Longtime readers of this blog will know that I am a gigantic fan of Geoff Johns. I think he is one of the greatest things to happen to comics in decades.
His output at DC has been minimal of late, but he has been focusing on his new creator-owned comics. He started a few years ago with Geiger and followed it up with Junkyard Joe.
A few months ago, he published Ghost Machine #1 which previewed his plans for an interconnected comicbook universe with these characters and others. Now, he has three ongoing series in his imprint and I have been voraciously reading every one of them. Johns has also been able to bring in some of my favorite writers and artists into his imprint, giving us comic stories of the highest quality.
Below are my mini-reviews of what has been published so far.
Geiger
I was not a huge fan of the original mini-series. It took a few issues for the emotional hook to find its way into the story. But by the end, I found myself caught in it. In this series, our hero is an irradiated man of power in a post-apocalyptic, iradiated wasteland in the American West. In this new ongoing, Geiger is on a quest to find a cure to his condition. Alongside him is a former enemy, Nate, who is following him as his unwanted sidekick and conscience. This dynamic is a lot of fun, with Nate acting as a kind of Sancho Panza to Geiger's reluctant Don Quixote, except that Nate is the one with all of the heroic optimisim. Gary Frank's art is as gorgeous as ever and this series feels like it has a lot more forward momentum than the mini-series
Redcoat
During the Revolutionary War, the cowardly and venal British soldier Simon Pure accidentally stumbled upon an occult ceremony meant to give one of our founding fathers immortality. As a result, Simon has been an unkillable scoundral and mercenary, relying mostly on his un-killability than any actual courage or skill. But his past catches up with him and with the help of a young Albert Einstein, he finds out that his immortal life may be cut short.
I've never seen Johns write such an anti-hero before. Yes, Black Adam is one of his better anti-hero's but that character carried with him menace and dignity. Johns writes Simon Pure as a lout who can barely understand the events of the story that are happening to him. Because of that it is quite strange and funny. He has such a cynical attitude towards everything that you can't help but be amused. Thought I can't say I'm a fan of casting a shadow on our founding fathers to make them look like occultists who worship the dark arts. But that aside, I've been enjoying this book. Bryan Hitch's art is visceral and detailed, always telling us about Simon's buffunary with his body language and facial expressions.
Rook: Exodus
Of the books that are out, this is the one I most enjoy the most. I heard a reviewer say that this book feels like a video game in the best possible way. It is transportive in the way that good sci-fi should be. The story is set on the planet Exodus, a place that was terraformed by a large corroporation to be an exciting paradise for new settlers. Our main hero came to Exodus to be a laborer, building the world for the new residents. He was charged with being an animal "Warden." This means he is given a special helmet that lets him commune with birds like rooks, ravens, and crows. However, something went wrong on the planet and all of the residents evacuated. The corporation said they would be back to evacuate the workers. They never came.
Now the planet has devolved into chaos. People try to piece together space ships to escape, but most fail. Rook spends most of hist time scavenging the empty cities and countryside looking for a means of escape.
This highly-imaginative world is brought to life by Jason Fabok's fantastic art. The world feels modern, but savage. It is such an intersting confluence of high and low technology.
Like Simon Pure, Rook is an anti-hero. But he is not a complete lout like Pure. Instead, he is reminiscent of Mad Max: someone who has been beaten down by loss and desperation and has turned inward and selfish, but cannot help but let his heroic side show now and then. With so few people left, the question of conflict or trust comes up often. The other wardens could be helpful allies or they could be his biggest threats.
This story has me hooked and I can't wait to read more.
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