Geiger #20 // Review
A long time ago, Tariq went back for the dog. That might have been where it all started. Or maybe not. Maybe it really started further back than that, though. Maybe it started back when they dropped the bombs. Or maybe not. Maybe it started when they developed the bombs. Or maybe it goes further back than that. A stranger appears out of nowhere. He’s on a mission. Tariq is about to find a bit more about the origin of everything in Geiger #20. Writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank continue a strangely compelling time traveling post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror serial with colorist Brad Anderson.
On first glance, the stranger appears to be a Civil War reenactor. This is a bit weird. Those reenactors ARE really serious about what they’re doing, but one would figure that they might have more pressing concerns after a big nucear war wiped everything out. As it turns out, the gentleman in question is a time traveler. From the past...but not from the Civil War. His name is Malcolm North and he’s from somewhere else entirely. After a bit of conversation with Geiger, he knows why he’s there. And he’s going to need Geiger’s help if he’s going to be able to help.
Johns’ script is a strange and perplexing collage of a lot of different elements that have been rolling through The Unnamed Universe. Taken on an individual basis, each element in this particular universe has its own distinct narrative, energy and momentum. When everything gets mixed together, it gets kind of confusing. And there really isn't any reason why the story should make any sense at all. However, John’s meeting between Geiger and Malcolm North actually has quite a bit of traumatic strength to it that Johns is able to bring to the page quite efficiently.
Frank isn't given a whole lot of action to bring to the page. The contrast between a very morose Geier and a very concerned and compassionate North mix for an interestingly, dramatic visual drama that is amplified by the setting and costing that Frank is rendering for the page. Atmosphere is amplified for the page by Anderson’s colors, which do a brilliant job of amplifying aspects of the drama as they slowly lumber across the page. There’s some impressive radiance moving through the post-apocalyptic shadows that continue to haunt this particular corner of The Unnamed Universe.
In the whole mystery of everything in The Unnamed Universe continues to be the gravity that holds it all together. It's really interesting to see just how much remains unrevealed with so many issues that have already been developed and released over the course of the recent years. This universe has been analyzed and explored from quite a few different ankles in quite a few few different issues. And yet there remains a mystery at the heart of it, all which continues to serve as a powerful pulse for the entire line of comics. It’s an interesting experiment in storytelling.
