Author: Mike Keady
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
🚨Content warning; the issue and this review mentions suicide 🚨
“From sea to boiling sea” evokes classical American imagery in a comic that, ironically, has notes of Fallout, however stripped of the retro-futuristic Americana that defines that setting.
Geiger, from Geoff Johns & Gary Frank is darker fare to be sure. Hard to do, but without the classical 1950s aesthetic of Fallout, there doesn’t seem to be wonder in this wasteland. In the ruins of a small town, the golden arches of a McDonalds half-collapsed in the scenery, and trouble brews. A group of bandits threaten the town for their resources – but when the locals don’t have what their aggressors are seeking, they threaten to kill the old and steal the children.
In walks our hero, Tariq Geiger – the Glowing Man. Described on the inner cover as the nuclear nomad, our hero is a survivor of cancer and nuclear war, who now wanders the wasteland dispensing violence, as justice, deeply hurt from the loss of his own family in the Unknown War that destroyed the world. Geiger acts with a rapid – and not traditionally heroic – brand of violence.
Immediately we see a story that plays out across not only the world of Geiger, not only the worlds of fiction, but the world we live in. Post-loss meaning. After the loss of his family, Geiger is described as having nothing else but his rage, which he inflicts upon the evildoers of the wasteland. And even though he describes himself as a wanderer in a world without meaning – he could just as easily overlook the evils that plague the new world – yet he doesn’t.
Accompanied by his radioactive two-headed wolf, Barney, Tariq Geiger – the Glowing Man – is searching for meaning in the face of personal and global tragedy. Often when we find ourselves surviving a traumatic event or series of events, we search for meaning. Viktor Frankl, Austrian psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor and creator of logotherapy, describes that it is the quest for meaning, and giving ourselves to the pursuit of meaning, that can make sense and provide us with a strength to endure the challenges we find ourselves faced with. In a dark moment, we see a character prop up a weapon with the intention of ending his own life – however, through the intervention of another who gives him a renewed chance at having a meaning in life, we see the impact of hope, against the feeling of hopelessness.
The art of Geiger is stunning, lined with a high level of detail that truly provide the book an opportunity to dig into environmental storytelling without unnecessary emphasis. The wasteland looks lonely – until it isn’t, and then we get an immediate camera-zoom to very human and very brutal encounters. This is a series where we can see distinct character art that doesn’t rely on outlandish features and costumes to create recognition, each character we see has very human, very individual features – a true display of excellence and dedication from the artist.
This is part of a chronicle from Ghost Machine and Image Comics titled The Unnamed, a centuries-spanning timeline of folklorish characters who have their own joint tales to tell in the Unknown War.
I’m eager to get started on Redcoat, a tale that begins in 1776, and if Geiger is an indicator of its quality, I’m thrilled to get started.
Discover how Tariq Geiger seeks redemption and meaning in a post-apocalyptic world by grabbing your copy of Geiger today!
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