Rook Exodus Vol
1: Fight or Flight by Geoff Johns, illustrator Jason Fabok, and illustrator
Brad Anderson is another series set in Geoff Johns universe that he is setting
up. There are several series starring different main characters set in
different times that somehow tie together in these reads all written by Geoff
Johns. For this reader, they don’t mesh at all right now and don’t feel like a
shared universe.
They are all
classified under the “Ghost Machine Universe” which was originally called Mad
Ghost, but now has a new label, What is the ghost machine? No Idea.
They are all part of the Unknown war? What is that? Also, no idea. Some of the Geoff
Johns books are labeled as the Unnamed Universe which is a subset of the whole
Ghost Machine universe. What are the Unnamed? Also, no idea. Cool names, but
not a lot of info.
Image Comics,
the publisher for this read, is doing the actual publishing for all these
creator owned series. Like with this read, they are supposed to be accessible,
but interconnected. Standalone, but meant to be read together. I know that all
this means that there are a lot of contradictions and it all seems to be setup
to be deliberately confusing. There are also at least three other universe books
that exist to tie into the “Ghost Machine multiverse.” I know they really made
this confusing. I am doing my best to explain it all.
This series was
advertised as superhero horror which it is not. I would classify this as
dystopian sci-fi.
Set in the far
future of this shared universe Rook (a man wearing a helmet in the shape of a
crow) lives on what is left of a failed outer space colony. He and a small
handful of survivors are all that is left of the workers who were abandoned by
the rich when the world-engine responsible for the terraforming of the planet
failed. Rook has the ability to control crows with his helmet. Since the
animals were brought from Earth, various people were given helmets allowing
them to connect to the wildlife through a neural interface. The interface works
best when the animals are connected to someone with a similar personality, so
there are various survivors left with personalities based on whatever animal is
depicted on their helmet. These people travel with their nuralinked animals.
Rook left Earth after his family farm was destroyed by a fire made worse by ongoing
climate change. In the here and now, Rook is attempting to build a ship to take
himself off away from the failed planet. Of course, things do not go as
planned.
The art is good
and Rook is a likeable character who grows as the book continues. I liked it a
lot, but it is a little cliched. The book ends with a teaser for the future.
This is a bit annoying as there are a lot of questions left and the reader is
left hanging. Since Geoff Johns is writing everything, he is bouncing back and
forth between series so it will be years at least before we get a second
volume. There is also a conspiracy that
is set up, but nothing of that is really fleshed out.
This series for
this reader does not gel with the Geiger series already set in
the same universe despite the timeline depicted at the end. In Geiger, there is
a nuclear war in the modern era that decimates at least the United States, if
not more of the world. Somehow, by the time of Rook, humanity has rebuilt
enough for climate change to finish off the planet. Somehow, humanity has also regrouped
enough to have colonized several planets. Also, in Geiger, most of the animals
have been mutated by the radiation, yet somehow by the time of Rook, there was
enough not mutated animals left for mass experimentation to create the neural
tech for colonizing Exodus. I am unclear how that happened. I am unclear how any
of that has worked.
Maybe other
books in the universe will explain that. I have only read Geiger,
Junkyard Joe, and Rook so far, but there are
several others out there. Other people say online that Rook does
not tie into Geiger and instead it’s another universe that is untitled now
unlike how it was originally planned. But, the timeline in the book says it
does, so I guess we go with what the book says over what people say on the
internet. I honestly don’t know.
I am interested
in reading more of this series, but knowing that it will be a long time before
Rook’s story is continued is a bummer. I feel like Rook has only just started.
I like Geoff John’s work, but I wish he would finish a series first before moving
on creating new series at different points.
I think my next
read in this universe will be Redcoat Vol 1 which sees a man
given immortality during the revolutionary war who then goes through adventures
throughout time. There is a cabal who is planning on using him to destroy
America so maybe that ties in to Geiger. I am on the hold list at
my local library for that. Then after that, I think Hyde Street
is next. That is supposed to be a horror series set on a magical street.
Amazon Associate
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4jlHZc2
My digital
reading copy came through the Hoopla App through the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2025
Posts
