Hyde Street, Volume 1

Hyde Street #1-7

by Geoff Johns (Writer), Ivan Reis (Illustrator), Francis Portela (Illustrator)

"It's Mad Men means Supernatural." —Nerd Initiative

A new era of character-driven horror begins here with this ongoing story of this deadly street, the monsters who use it as a hunting ground the people unfortunate enough to find themselves as prey.

In every city and every town, off every country road and metropolis avenue, if you make a wrong turn…you might find yourself on Hyde Street. With residents such as MR. X-RAY, PRANKY: THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS SCOUT, MISS GOODBODY, DOCTOR EGO, THE MATINEE MONSTER, and controlled by the mysterious SCORE KEEEPER, Hyde Street holds unimaginable secrets that made death look like the easy way out.

From the team that brought you DC Comics’ Blackest Night and Green Lantern, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis launch Ghost Machine’s HYDE STREET.

Collects issues #1-7.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2025

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

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5, rounded down. This is pretty fun, with some interesting ideas, some serious Twilight Zone homage, and some really beautiful art. My only real complaint is that I'd like to see the worldbuilding develop a little faster, it's feeling a bit drawn out so far.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Twilight Zone but with the gore factor turned up to ten.

There's a street that bad people end up on - the why and the how isn't important. This street is populated by horrible monsters, and if they can kill the people that end up on Hyde Street, the Scorekeeper gives them a point. 10,000 souls, 10,000 points, and you're free to go back to your life. Simple. Horrible, but simple.

Unless you're one of the monsters that lives there, like Pranky, the boy scout who everyone wants to punt like a football, Mr X-Ray, who can see into your soul, the Matinee Monster, Miss Goodbody, or countless others that we get to meet in this first volume. While each issue features some kind of origin story for one of the characters, everything builds on itself and weaves a larger narrative for the street in general. This is a place with secrets, and that they might kill you is the least of your worries.

Along for the ride and easily able to keep up with Geoff Johns' diabolical script is frequent collaborator Ivan Reis, so you know this book looks incredible. There are also two fill-in issues by Francis Portela that focus more on Miss Goodbody, and while they easily stick out, they're also very solid in their own right. Portela's just signed on to Ghost Machine full-time as well, so I expect we'll see him again sooner rather than later.

Another superb first trade for Ghost Machine, and their first big horror book was just as good as I hoped it'd be.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy fucking shit, this is awesome! I love the plot here. The world-building is brilliant! Hyde Street is presented not just as a location, but as a twisted, dark purgatory, a sort of modernized, hyper-violent Twilight Zone where merely making a "wrong turn in your soul" can land you. The consequences here make death itself look like the easy way out.

The characters are excellent, especially the denizens who act as soul collectors. I really loved how evil and disgusting some of the people trapped on Hyde street were. This is immediately evident in the tragic flashback that centers on Mr. X-Ray, whose real name is revealed to be Frederick Xavier Ray. His backstory as an unscrupulous novelty salesman who built a career conning children with cheap, faulty comic book ads is a perfect, insidious crime that earns him a place on the street.

The moral gray area is the core genius of the book. And for the people who collect their souls, it's amazing how terrible most of them are, but how much WORSE the people's souls they're collecting. The street is run by a mysterious entity known as the Score Keeper, and denizens like Mr. X-Ray are essentially competing harbingers who are forced to collect souls, 10,000 souls actually are needed, to earn a chance at their own freedom. Ain't that some shit....

This creates the incredible central conflict between the reluctant anti-hero, Mr. X-Ray, and the truly terrifying Pranky, The World's Most Dangerous BOY Scout. Pranky is pure, cherubic evil, a creature who revels in the damnation of wicked souls, particularly those who have harmed children. The contrast between X-Ray's desire to escape the job and Pranky's sadistic enjoyment of it drives the narrative, making their twisted competition super compelling.

A great horror vibe comic for Halloween month, and one of my favorite stories from Johns in awhile. This is easily his best work on his company line, exploring complex morality through visceral horror. A 4.5 out of 5 easily.

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come...

