Image Comics has always been making a case to be the best comic book company around, at least on the independent scene. Marvel and DC have the big names and longevity, but Image has some of the deepest stories available. Part of this is because the creators are given more freedom to tell the stories they want without much pushback. Among the fantastic titles in their catalog is Geiger, and it comes from the minds of the amazing creative team of writer Geoff Johns (Green Lantern) and artist Gary Frank (Doomsday Clock).
Recently, Geiger hit its 25th issue. Normally, when a comic book gets to that mark, something special happens. This was the case for Geiger. It wasn’t just a story where the lead character (Tariq Geiger) overcame a powerful opponent and later learned a lesson. What’s important to the series came at the end, and it’s a couple of things that Tariq doesn’t know about. One of them is good. The other? Not so much.
Tariq is called the Glowing Man because he glows bright green radiation from his body. When he’s in that form, he looks terrifying. Beyond his face looking like a skeleton, he’s a walking atomic bomb. Because of all of this, he’s a constant reminder that Earth was turned into a wasteland thanks to the world's governments’ nuclear bombs. What Tariq doesn’t know is that while he looks like death, he’s actually healing the world.
During Tariq's fight, the President of the United States, Griffin wasn't just beaten. Griffin had the radiation taken from him. It ends with him almost dead, and Tariq learning more about what he can do with his abilities. He can take a lot of punishment and absorb large amounts of radiation and survive.
Ghost Machine begins in earnest with the debut of Geiger #1, a new volume starring Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s powerful, radioactive hero.
After his defeat, the President was talking to one of his workers and said something shocking. “Everywhere that he [Tariq] walks, the radiation follows him. Out of the ground. The ruins. The air. He isn’t just surviving what happened to America. He’s cleaning it.” Because of that, President Griffin says that he needs to control the Glowing Man so he can decide which parts of America live and die.
President Griffin's attempt to use Tariq isn’t shocking because to control everything. Plus, if Griffin finds a way to revive some parts of America, he’ll become a hero. However, there’s no way Tariq will go along with only reviving certain parts of America. This will lead to problems along the way. Sadly, this isn’t the only problem Tariq Geiger doesn’t know about.
At the end of Geiger No. 19, Simon Pure was shown for the first time since the Unknown War. As always, he has a scheme. This time, it involves getting to Tariq, and it isn't good. This is confirmed at the end of issue No. 25, which shows that Simon isn’t looking for the Glowing Man to help him.
Simon says, "Do keep glowing, old boy. Makes you terribly easy to hunt." If that dialogue wasn't clear enough, images of the Redcoat and Gieger crossover titled Radioactive Revolution proved that Simon will fight Tariq Gieger. The questions everyone should have are: who's paying Simon to hunt Tariq, what do they want from him, and how will Simon take down the toughest person he's ever met? All of this will be answered in January 2027, when Image and Ghost Machine's Radioactive Revolution starts.
