GEIGER #18 – New Comic Review

Geiger #18, by Image Comics on 11/26/25, doesn’t ask if you’re ready. It dares you to test your survival skills against irradiated odds and a penitentiary packed with betrayal.

Credits:

• Writer: Geoff Johns
• Artist: Eduardo Pansica, Gary Frank, Norm Rapmund
• Colorist: Robert Nugent, Brad Anderson
• Letterer: Rob Leigh
• Cover Artist: Gary Frank, Brad Anderson (cover A)
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Release Date: November 26, 2025
• Comic Rating: Teen
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Page Count: 36
• Format: Single Issue

Covers:

Analysis of GEIGER #18:

First Impressions:

Hope is hanging by a radioactive thread as soon as you crack open the cover. You’re dropped into a post-nuke world so pitiless and grim that even the shadows watch their backs. The creative team wastes no time before plunging readers into a maelstrom of death-row dread, shifting alliances, and enough raw desperation to fry every circuit in the prison.

Recap:

Last issue, Geiger barely survived an explosion, leaving behind questions, body-shaped craters, and plenty of glowing mist. Dr. Molotov and company, including a two-headed wolf, tracked the fallout, uncertain if Geiger still lived, while hazmat-suited horsemen discovered his weakened human form. Mistaken for one of Goldbeard’s men, Geiger was hauled to Coldwater Prison, interrogated for hidden treasure, and locked up, stripped of his powers and rods, then ambushed by a cellmate keen on leveraging his connection to Goldbeard. The issue concluded with Junkyard Joe on the mend and allies following the radioactive trail.

Plot Analysis:

The story opens 25 years in the future at Goldbeard’s grim port, where treasure hunters plot to infiltrate Coldwater Prison – now a cult-like fortress under the boot of Warden Wren – by exploiting a newly arrived, mysterious prisoner believed to be the infamous “glowing man.” Unbeknownst to most, this is Geiger, stripped of his power rods and left nearly powerless. The plot quickly spirals as the criminal element inside the prison, tipped off by a traitorous guard, manipulates events to brand Geiger as too dangerous to keep alive. They orchestrate a scheme to get him strapped into the electric chair as a deadly distraction, planning to steal Warden Wren’s treasure amidst the mayhem.​

Grim flashbacks peel back layers of Coldwater’s savagery: Warden Wren’s cruelty, the prison’s punishing hierarchy, and a buried secret: relic left by Goldbeard himself, shrouded in personal loss and the regret of a life spent brutalizing hope. Meanwhile, the clock ticks ominously above Geiger’s head as accusations of murder, helped along by violence and manipulation, seal his date with institutional execution. The electric chair is flipped, rooting the art and writing in gut-wrenching tension as prison security powers down and the real heist begins beneath the floorboards.​

As the surges blister through Geiger, the narrative pivots to a brutal resurrection. Instead of dying, the electric charge rekindles Geiger’s powers, setting him off with an uncontrollable fury. Panels burst with energy as chaos engulfs the prison from below as well. Goldbeard’s men exhume a hidden chest, expecting riches but uncovering a memento of lost family and dashed dreams. The art soaks every panel in warring hues of entropy: ash, green glow, and hopeless night.​

The climax erupts in devastation, both human and architectural. Geiger’s pain and rage spiral out of control, threatening to bring down Coldwater on wardens, thieves, and innocents alike. By issue’s end, the “glowing man” is less myth than force of nature, a warning that some storms can’t be caged, outwitted, or outlasted. With foreshadowing of new threats and the next evolution in the “glowing” legend, the book’s world feels poised at a cliff’s edge.

Story

This issue’s script crackles with high-stakes pacing and a brutal parade of betrayals. Every threat hits like a prison shiv. Dialogue rarely minces words, quick to shift from barbed threats to confessions of regret or hate, achieving a textured realism. However, the constant edge can become numbing; a touch of levity or change of tempo might have given the emotional sledgehammer room to land harder.

Art

Linework is crisp and dynamic, never losing track of chaos in the frantic set pieces. Composition cleverly shifts from tight prison interiors to grand, ruinous scope, matching a story always teetering between claustrophobic danger and world-altering power. The color palette is radioactive misery at its most potent with sickly greens, bruised purples, and flickers of desperate gold absolutely sell the atmosphere.

Characters

Geiger is a living wound akin to anger and sorrow made flesh, while the supporting cast (Warden Wren, Goldbeard, Bonnie Borden) each carry scars and motivations that bleed into every interaction. The issue is relentless in showing there is no easy redemption: even small moments (a baseball glove, a drawing) serve to underline what’s been lost and what’s still at stake. Some characters dip into archetype territory, but nearly everyone moves the story forward with intent.

Originality & Concept Execution

A post-apocalyptic fugitive drama inside a fortress prison isn’t breaking comics ground, but Geiger’s conceit – radioactive powers and nuclear fallout as a metaphor for loss and rage – lends the formula new wattage. The story capitalizes on this through bombastic, inventive high points (the resurrection by electric chair) that feel both raw and thematically earned. When it clicks, you feel the burn… literally.

Positives

The book’s relentless pacing is its biggest asset: there’s no scene wasted, no moment drawn out past its usefulness. If you blink, you miss either a throat-cut or a revelation. Artistry and writing align in crafting a jarring, lived-in world where the prison’s terror is as real as any super-powered threat, with color and composition pushing the mood from grim to almost operatic. Viewers get wrenching stakes: when the pain hits, it’s earned.

Negatives

High intensity comes at a price: the emotional range is locked in at maximum, so quieter moments of hope or wit are nearly radioactive by their absence. A few supporting players blur together, their motivations shadowed by the relentless focus on Geiger’s agony. By the tail end, the escalation risks feeling like spectacle over substance, leaving little space for reader recovery before the next disaster strikes.

Art Samples:

The Scorecard

Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): [3.5/4]
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): [3.5/4]
Value (Originality & Entertainment): [1.5/2]

Final Thoughts

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GEIGER #18 rips through its premise like it’s allergic to slowing down. This isn’t a gentle read, nor one that cares about your comfort. It’s built to rattle you, scorch you, and leave you hungry for more. The execution is sharp, but the experience can feel a little too raw, a little too relentless for those with delicate comic sensibilities. If you want your apocalypse loud, brutal, and radioactive, bet on this issue.

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