(B+) 79% | Good
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included issues can be found here:
- Hyde Street #1
- Hyde Street #2
- Hyde Street #3
- Hyde Street #4
- Hyde Street #5
- Hyde Street #6
- Hyde Street #7

[Julien L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geoff Johns writes dumbass comics, and I kind of love it. I was excited when I saw Johns was writing a horror book, because I wanted to see how he translated his Johnsian literalism to the horror genre. You know what? He does a solid job here. Even though it's the literalism that makes it "dumbass" i.e. incapable of nuance, this is pretty strong set of comics reminescent of The X-Files, Tales from the Crypt, etc. only it mixes the anthology format with an ongoing storyline, and the one things Johns excels at is his characters. While his characters are literal manifestations of the books thematic throughline i.e. "the choices that haunt us" and the events are a literalization of that idea, it makes for entertaining storytelling, and it has the E.C. Comics quality of terrible people being given their comeuppance.

With the strong characters comes a genuine pathos that is one thing Johns really excels at. I loved the issue that dives into the origin of The Matinee Monster, and I think Pranky is a really fun character. Along with that comes the art of Ivan Reis, along with a guest artist whose name escapes me, and what they are really good at is visualizing the emotional range of these characters. His character work on their faces and body language is what sells it. The plot elements he draws too are really strong as well, and even though horror in comics isn't really scary to me, there's some really gruesomely detailed art that really amps up the horror element of this.

I really can't wait to read more of this. It's simplistic nature fulfills some dumb monkey-brain side of me, and I love the characters a lot. It's rare to see a horror story given the kind of ongoing comic treatment of continuity and a long-running storyline while seeing individual stories in an anthology format.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun omg! So many things introduced here and probably one of my favorite ongoings atm!

I love how it shows the origin of these characters who occupy the said street and their job to collect souls of people who have done any kind of wrong and the first is Mr X-Ray whose such an interesting character and loved his story but the main thing for me was Pranky he is such a fun and twisted character and then you have him vs X-RAY and how he will break the rules and collects souls meant for others and the friction it causes!

Also love other characters like Matinee Monster who just wanted to be a good actor and his tragic backstory is so wild and what the Scorekeeper does to him its so wild! I like how this series doesn't have any limitations or tries to be soft, it goes fully into it and also Miss Peabody was so well done like she wanted to be fit and encourage others or was she and her product DEVOUR and she has only 2 souls before she can be free but will Pranky let her?

I like how each issue you are learning about different residents and its so cool and it makes for a great read and I just love that! Its just twisted in such a good way! And then Pranky vs Monster in the end and what happens next plus also there was an issue where Mr X-Ray collects the souls of people in some movie theatres and what they did to some people and their whole VIP thing and its so twisted and it shows how vain humans are and that was so well done by GEOFF!

Ivans art shines and its so detailed from the pages to the covers obviously, its him at his best I feel like since Blackest night maybe! Its marvelous! There are so many other great residents in Hyde street and its awesome seeing the world building here seriously Geoff and Ivan are on fire with this run!!

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5⭐️

Hyde Street Vol. 1 collects issues 1-7 of the Image Comics series written by Geoff Johns, art by Ivan Reis and Danny Mimi, and colors by Brad Anderson.

Everyone in life does something bad at least once in their life. Those who commit unspeakable acts or are routine offenders may suddenly find themselves on Hyde Street. The residents of Hyde Street have been given a mission by the Scorekeeper: Collect 10,000 souls and they are allowed to escape and rejoin the living world.

I really enjoyed this! I think this is a series that will be able to tell a lot of unique and interesting stories with a very flexible reality construct. I haven’t read a ton of horror comics from the 70s, but I definitely got the vibes of those old school books (especially EC Comics stories) and how may of those horror comics were cautionary tales of morality. Hyde Street has those morality questions but then complicates it even further by having many of these characters have unique situations or backgrounds that lets the reader sympathize and understand how they got to where they are now. I think we will see many of these Hyde Street residents grow throughout the series.

The art in this book is also great. Ivan Reis is one of the best comic artists out there and with this title he gets to really flex his skills in unique ways. I’m very excited to keep reading this book and see where it goes!

