Geiger #4 // Review
A legendary post-apocalyptic warrior escorts a couple of kids across the wasteland in a nuclear war-ravaged hellscape in Geiger #4. Writer Geoff Johns continues a largely uninspired Lone Wolf and Cub-style fantasy journey into a place that's gaining some momentum in its horror while managing to maintain some level of overall action in and amidst the drama. Artist Gary Frank lends the page some level of darkness illuminated around the edges with some bit of dark levity here, and there is a story rendered with an appealing range of motions, emotions, and moods. Colorist Brad Anderson gives the adventure shade and luminosity in a story that spans from desert night to blazing day in the wasteland of Arizona.
A loner heads out into the post-apocalyptic wastelands...with a couple of kids. The three of them and their two-headed dog just ran into some trouble, and now they're IN trouble with the sinister crowned king of all Las Vegas. He's so close to being able to control the last of the nuclear warheads in the smoking carcass of the US. (A lot may have changed after the bomb, but war...war never changes...) To make matters worse, they're driving through a part of the wasteland that is evidently patrolled by a gang of organ scavengers looking to find fresh meat for transplant or food. Life is brutal in the wasteland.
Johns develops the relationship between the legend of the wastes and the couple of kids he is escorting through the wasteland. The subtle moment of comedy regarding the name of Geiger's two-headed pet dog is endearing enough. The horror of the king of Las Vegas becomes that much more striking as he has a little talk with his mother...but that horror doesn't hit the page in a terribly compelling way. It IS nice to see the contrast between hero and villain and the way they treat people, but the contrast feels a little bit too harsh. The overall pacing of the issue works as drama and character development gradually give way to action at chapter's end.
Gary Frank has a beautiful sense of subtlety in the faces of a variety of different characters. He deftly articulates the differences in emotions between an old loner and a couple of kids trying to understand the world they're growing up in. The sense of desolation in the desert feels very real. As does the horror of the scene in Camelot in Las Vegas. Action hits the page with more than enough force to render the sense of brutality that Johns is clearly looking to explore. A Road Warrior-style action scene feels particularly kinetic under the power of Frank's art. Anderson's coloring sets the mood perfectly in scenes on a dusty road in the middle of the day and the darkness of a motel at night.
The story still feels very weak and derivative. There's something compelling about the overall sense of drama and the contrast between a couple of kids and the grizzled warrior defending them. With the contrast between the king and the hero, Geiger could develop into something powerful, but it's still only establishing the rhythm of the story and the flow of traffic between drama and action.
