it should have either come into play a bit more. The series might have had a bit room to breathe without Loren being given the little bit of focus that he was.

It’s hard to separate the fandom from the product, especially since Think Tank is one of my favorite series of the last several years. My bias aside, I think what was brought into this three-issue series was pretty well done. It’s not perfect, but for something pretty small, it worked well. I wish it’d been a bit longer, so we could do a bit more exploration of this story and the combined world. Everything moves a bit fast and could have benefited from some more space. We do get the three-issue series, along with the first issues of all three titles, however, which is a nice way to see how the books developed and evolved to the point of being able to cross over. It’s worth a read, but I think fans of The Tithe and Postal, especially, will get the most benefit from it.

Russ Pirozek, Fanbase Press Contributor

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