Geiger #17 // Review
Tariq was little more than a human-shaped crater in the ground when they gound him. His two-headed pet dog was understandably confused about the situation. As were his allies. They didn’t know what might have happened to him. And neither did he when he was rudely splashed into consciousness by a pail of cold water. Tariq once again finds himself in circumstances beyond his control in Geiger #17. Writer Geoff Johns continues his post-apocalyptic tale with penciler Eduardo Pansica, inker Norm Rampmund and colorist Robert Nugent The reluctant advenrure continues with a particularly enjoyable new conflict for The Glowing Man.
They tell him they know that he works with Goldbeard. And if he works withe Goldbeard, then he’s going to know where Goldbeard’s treasure is located. Of course...he as no idea what the hell they’re talking about. And maybe he might be inclined to accept that this is some sort of an odd mix-up if it wasn’t for the fact that they’ve got him handcuffed to a chair. It would be something that they could all discuss like civilized people were it not for the fact that he’s no become an inmate at Coldwater Prison.
It’s a sudden shift for Geiger that certainly thrusts him into a completely new space. The restless wanderings of the pos-apocalyptic hero have been the subject of their own specific subgenre that has spanned everything from novles to movies to video games. Johns’ particular take on t is a very clever fusion of the subgenre with comic book superhero energy that continues to hold quite a bit of appeal as Tariq Geiger is once again thrown into a situation in which he is completely powerless.
Pansica gives Geiger a steely intensity that makes him feel like a formidable force of nature even though...he’s completely powerless and trapped in prison with some kind of maniac. There are intricate, llttle shifts in his demanor as circumstances become clear. Pansica does a splendid job of delivering the nuances of those shifts in Geiger in an issue that is given substantial stylish mood by colorist Robery Nugent. The darkness of the prison setting might seem dull and cliche, but the art team makes the space a visually engaging settting.
Given the post-nuclear setting of the story, it really feels like some kind of allegory on the nature of human life in a world where everything could end because a couple of people. decided to push a few buttons to end it all with nuclear death. This isn’t an aspect of the modern understanding of potential global holocaust that is often directly addressed in the heroic post-apocalyptic drama. It’s a theme that’s often buried in other works. It’s nice to see Tariq becoming something of an everyman in heroe’s garb at the end of the world. It’s an appelaing graming of something larger-than-life that shadows and echoes the nightmare that rests in the heart of contemporary consciousness.
