A gaggle of guests from Ghost Machine stepped on stage today to give fans a sneak peek inside what they hope to be the future of creator-own publishing—led by Geoff Johns, panelists Jason Fabok, Peter Tomasi, Bryan Hitch, Francis Manapul, and many more, previewed Ghost Machine’s impressive line-up and explained what makes Ghost Machine so unique.
“Freedom!” Fabok, artist of Rook Exodus said to best describe Ghost Machine. “It’s our turn to build something that lasts for us,” Manapul, artist of The Rocketfellers added. They, along with everyone else, pointed to superstar writer Geoff Johns as the genesis for this company. He brought the impressive roster together and is at the forefront of all of what Ghost Machine is doing, like writing the Rook Exodus, Geiger, and Redcoat series.
“I hope we inspire other creators to come together and do this,” Johns said and echoed that sentiment more than once. The creators mentioned Bill Finger dying penniless and Superman being sold for a paltry sum and definitely proclaimed that is not how they want Ghost Machine to operate. Johns wants to inspire other creators, maybe even future comic writers and artists in room 406.1 at NYCC, to “not work for Ghost Machine but become part of Ghost Machine.
We were also treated to the panelists pitching their books. Rook Exodus is the “kind of project I’ve been waiting to do my whole life,” Fabok said. He described the book as “Star Wars meets Batman meets Mad Max meets Clint Eastwood…meets Lion King.” It’s set on a dying world where Rook is a scavenger trying to build a spaceship and take flight. He wears a helmet resembling a bird that allows him to communicate with them and “use them like spies.”
Hitch’s Redcoat features an immortal protagonist who shoots George Washington in the head. Hitch reveled in being able to play with 350 years of alternate magical US history and teased that plenty of historical figures would pop up, including a 12-year-old Albert Einstein, who wants to learn magic to understand how the universe works. “This book will rapidly become a world and line of its own,” Hitch said.
Ghost Machine’s first book, Geiger, launches next month, and a 64-page one-shot introducing a handful of characters will be published by Image in January. It’ll include The Soulless by Lamont McGee, which was accidentally revealed and named.
Ghost Machine is full of promise, and one can only wonder where these stories, characters, and creators will go from here.
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