Ghost Machine Learning

A chat with comic creators Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok about Rook:Exodus, Hyde Street, Geiger and more.

During a busy NYCC, Ghost Machine founders Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok took time out to answer a few of Neighborhood Comics owner Lee Heidel’s questions about their upcoming titles, all available for pre-order now.

---

A print version of this interview can be found in THE NBRHD’s November 2024 issue.

Ghost Machine comics are a fresh jumping on point for new characters, universes and storytelling. How does Ghost Machine's four-world concept reward its readers?

GEOFF JOHNS: When we all came together to create all-new characters and titles, we wanted each one of them to have the creative freedom to be the best series possible. That evolved into the “four corners of reality” for Ghost Machine’s books; each corner is separate, coming together through genre and story. The first one is our action-adventure line, The Unnamed, which introduces the hidden heroes of American myth – from the American Revolution with Redcoat to 25 years in the future at the “end” of America with Geiger, and everyone between – like Junkyard Joe, The Northerner, and Widow X. These stories are genre, but they aren’t superhero. Superhero adjacent, maybe. Bryan and I just finished plotting Redcoat up to issue #50 at NYCC. Next to The Unnamed, we have our sci-fi world with Rook: Exodus, a story that is so big it needs the space to tell it. Our horror title has kicked off with Hyde Street, a book populated with strange beings known as The Residents like Mr. X-Ray, Pranky, Miss Goodbody and The Matinee Monster. And our family-centered books with Family Odysseys, with titles like The Rocketfellers and Hornsby & Halo, which is going to surprise everyone when it hits this November. This “four corners of reality” concept gives us the most creative freedom, but allows for shared storytelling, too, where we want it.

Geiger

When Geiger started back up under the Ghost Machine banner, it already had dedicated fans. Their appetites were primed to learn more about Junkyard Joe and now Redcoat. Are there any insights to how the upcoming First Ghost kicks the door open even wider?

GEOFF: We’ll see a prequel of sorts to that title in Redcoat next year, before First Ghost comes out. It centers around a mystery tied to the White House burning down, but First Ghost takes place firmly in today when a new President and their family move into the White House and discover a big secret to it all. As we continue Year Two of Ghost Machine, The Unnamed titles will be coming closer together… and Junkyard Joe returns in Geiger #10!

Rook:Exodus

Rook: Exodus was a smash hit for us and greatly expanded our Ghost Machine readership. As Sci-fi stories tend to have an ever-increasing sprawl, new archetypes like these are rare. What sets Rook apart from the sci-fi stories that inspired it?

GEOFF: That’s so great to hear. Jason is delivering the work of his career. I think the true fusion of tech and nature is what sets it apart. Most sci-fi stories are so devoid of nature, animals, and our relationship with it all – and that’s at the very center of the series. In a far future world where all aspects of nature are controlled by humanity, including the animals, how does our relationship with it all evolve? Maybe in a way you might not expect. It’s an emotional and action-packed adventure across a future world where our only hope of survival is to work with the animals in a way we never have before.

JASON FABOK: The big thing that sets Rook apart from other sci-fi stories is our mash-up of nature versus machine and the mix of those two things. A lot of sci-fi stories deal with aliens fighting, heroes on some planet or whatever, but we have earth animals, bears and birds and wolves mashed up with cool vehicles and this helmet technology. Our characters also have a little bit of a superhero edge to them in the sense that you know. Rook is a herd guy kind of like Batman. Dire Wolf is based on an animal as well and that allows me to have fun and play with the art and the way that the character look.

I haven't really seen anything like this, and that's what really inspires me and and Geoff to to take it further. We have an infinite amount of ideas for these characters in this book and new characters in the future because we can pick and choose from a wealth of different characters and animals from our own on earth. And that's really exciting, and it really helps us to create a a very unique and original story based on characters first and we really have fun with the the sci-fi elements that you know from classic science fiction.

Subscribers: Sign in to read the rest of the interview!