[Richard Guion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite of the Ghost Machine books so far. Hyde Street is a modern take on classic horror from DC. If you were a fan of House of Mystery / Secrets, The Phantom Stranger, Universal Horror monsters and the ads in back of old comics for things like X-Ray Specs and Sea Monkeys, this is for you. And it’s a totally different type of story from Geoff Johns, who has written mostly superhero comics in his career. I went into this totally blind so I don’t even want to describe it for fear of giving spoilers. The artwork by Ivan Reis is one of his best works - I had always wanted to see him illustrate something like The Phantom Stranger, an occult tale with no super-powered capes. Reis really seems enthused about creating these characters and building the world they inhabit.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept, meh execution. 2.5 stars.
Premise: the souls of sinners (well, some sinners) end up on Hyde Street, an unpleasant netherworld that will let them leave when they've damned 10,000 other souls. Pranky, a psychopathic boy scout, has accumulated way more than that but won't leave because destroying other souls is too much fun. As he wreaks havoc, Mr. X-Ray and other residents struggle to add to their own totals.
Pranky reminds me of Johns' use of Superboy Prime, an obnoxious brat who isn't as entertaining to watch as Johns finds him to write. A bigger problem is the faux Twilight Zone style of a lot of the narration, which gets old fast. The moral rules seem puzzling too — seriously, X-Ray's on Hyde Street because he sold scam toys to children?

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. The highlight for me were the characters, the main cast weren't exactly likeable as pseudo-grim reapers who try to one-up each other on their kill count which is kept track of on a scoreboard, but there is a reason for why they do it which is linked to how they wound up on Hyde Street and often makes them sympathetic. I didn't quite expect this to have as much character depth as it did.

I'm picky when it comes to art style and unfortunately this comic is done in one that I don't like very much, however it did not affect my understanding of what was going on and I did quite like the colouring.

[Bookteafull (Danny) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fuck with dis. Looking forward to Vol. 2 and Pranky's storyline.



Dark, slow-burn psychological horror with eerie atmosphere and morally twisted undertones. More focus on characters + their development and the atmosphere than cheap scares.

Brief summary: Hyde Street is a place where people with dark intentions — predators, abusers, manipulators — end up getting pulled in and trapped. Once you become a resident of Hyde Street, the only way out is to deliver 10,000 evil souls to take your place, continuing the cycle of horror and punishment.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Halloween read, though the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's a kind of corny, old-time horror, like that found in House of Secrets or Black Magic or the comics that inspired Creepshow and Tales From the Darkside. Except Hyde Street is populated by a bunch of terrible people all competing with each other to collect 10,000 souls and thus win their way back to...reality? I mean, that's where it kind of falls apart for me. The art is great, but I'd like to see some more grounding to the story if it's going to continue.

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool art. At the back of each issue there's a character summary for the main character of each issue... this may be a dumb comment but I almost needed the character summary to understand what was happening in the issue? Each issue seems to focus on a different Hyde Street baddie but in the issue they're trying to build both character and story simultaneously that by the end of the issue I'm almost a little confused by the story that's being told. I'm interested to see how the second arc will go now that all characters have been introduced.

[Wm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd get into this series. Johns's writing for DC is note-perfect dull, in the same way the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai is – exquisitely well-crafted, but b/c I can see the technique; each beat is predictable, and incredibly boring for being so.

Here, the characters are eccentric and intriguing (and cruel) enough to blur those beats – they're there, for sure, but disguised.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geoff Johns gives us his version of The Twilight Zone. Hyde Street is where those going to Hell often wind up and those living there can escape if they capture 10,000 souls. It's not bad but could use more of a through story. Like every other Ghost Machine book, Ivan Reis's art is great.

[Eric Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
I want to like this more than I actually do I think. A collection of morality tales that are a little thin and I think the storytelling is a little jumpy I’m intrigued by the world building enough to try the second volume though I don’t have super high hopes.
The art is pretty great though.

[Marlena Kinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twisted “Twilight Zone” meets “Alice in Borderlands” sort of comic series. I would probably round down to a 3 if it weren’t for the awesome illustrations. Could’ve used more direct story line rather than nonstop character backstory.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

And I don’t even like scary things.

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and will definitely read more!

[bogo_lode · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s some promise to the idea but it’s mean spirited in a way that just really rubbed me the wrong way by the end of it.

[Matt Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a great plot perfect for the month of Halloween.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, fun enough story about some baddies living in a post-death world where they are trying to trap souls and whatnot.

[Cal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. Huge fan of Johns.

[Franck Martini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome art, entertaining stories with long game mixed with done in one stories. Very fun read

[Amethyst · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was great. I just didn't like the addition of the other two characters. it was fine with the X-ray man and the kid. I'm curious to see where this series goes.

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rorscharch71 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art 5
Ivan Reis emulating Horror Bernie Wrightson is fantastic

Story 4 Is that the G. Johns' Ice Cream Man ?