Superstar comic colorist Brad Anderson has teamed up with writer Geoff Johns (known for his work on Aquaman, Superman, and Green Lantern) and illustrator Gary Frank (known for his work on Captain America, Fantastic Four, and The Untouchables) to bring their first creator-owned character to public view through Ghost Machine, published by Image Comics.
The name of their new superhero?
Geiger, also known as The Glowing Man.
Who Is Geiger?
As Johns and Frank describe him, Geiger is a denizen of a post-nuclear wasteland after the Unknown War. He can walk around without a protective suit. Living in “the breeding ground for all the nasties,” Geiger was seen flickering on the horizon like a candle, before he became known as Joe Glow, The Man of Mass Destruction, and The Walking Bomb.
Before the Unknown War of 2030 (unknown in the sense that no one took responsibility for starting it), Tyriq Geiger and his family lived in Boulder City, Nevada, near Las Vegas. In response to daily news of global unrest, Tyriq had prepared an underground shelter. Equipped with hydroponic gardens and boundless supplies, the cavernous haven was just in reach when the Emergency Defense Alerts went off.
Tyriq got his family inside, but their dog telugutechpro Molly stopped to watch a missile flying off into space. Tyriq went to recover Molly, ordering his son to get inside.
Armed neighbors demand to be allowed into the shelter. They shoot Tyriq in the shin. They tell Tyriq they will kill him and Molly if he does not let them in. Tyriq refuses, and at that moment, a nuclear bomb goes off.
The story of Geiger #1 picks up 20 years later. Tyriq and Molly did not die. Instead, the radiation transformed them into superheroes. They develop the powers they need to keep their family safe, waiting for the day it is safe for them to emerge.
Geiger Is an Enjoyable Read
Readers who enjoy the post-apocalyptic genre will enjoy the Geiger series. Even readers who are not big fans of Geoff Johns will like this story of a post-apocalyptic world with a superhero twist. Geiger has become a nuclear reactor. He has cooling rods in his back. He can pull them out to unleash his wrath on scavengers who would try to break into his family’s haven.
Geoff Johns does a great job of world building throughout this story. Not everyone has been killed in the war. Casinos have become their own city states, protected within the walls of the new Las Vegas.
Outside of Las Vegas there are other factions, like the organ people, or what’s left of the US government. There are mutant creatures, like the nightcrawlers, or two-headed wolves. But what makes the Geiger series so attractive to so many readers is that it reads like a story to be told around a campfire. Geoff Johns makes Geiger sound like a Paul Bunyan, or a John Henry, a new American myth.
