Geiger #1 relaunches with the Glowing Man wandering a wasteland and may have found hope for a different life! It began with the first limited series in 2021 by creators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Geiger, who could transform into a radioactive, skeletal form, faced the Casino Warlords of Las Vegas. The next series, Geiger: Ground Zero, was a two issue mini-series that placed the character in The Unnamed stories of Ghost Machine. The one-shot, Geiger 80-Page Giant featured his first encounter with two-headed wolf, Barney! Ghost Machine launched the imprint from Image Comics and set Geiger sparing the life of a man with a half-scarred face in knight’s armor.
The first issue’s cover by Frank has Geiger unleashing tendrils radiation, his skull-like mouth screaming, and black cloak spread out behind him! A summary explains Tariq Geiger, husband and father, was fighting cancer and then came the Unknown War. He was transformed into the Glowing Man. We see a page, “25 Years From Now”, the near future in The Unnamed. We see a jeep and horse coming into a town like bandits. The town looks Western, but with a fallen McDonald’s sign. The townspeople start to run, but an older man tells the bandits that they gave everything last week. The leader hits him with a rifle butt and then brutally kicks the man’s wife. A bit of the ultra violence. This may be reflected in the leader strikes a book from a hooded man who was calmly reading it.
We see the title, Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy, it features the kid who falls in with a vicious gang terrorizing the Old West. In the shadows, Barney growls, and then we see a closeup of Geiger’s grim face. This moves to a two page title design in red brick. Next, a two page splash has the Glowing Man standing over the bodies of the bandits; one man has the sizzling print of Geiger’s hand on his face! Geiger wields his dampening rods like escrima sticks. They suppress his radioactive form! He turns as the remaining bandit has a knife to a young boy. His face is seen as another boy; flashback. Geiger throws his dampening rod and in a blank panel, it shatters into the bandit and drops the kid. The boy, Becca, is held by his parents. They scare at the Glowing Man’s skull.
Becca is fearful that his radiation might make them sick. The older man, Henry, is mayor and is told to speak with Geiger. He mentions that Geiger was there for their library. Geiger silently picks up his book and walks away. From a post, the scarred knight happily watches Geiger walk out of town. Back in his human form, Geiger has a campfire going in the night full of stars. He is cooking beans for Barney and his wolf companion starts to growl. Geiger knows that it is knight he encountered. Morning, the campfire is sputtering when the knight hurries over to see the empty camp. He is thrown down by Geiger and repeats that he can help him. Geiger says it is the same promise he made in Albuquerque. The knight says the army was hunting him, using a device, geiger counter?, to find him. He destroyed toxic waste to try to throw the army off of Geiger’s trail.
Geiger asks him what he wants and we see an extreme closeup of the knight’s eyes. The knight, still without a name, says he wants to be like Geiger. I wonder if he is the "Unnamed" of the series. He reminds me of Sancho Panza in Don Quixote (1605). He says he worked for the King of Vegas, from the first series, and saw Geiger stand up to him. The knight says that he wants to try to “do the right thing.” There is a strained look on Geiger’s face, Frank’s character art is spot on, and says he’s wrong. A sudden explosion tosses away both persons! Two Humvees roll up. It is hard from soldiers that President Griffin has a kill order for Geiger! The knight rushes them with his sword as the rifle bullets ping off his armor. Still, he is awkward and knocked down! A soldier is about to shoot him, but Barney surprises the rifleman! The Glowing Man leaps with his radioactive rods to bring them down on the soldiers. Two pages of some violent action!
The knight is impressed, but Geiger says his radioactive form is not admirable. Again, he brings up that other glowing people were cured. Geiger leaves with Barney saying, “Nothing good survives in this world.” The knight’s face is in despair. The desert wings batter Geiger and the wolf. He sees that a dandelion still clings to a rock. This makes him think of another dandelion tucked by the ear of his daughter, Violet. She smiles holding flowers. The contrast of the wasteland and the vibrant, modern world adds a realistic element to the story. At the wedding party, his son, Marcus complains about his suit and his parents renewing their vows. We see Tariq’s wife in a green dress while he wears glasses. The wedding party wants them to kiss, their faces are so distinctive that I think they may later be characters in other flashbacks. This fragment of his previous life should drive Geiger to be a good man to honor them. Geiger #1 has a haunted hero who is driven to find purpose like his almost-sidekick in a violent world!
Five Dampening Rods out of Five!
#Geiger, #GhostMachine, #GeoffJohns, #GaryFrank, #GlowingMan, #Barney
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