Writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank officially kick off their new company Ghost Machine with Geiger: Ground Zero #1.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Geiger: Ground Zero #1 Review:
For the past year and change, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have been spinning out a story titled “The Unnamed” over several books, including Geiger, about a radioactive man in the post-apocalypse who lost his family while trying to protect them. While this issue goes back to Geiger’s origins, it’s also the kick-off for Ghost Machine, a new artist and writer co-op that is promising big things in 2024.
“It’s great to finally get the origin [of Geiger],” host Pete LePage noted. “We jumped right into the middle of the action with the glowing man… It’s cool to get the story. It was interesting that it was saved for last, but it’s nice to know… You didn’t think it was going to be a happy story, and it definitely isn’t.”
Alex Zalben called Johns and Frank an “unimpeachable team,” but felt this story wasn’t totally necessary since most of the beats had already been covered in the main Geiger title. That said, “If you’re going to tell [that story], I’m glad to have Geoff Johns and Gary Frank on it, because they’re two masters working at the peak of their form.”
Justin Tyler agreed and added that he felt some confusion about this being a two-part story, as he felt the conclusion had already been hit at the end of this issue. “This felt like a zero issue to get us going into this story,” Tyler said. “So I don’t quite know what the placement of this story is.” Still, Tyler likes the world, and enjoyed the teases to fellow Unnamed character Robot Joe throughout the issue.
Zalben speculated that the idea behind the book was to tie various elements of the Unnamed world closer together in preparation for the official launch of Ghost Machine next year. But as for whether that pans out? We’ll have to see.
Geiger: Ground Zero #1 Official Synopsis:
The saga of THE UNNAMED continues! GEOFF JOHNS and GARY FRANK return to the apocalyptic world of GEIGER for a special explosive two-issue origin epic. What happened to Tariq Geiger in the days after the nuclear bombs first dropped? How did mankind survive the UNKNOWN WAR? Who is the mysterious Russian scientist Dr. Molotov and why is he hunting Geiger? And how does this tie all the way back to the American Revolution? Get ready to put on your hazmat suit and find out!”
