Geiger #4

Geiger #4

Mad Ghost/Image Comics 2021

Written by Geoff Johns

Illustrated by Gary Frank

Coloured by Brad Anderson

Lettered by Rob Leigh

Don’t let them take you alive! The Organ People have come for Geiger and his precious cargo, but the true horror sits chained deep below the Vegas strip—finally, “The Beast” revealed! Plus, rival casino bosses strike a dangerous bargain as Geiger comes face to face with a last-page shocker! A game-changing chapter in the saga of GEIGER!

The more I read of this the more impressed that I become. I am a little surprised that Tariq and Hailee didn’t have a chance to really talk and bond on this drive though if I’m being honest I think Tariq would’ve done anything he could have to avoid bonding with these kids. Which of course is something that I fully expect to happen at some point in time. I love that we see humour mixed into this as well and especially with the name of the Tariqus wolf and Hailee’s reaction to it, had me near rolling on the floor laughing. Tariq doesn’t do things without a calculated risk taken into consideration so for me this is out of character for him and this means his world is about to be in some giant upheaval and I like it.

I am enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter really does wonders in how we see them as people versus simply two-dimensional characters. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the ore we are left wanting to see and learn.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within he story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. I like the introduction of new avenues as existing ones are explored more it opens up the story to go in new directions that I hadn’t thought about. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceptionally well.

The interiors here are amazing. The faces and facial expressions in particular get me going and to see Hailee’s face and then her oops look it’s just sensational as it furthers the characterisation beautifully. The linework is strong, clean and crisp and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level of detail work is astonishing. That we see backgrounds like we do makes me a happy camper and then to see how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is phenomenal. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours that are being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational eye for how colour works.

This is an exciting book and that it’s been pretty different from anything and everything that I’ve been reading doesn’t hurt matters any either. I know there’s two more issues left in this story arc to kind of tie up these threads and hopefully get the next arc under way as well, the mention or idea of what will be forthcoming would excite me. So there’s still time for Tariq to end up taking care of the kids in lieu of his own having passed away. There is something about that which appeals to me and with everything we see happening I think its a good fit.

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With some exceptional writing and characterisation alongside these brilliantly dynamic interiors this should take up a spot in best new series of the year.