Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are teaming up once again for Geiger, a brand-new series from Image Comics. The series will follow a world obliterated by nuclear war and those who have survived the radioactive fallout. A legend known by some as Joe Glow and Meltdown Man will rise from the ashes, who's been changed in the fallout and will do anything to protect his family.
Geiger is the latest collaboration from Johns and Frank. The writer/artist duo have worked together on titles such as Action Comics, Batman: Earth One, and most recently, DC's deeper dive into the world of Watchmen in Doomsday Clock. Geiger marks the first time that Johns has branched out into creator-owned comics.
Screen Rant got the chance to chat with Johns and Frank about Geiger and found out what brought them to work on the creator-owned book, the inspiration behind the series, and why it was published at Image and not DC Comics.
What drove you to work on a creator-owned book with Image? You've worked with each other on numerous titles, most recently Doomsday Clock, how did you decide this is what you wanted to work on next?
GEOFF JOHNS: Gary and I have worked together on so many amazing characters over the years—Superman, The Legion of Super-Heroes, The Avengers, Shazam, Batman—we’re always grateful for that and we love those characters and those universes. When we started talking about what we wanted to do after Doomsday Clock, we explored a few ideas but ultimately, we both wanted to build something new. A new character and a new world. So we landed on Geiger. The first character in a greater universe of characters.
GARY FRANK: It’s been great fun and a real privilege to have worked on so many iconic characters for Marvel and DC—much more than anyone has a right to hope for!—but we’ve been talking for a while about doing something fresh. Something new. You can’t spend this many years in a creative business without having a few ideas that you want to try out but which aren’t necessarily right for an existing landscape.
How long have you been working on this project?
GEOFF JOHNS: We started talking about Geiger as Doomsday Clock was wrapping up. I wrote the first scripts at the top of last year, before the pandemic hit. We wanted to make sure we had all the issues complete before we released it so there were no delays. Gary is about to start the sixth issue, the conclusion, which for us is a gift. To be able to have the time we need to complete the project before it’s out. It gives us an opportunity to go back and look at them as a whole. And Image has been incredibly supportive and patient as we complete the issues.
GARY FRANK: Well, we started putting pen to paper after Doomsday Clock but the ideas were fermenting since before that. I’m sure Geoff had the basic ingredients bubbling away for years before he invited me in to stir the pot a little.
What can readers expect from the titular main character, otherwise known as the Glowing Man?
GEOFF JOHNS: He goes by many, but his real name is Tariq Gieger. He is a father and husband who will do anything to protect his family.
GARY FRANK: I hope they find someone that they can identify with. He isn’t a perfect hero. But he is someone who finds himself in a position to do something heroic. He’s an ordinary family man living through extraordinary events.
Can you describe Geiger's journey in this book? It certainly starts off with a bang.
GEOFF JOHNS: At the core, Geiger is about a man who survives a nuclear war and spends his days and nights protecting his family who are trapped in a fallout shelter, waiting for the day they can be released. But Geiger was changed by the fallout and he is now both burdened and blessed with a strange ability that allows him to burn with radioactive power. He is also the only man who can walk the toxic Nevada desert without a suit. Over the years, he’s become a myth to scavengers and marauders and a boogie man to children in the city of Las Vegas.
GARY FRANK: I think he’s a man who finds himself desperately trying to protect the thing he loves most—the thing that’s most important to him.
He’s fixed on that to the exclusion of everything and even death has to stand aside and let him pass.
While Geiger's story is certainly the focus, what can you tease about the other side of this tale?
GEOFF JOHNS: Beyond Geiger’s world is the city of Las Vegas. Cut off from the rest of the world, Las Vegas has evolved into violent, bizarre city run by crime bosses that have embraced their respective over-stylized resorts in a similar vein as “Warriors”. These characters have their own stories and you’ll get a glimpse of them all in issue #1.
GARY FRANK: Vegas is just crazy. It’s a distillation of everything that’s bright and colourful and a little bit rotten in our World. I think the whole Vegas aspect was part of why this doesn’t feel like the hackneyed “post-apocalyptic” landscape that we’ve seen so many times before.
You've said previously that this book was inspired by the early days of Image Comics and all-new graphic characters, do you care to elaborate on that? What else inspired this book?
GEOFF JOHNS: When Image first launched, I was so captured by this explosion of new characters like Savage Dragon and Spawn. Pitt. Youngblood and WildC.A.T.S. It was so much fun to pick up all of those first-generation Image titles. Seeing my favorite artists create new heroes. It was exciting. And I loved the emotional story of Savage Dragon searching for identity and Spawn caught between the afterlife and life, struggling to protect his wife. That was the inspiration for doing this at Image. To capture that feel again. And to own the character that we were putting all of our energy into creating. Other things that inspired Geiger… True Grit, 2000 A.D., Mad Max, The Hills Have Eyes and being a father.
What was behind the decision to have this published by Image, not DC Comics?
GEOFF JOHNS: Obviously, I love DC. The people there and the heroes. But for our first creator-owned title, Gary and I wanted to bring this to Image. It’s what Image is all about and it’s inspiring. I’ve been talking to Eric Stephenson since I started writing comics about doing a title at Image. It’s always been a dream to see that Image “I” on the cover of a title. It’s an amazing legacy to be a part of.
GARY FRANK: DC does its thing, and that’s great, but Image has, in its very DNA, the idea that creators can come and express themselves to the fullest extent. It was born of the idea that artists and writers might want to break free of existing continuities and landscapes and build new worlds from scratch. It’s the only path which makes sense creatively or commercially.
What do you hope readers get out of this particular story?
GEOFF JOHNS: I hope readers find a new character to hook into. Everyone on the book, including our colorist Brad Anderson and our letterer Rob Leigh, has put all they’ve had into it. We’re grateful for the opportunity to put out something entirely new. Thanks in advance to those willing to give issue #1 a shot!
GARY FRANK: A tear. A chuckle. An escape.
Thanks to Geoff Johns and Gary Frank for their time. Geiger #1 by Image Comics will be in comic stores on April 7, 2021.