Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez’s new graphic anthology, Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened, musters a cast of 33 cartoonists and lets them loose with the same premise: While accompanying his girlfriend on an antique-shopping trip, Rodriguez acquired a collection of decades-old postcards, the meanings of the cryptic, private messages scrawled on them long since lost to time. Rodriguez had each of his teams of creators choose one card and tell the story of the image and message it bears. The talent lineup ranges from mainstream figures like Phillip (Green Arrow) Hester and Michael (Alias) Gaydos to local heroes like Matt (Mr. Big) Dembicki; from gifted newcomers like Gia-Bao Tran to indie legends like Harvey (American Splendor) Pekar.

Image from “Tic-Tic Bang-Bang,” written by Stuart Moore and illustrated by Michael Gaydos, from the anthology Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened.