Ghost Machine #1

The Unnamed

by Geoff Johns (Writer), Peter J. Tomasi (Writer), Maytal Zchut (Writer)

Written and illustrated by JASON FABOK, GARY FRANK, BRYAN HITCH, GEOFF JOHNS, LAMONT MAGEE, FRANCIS MANAPUL, BRAD MELTZER, PETER J. TOMASI, MAYTAL ZCHUT, and more! A GROUNDBREAKING NEW ERA FOR COMICS, CHARACTERS AND CREATORS LAUNCHES NOW! An all-new powerhouse, creative collective collides into comics with GHOST MACHINE’s 64-page special, introducing its all-new shared universe of strange, fun, exciting and action-packed characters: GEIGER! REDCOAT! ROOK! THE ROCKETFELLERS! AND MANY, MANY MORE! What ties Geiger, Redcoat, Widow X, and the other mysterious, historical heroes of The Unnamed together? Why is Rook the key to saving the war-torn world of Exodus? How will everyone’s soon-to-be-favorite family of the future adapt to a new life in the present?

THE STORIES ALL START NOW! CREATORS YOU KNOW. CHARACTERS YOU’LL LOVE.

WELCOME TO GHOST MACHINE.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Fiction, Dystopia

59 pages, ebook

First published January 24, 2024

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B+) 77% | Good
Notes: Sundry short series setup stories, starts super-solid, subsequently sags (successively shoddier), still, stimulating stuff.

*Progress updates: The Unnamed ◦ Rook: Exodus ◦ The Rocketfellers ◦ Hornsby & Halo ◦ Hyde Street

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting introduction to a whole lot of characters I sadly care nothing about.

That being said, the stories were interesting enough, and I liked having the bios after each 'world' to help get to know the characters.

Seems like this is a decent launch for the Image-equivalent of an all-encompassing universe, so will be interesting to see how many tie-ins come out of this.

The whole thing is a bit exhausting for me, so while this issue was decent it's not for me and I have no interest in continuing along with any of these characters.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ensemble of introductions for characters that have cool gimmicks, but don't have enough time to impress past 'oh, that is neat'.

[Wm · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of talent on display, who might be doing their best work, but this is a wholly dissatisfying read. A book made of teasers for other books.

Two teasers appeal, though: Hornsby & Halo, and Hyde Street. But we'll see.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty cool stuff here. This book gives you a taste of what’s coming down the pipeline for Ghost Machine. Geiger, Redcoat, Rook Exodus, The Rocketfellers, Hornsby and Halo, and Hyde street. I’m already hooked on Geiger so looking forward to that continuing. Redcoat seems fun and I’m really digging what I read for Rook. Can’t wait for more of that. Out of the rest, The Rocketfellers peeked my interest the most.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak overall. Expected better

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of potentially good stories, a couple of meh.

[Matty Dub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great oversized preview of the Unnamed U. Rook, Geiger, Rescoat and Hyde Street all show great promise. The two family oriented books maybe not quite as much but I’ll check them out anyway.

[Ziyad Baksh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good bundle

This issue works as a showcase for Ghost Machine's upcoming titles. It's 6 short stories for the price of one.

I'm curious about the first 4 (gieger, Rook exodus, red coat and the rocketfellers) but Hyde street and Hornsby felt too lacking to catch my attention.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one shot contains previews of upcoming titles from Ghost Machine, a collective of comic book creators who were the pillars of DC Comics from the last decade or so.

There are some interesting story concepts, but I gravitated towards two Geoff Johns books in Redcoat and Rook: Exodus.

Redcoat has Bryan Hitch on art and the titular character has an actual redcoat, a British soldier from the American Revolutionary War. It has a history spanning adventure featuring an immortal character, similar to Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong but with less comedy, probably.

The other one is Rook: Exodus and it had a sci-fi adventure story of terraformed planets and animal totems. The detailed Jason Fabok character designs really look good.

