Geiger #1 Review

“What I wouldn’t give for a new book”--Geiger

Geoff Johns & Gary Frank: Storytellers
Brad Anderson: Colorist
Rob Leigh: Letterer
Pat McCallum: Editor
Gary Frank: Cover
Erik Larsen: Cover B
Jason Fabok: Cover C
Gary Frank: Cover E

Geiger #1 immediately sets up an incredible story. Set in a dystopian future after nuclear war happens, it tells us the story of certain factions of the western part of the current day United States. There are also the tales of a boogeyman that goes by the names of Joe Glow and the Radioactive Man but his name is Geiger. This is also the tale of how different groups of humans have banded together to survive the post-nuclear apocalypse. 

Johns does a good job in writing this story, There is enough in there that people will recognize his style. The story is set up for a long haul and could be full of twists and turns. There is a big world that Johns has built with the help of his co-creator Gary Frank that this could be a long running series. This is a very neat telling of this dystopian future. This really is a blend of different stories that have been popular in recent years and dating back to the 1950 and 1960s. This book is partly a story of nuclear war and the fallout from that. It is also part crusader with a character with superhero abilities from a nuclear blast, that acts part Batman, part Radioactive Man from other publishers, and part Katana from DC Comics. This story also takes some influence from Undiscovered Country also being put out by Image Comics. All in the all,the story is good and I enjoyed it. The really neat thing about this book is how it blends all these ideas and concepts to be something all its own. But, like with some stories these days, there isn’t a whole lot that is new. That being said, it’s a fun book and I enjoyed it for what it is. I will keep on reading it because of that. 

The thing that really makes this book stand out and really tells and drives the story is the art by Gary Franks and colors by Brad Anderson. The art is just absolutely phenomenal and is done by a powerhouse team. Franks always has sharp pencils and does an amazing job in his work. There are a few pages in here that just blows my mind with all the details. One page is a wall, but you look closer and you see exactly what the wall is made of it. That’s always incredible to see that much detail in a book. Then Brad Anderson brings these pencils to life with his colors. There are a couple splash pages in this book that immediately come to mind that is a night time scene and the way Anderson blends the blues and blacks and then you notice a splash of fire in the page. It is just so well done. I’m always consistently amazed by artists and what they do. Without the art team on Geiger, I’m not sure if it would have been as good of a story. 

Geiger also has set up some incredible covers for this first issue. Franks did cover A and E (which is a glow in the dark variant that I want to track down), Jason Fabok did a cover that is truly a Fabok cover. One look tells you that. Erik Larsen also has a cover from the first printing. Image recently announced that they sold all of the first printings and a second printing is on the way with two different variant covers as well. They are both equally as well done as the first printing covers.

This is one of those books that the writing is done well enough to keep me interested but the art is what is going to keep me buying it for right now. Image has announced the series monthly through June so far. The only thing that worries me about this series at the moment is John’s recent history of getting books out. If you remember his Doomsday Clock over at DC...that was pretty much a mess. It took two years to do 12 issues. It was so long between books, that I just gave up and got the trade. He also wrote a Shazam book and I really couldn’t tell you when those books came out. I do know that Johns recently did a one shot in the Black Hammer Universe but this is the first series I can remember him on for a little bit. If this book can come out monthly, I’ll continue to pick it up. But if there starts to be a gap, I’ll just wait on the trade.