In a creative world fractured by artificial intelligence (AI), a band of friends joined together to form a union that produces human-created art and story. Instead of working for an existing corporation, this band of creative minds founded their own company, Ghost Machine Comics. No, it’s not the premise for a new comic; it’s the true story of one of 2024’s most successful business ventures.
Creative Control and a New Universe
When Geoff Johns left DC Comics, he yearned for creative control and the freedom to create. Instead of being locked into the same characters and established “universes” of comics and graphic novels, the young star of the comic world wanted to forge new ground, according to Image Comics. In many of his friends and former collaborators, he found similar seeds of dissonance and an urge for revolution. A notable list of print animation’s top minds joined him: • Jason Fabok • Gary Frank • Bryan Hitch • Lamont Magee • Francis Manapul • Brad Meltzer • Peter J. Tomasi • Maytal Zchut • Rob Leigh • Ivan Reis. Each individual had exciting ideas they wanted to pursue that their jobs at major comic book companies would not allow them to produce, as they discussed in a recent interview with Threadless.
In 2024, after plugging along on ideas for more than a year, graphic novel fans saw the fruition of the creators’ dreams. In one epic year, Ghost Machine introduced The Unnamed Universe and its’ characters Geiger, Red Coat, and Junkyard Joe. Tantalizing fans in a mega issue, they previewed the stories of The Rocketfellers and the teenaged angst of Hornsby and Halo.
Geiger
Geiger, a futuristic holocaust drama of nuclear proportions, follows a family man named Tariq and his efforts to protect his family after the bomb goes off. They make it to the bomb shelter, but he doesn’t. Surprisingly surviving the blast, he wanders the world searching for hope, and you could even say he glows.
Red Coat
Red Coat explores an immortal soldier of fortune who never seems to have enough money for his liquor. He combines the creativity of MacGyver with the roguishness of Dark Shadows’ Quentin Collins. Red Coat chases more money than he does women but he does experience great adventure at every turn, especially when hired to kill.
Junkyard Joe
Perhaps the most sympathetic character in the Universe, Junkyard Joe, may not be human, but he’s not lacking in humanity. Created by the U.S. government to kill the enemy during the Vietnam War, decades later, he escapes to find one of the men he served with in the armed forces. The man, a comic book creator who the government brainwashed into forgetting Joe, created a beloved comic out of vague half-memories and dreams.
Rook
On a failed prison planet, wardens fight to survive. Warring with inmates, the animals that their helmets let them control, nature, each other, and the prison’s creators, they attempt to escape. Romance and intrigue abound.
Hyde Street
Hyde Street’s comic book and one-off bring to bookshelves a new Tales of the Crypt-like adventure that delves into the most dangerous street in America. According to the storytellers, every town has its “Hyde Street,” a place of unspeakable horrors.
In case you missed them, you can pick up one-shots and series of Geiger: Ground Zero, Ghost Machine, Redcoat, Rook: Exodus, Geiger, and Hyde Street at a comic book store near you. Each issue also comes out in digital form, so you can buy them online. Look for new adventures in 2025.