Geiger #18 // Review
Tariq is in a jail cell with a knife at his throat. It’s a dangerous position that he finds himself in, but it’s not one that he’s going to be forced to deal with for very long in Geiger #18. Writer Geoff Johns continues his journey with The Glowing Man in an issue featuring the art team of Eduardo Pansica, Gary Frank and Norm Rampmund. Color comes to the page courtesy of the team of Robert Nugent and Brad Anderson. The climax of the story hits the page in a way that manages to feel very monumental while maintaining the character’s firmly established status quo, which feels like a huge accomplishment in its own way.
The man is on the floor before he can blink. Tariq is standing over him. The old man who was threatening to kill him is trying to negotiate, but he doesn’t have to. Tariq is no killer...not intentionally. He’s not going to kill the man. Things get considerably more complicated when a guard shows-up demanding that Tariq kill the old man. Tariq may hold the only weapon inside the prison cell, but the guard has something much more persuasive than a knife. Tariq has only a few moments to make a decision...
Johns moves the story along a path of increasing complexity that is patched together by a somewhat poetic third-party narrative that occasionally brushes-up against some kind of narrative brilliance. Tariq Geiger has been gradually establishing himself as a metaphor for the nuclear era that goes way beyond the traditional Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic hero. With the 18th issue in the series, Johns is bringing the full reality of that metaphor as it continues to develop. Johns has taken his time in getting to the deeper end of the narrative.
The Glowing Man’s visual signature is really impressive. Though Geiger’s look is essentially a variation Marvel’s Ghost Rider, the look has its own feel and visual impact on the page in a way that feels pretty impressive throughout the issue. The big climactic scene feels fairly dazzling without feeling grandiose. It’s not a big, heroic moment. In it’s own way, it’s a massive failure for the hero in question. The visually dazzling nature of the scene feels suitably horrifying while bringing its own beauty to the page. Frank and company deliver quite a visual package for a very tense and intense chapter of the ongoing serial.
It’s taken a while for Geiger to truly feel a bit more than derivative. Johns has taken his time in delivering a story that really engages Tariq on a deeper level. The glowing wanderer of the wastes still holds a great deal of potential. It’s just too bad that Johns didn’t frame as much of the rest of the story leading into this issue with quite as much power as this issue. So much of the world around Tariq feels a bit silly in places that have come to light over the course of the seres thus far. It’s nice to see the series move into more of a powerful direction.