If I had to pick one, I would probably lean towards Rook: Exodus, but it is really close because I could see myself reading Redcoat as well. It is just a matter of finances.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

A showcase of upcoming creator-owned projects at Image Comics, centering on Johns' "Unnamed" universe and the sci-fi series Rook: Exodus. Featuring the works of Geoff Johns, Brad Meltzer, Lamont Magee, Peter J. Tomasi and Maytal Zchut, with the artistic talents of Gary Frank, Bryan Hitch, Jason Fabok, Francis Manipul, Ivan Reis and Peter Snejbjerg, Ghost Machine #1 is a medley of half-baked stories that will entice people who are fans of the creators but does little else to draw interest in the upcoming projects. The only standout here was the "Hyde Street" story which is a rare jump into horror by Johns and done pretty well. Otherwise, this was a rather bland sampling of comics in my opinion.

[Foray Jumpman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is . . . interesting. I simply went to a comic book store and just thought that the cover looked interesting. I definitely wasn't expecting me to get four separate stories into one comic book. The point though is to introduce all of them.

I laughed at the part where the Rocketfellers got mad at Roland because he took all their gadgets away. Super relatable! I'm really wondering how the two kids are going to grow up as in Hornsby & Halo.

Very interesting for my first pick of a comic book.

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty neat compilation of previews for stories from this new universe. I was already reading Geiger, so I don't need any incentive to keep going in that awesome title. I'm definitely intrigued by Redcoat and Rook: Exodus, and should start reading those soon. I was also interested in the Rocketfellers family, though not so much with the Hyde Street and Hornsby and Halo stories. I might give them a shot regardless. Overall, there wasn't too much substance in these short intros, but from the quality of Geiger and Junkyard Joe so far, I'm willing to keep giving this universe a shot.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did everything it was meant to do, advertise the new Ghost Machine Universe and convince me to add a few of their titles to my pull list, specifically Geiger, Rook Exodus, and Redcoat. As of now, I'm sold on the product. The writing was engaging and was enough to convince me to continue reading to figure out the storyline. If you are on the fence on whether or not to start this universe, I suggest getting this volume to make your decision. Grade: B+

[JJ Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this because I’m a big fan of Jason Fabok’s art, and I really like the idea behind Ghost Machine, but this one just doesn’t have a lot to it. I love the idea of giving small tastes of every upcoming series, but most of them don’t give you enough to really get invested. I am vaguely interested in a couple of the stories, but I wish they would’ve doubled the length of this one and made the individual stories a little more self-contained instead of just being pure teasers.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ghost Machine" is a fast paced set of "0" issue type introductory comics for the new series of the Ghost Machine universe. Quality varies by series but is generally high. "The Rocketfellers" and "Redcoat" and "Geiger" stand out the most in this book, whereas "Rook" is the least well introduced. Although there is not material to recommend it either way, "Junkyard Joe" also looks like a series to watch, even if the main character is almost indistinguishable from DC's GI Robot.

[Robert Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excited to read comics again

Ghost Machine is an introduction to a new comic universe with a lot of potential. Featuring great writing by Geoff Johns among others age at that fits the different stories, it promises to be something unique during a time when the big boys at Marvel and DC are playing it safe. Finally excited to read comics again

[Alain del Risco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going to give a) Gieger, b) Redcoat, c) and Rook, Exodus a go starting in April 2024. Looking forward to reading something different.

[Jennifer Zeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected, but like the way they are introducing new titles this way in a sample anthology.

[Trevor ComicFan · Rating 3 out of 5]

75

I’m very excited for all the titles penned by Geoff Johns. The two Peter J Tomasi books will be a pass, but can’t wait for the beautiful art from Fabok and Reis!

[Jordan Meuse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the introduction so a bunch of short teasers, but can't wait to read the first wave of comics, especially rook

[Kevin Halter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuff to look out for--

An interesting sampler of upcoming titles by a talented group of creators. I'm looking forward to Hyde Street in October.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy stock cover, massive page count, and amazing stories and set-up for future titles. Ghost Machine is doing it the right way. I wasn’t as sold on Tomasi’s offerings as much as Johns’ stuff.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little teases for all of the new comics Geoff Johns is putting out with his Ghost Machine imprint at Image. Good stuff. You should check it out.

[Joseph Reinhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice intro to some great books

I enjoyed the variety of titles coming. ROOK looks good. Glad I went ahead and purchased this comic, again for the overview.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's only a preview/hype issue, but it generates interest in each of the titles it covers.