With the looming holidays, perhaps you need some gift ideas or want a fun read to enjoy during winter break. Consider the many new comics and graphic novels from Ghost Machine Comics. Originally, the new publisher had intended to launch publication in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed their releases. In 2024, the hard work by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and their many collaborators came to fruition, making good on the promises of a new universe of heroes.
Introducing The Unnamed Universe
In January 2024, the publisher launched its titular one-shot, introducing the major players of its new hero universe, calling it The Unnamed Universe. The one-shot included a collection of stories that provided readers a peek at:
• Geiger, an irradiated anti-hero in a post-nuclear holocaust world
• Rook, a warden on a strange, failing prison planet
• Junkyard Joe, a reprogrammed robot killer who began electronic life as a hero
• Redcoat, a roguish, wayward immortal soldier of fortune
• Halo and Hornsby, two 13-year-olds who don’t know they are an angel and demon switched at birth
• The Rocketfellers, a 25th-century family who must travel back in time to the 21st century to save the world
• Hyde Street, a street in any U.S. town with frightening residents like Pranky, a homicidal Boy Scout.
If it sounds like a bold undertaking, it has been. The creator-owned Ghost Machine wanted to forge a new universe that offered readers more of what the creators had loved as youth.
A Multiverse Like No Other
Most comic publishers create distinct universes, such as DC Comics’ superhero universe. The established confines of this existing universe confound writers and artists who see expansion opportunities. When Johns left DC, he contacted former collaborators and pitched the notion of following their dreams of creating something original. Thus, a team of superstar creators joined together to establish an interconnected Multiverse.
Connected through time travel and immortality, the creators of The Unnamed Universe wove together the storylines of each distinct comic as Comic Book Club revealed in an exclusive preview. Eventually, the strands of the stories of, for example, Redcoat and Geiger, merge. Each character’s actions impact the outcome of the other in an immense timeline that hearkens back to the establishment of the United States and moves forward to the 25th century. Only by reading all of the comic books can a reader fully comprehend the eventual cohesive events of The Unnamed Universe.
A Winter Read Like No Other
At what point will you enter The Ghost Machine Universe? Fans of historical fiction might begin with Redcoat, while those who love science fiction may enjoy Rook: Exodus. Geiger provides dystopian fiction and a foray into the future while fans of Tales of the Crypt comics will likely welcome Hyde Street to their shelves. Junkyard Joe offers military fiction with plenty of intrigue. Individuals who adored comics like The Jetsons and the Archie comics will likely enjoy The Rocketfellers and Hornsby and Halo. What will you read this winter to delve into a corner of The Ghost Machine Universe?
