Not all great comics come from DC or Marvel- in fact; there are some to be found outside smaller companies like Dark Horse, Crossgen, Image, and Dreamwave. The small press offers a wealth of fantastic books- you only have to be lucky enough to come across them, and brave enough to give them a shot.

Take Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker. I came across this book back when it first came out in 1997 at a small shop in Tucson, Arizona, when the comic shop owner took a liking to it. A copy was placed in all of the subscriber’s boxes. I took his advice and gave it a shot, and I could not stop laughing. I have been a faithful Pete fan ever since.

Cast of Characters

Only one character needs mentioned here, and that is Pete himself. He is, of course, a postman, though a highly eccentric one. Pete is an extraordinarily focused individual, to say the least. As revealed in Issue #3, Pete’s father died during the Korean War. After the funeral, a postman delivered a letter to young Pete from his father at the front, in which his father tells him that he loves him. From that moment on Pete decided that to become a postman, and that the mail would go through, no matter what. In his own words- “I treat every letter as if it were a letter from my dad.”

Pete is fanatical about getting the mail, each and every piece, delivered to the proper addresses on time. To that end, Pete makes his deliveries armed to the teeth. In addition to the mail, his letter-bag is stuffed full of various firearms, blades, explosives, mace, and just about any other weapon you can imagine. Pete makes his deliveries on schedule, even if it means leaving a few corpses in his wake.

Thoughts

You might get the impression up to this point that Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker. is a violent and serious story, a la Punisher, but that is certainly not the case. Though it can get quite bloody, Pete is a hilarious read. Pete’s credo gets put to the test each issue, as his frightened office manager sends him to deliver mail to some of the most obscure, ridiculous, and dangerous locals. Be it mail to Santa Claus, aliens, or the infamous Route 666 (the most dangerous of all postal routes), Pete always comes through, much to the dismay of those he works with (who would like to see him either in jail or in an insane asylum), and everyone who tries to get in his way. Pete has even delivered mail to “timely” locations, like a militia compound, a delivery to Vegas during a Y2K power outage, and a Return to Sender, Anthrax-Positive box of letters to Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Any obstacles Pete encounters are dealt with in the most extreme of fashions. Mail-carrier hating dogs are chopped in half, gang-bangers are shot, sliced, and burned, aliens are blown to bits, and the mail gets through.

Pete, himself, is the funniest part of this title. Pete’s blind devotion to delivering the mail makes him overlook the often-outlandish situations he is in. And, of course, as all good comedies go- hilarity ensues. His single-mindedness makes for the funniest of scenarios. Pete could be standing face to face with an alien threatening to kill him, and all he can think about is having the letter delivered to the right alien.

What’s to Come

I had the opportunity to talk with the writer of Pete, Marcus Meleton (usually credited as Marcus Pierce, Jr.) recently. He was kind enough to share with me some insight into the future of Pete, including a look into the new issue of Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker , set to be released by Sharkbait Press on August 1st.

The next issue features Pete coming face to face with both a pair of kids seeking to make themselves famous, Columbine style, and something of a US-based terrorist cell. We also get a peak into Pete’s mandated “Anger Management” sessions, and what Pete’s tense and hyper demeanor does to an unsuspecting shrink. What I read of this next issue showed me that this new Pete does indeed live up to past Pete goodness, and Pete fans will certainly not be disappointed. Included in this issue is a piece of fan art by some actual postal employees who are devotees of Pete.

In the future, Meleton says that we will see something of a love interest for Pete. The idea itself has loads of potential- How exactly will Pete, the single-minded, obsessive, somewhat demented postman deal with a woman who has fallen in love with him? As to how Pete meets this woman- anyone who has read or will read this title will realize that Pete does spend some time in prison for his zealous delivery tactics. Meleton says that this potential love interest will almost certainly be a woman who wrote to him while he was in jail.

Sharkbait Press

Meleton’s publishing company, Sharkbait Press, has been involved in more than just Pete. One of his more infamous creations is Liberalman; the story of a superhero that is devoted to fighting crime, but feels conflicted by his bleeding heart, liberal, sensitivity. Among Meleton’s other publishing endeavors are Rabbit, Hunting for Lawyers, and the acclaimed novel Nice Guy’s Don’t Get Laid. All of these, as well as back issues of Pete, can be ordered at Sharkbait Press’s website, and at Amazon.com (excluding Rabbit at Amazon).

Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker was developed by Michael N. Smith, and written (of course) by Meleton, and drawn by Pete Garcia.

Bottom Line

Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker has been one of my personal favorite titles since the very first issue. From the beginning of this column, I have wanted to highlight Pete for you to draw attention to a title that all of you should be reading. But with well over a year since the last issue, Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker: War Journal, I feared that I had seen the end of Pete. The news of the 14th issue of Pete was as well received by me as the rumor of a new Deadpool series, and I had to rush to share it with you. Pete will soon be returning to a somewhat normal publishing schedule, so we can expect more issues of Pete in the future.

Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker is a title that all of you need to check out. It can be hard to find, as Sharkbait is a smaller company, and many local comic shops do not carry it. However, it is extremely easy to order online, and Pete is very much worth the effort to do so. Those of you attending the upcoming San Diego Comic Convention can also pick up copies of Pete, and meet Marcus Meleton at Booth #1806 and pick up copies of Pete there. In addition, anyone who mentions this column will get $1.00 of their purchase. I cannot recommend strongly enough to those of you attending stop by the Sharkbait Press booth and pick up a copy of the Pete Trade Paperback, which collects the first five issues. It is a perfect way to jump into Pete’s world.

To everyone else, Sharkbaitpress.com, in addition to the Trade Paperback, offers the Fabulous 5 – Pete Five-packs, for $10 a piece. This is also a great way to catch up on the 13 past issues of Pete.

I cannot recommend this title enough. If you want to check out a new title that will have you in stitches, you have to pick up a copy of Pete, the P.O.’d Postal Worker.

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