Origin

Tariq Geiger lived in Boulder City, Nevada with his wife and children. He was diagnosed with cancer, which had metastasized in his lungs, liver, and kidneys. To the doctor’s surprise, Tariq’s organs were not shutting down but changing, while he remained lucid with a 120 degree fever. It made him an ideal test subject for experimental radiation therapy.

On July 13, 2030, The Unknown War begins when a nuclear strike was successful on US soil. Tariq, who would do anything for his family, had already prepared a personal bomb shelter. As it happened, Geiger hurried his family inside. Unfortunately, Tariq was attacked, shot in the leg by his racist neighbors. They intended to strong arm Tariq into giving them access to the bomb shelter, however, Tariq demanded his family shut and lock the door without him. Thus, he was left exposed to the explosion, which seemed to enhance what the cancer and radiation was already doing to him.

Creation

Geiger debuted in Geiger (2021) #1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.

He is one of The Unnamed, a group of unrelated strange heroes of American history. An advertisement for this new project included a timeline. On the timeline was: 2050 - Geiger walks across America.

Major Story Arcs

Ground Zero

Six months after the bomb dropped, Geiger was barely holding himself together. He would cross paths with a makeshift militia working with a Russian scientist named Dr. Molotov. Molotov felt responsible for the weapon that was used and was using the militia to find his wife. Instead, he found Geiger and took a keen interest in him.

He noticed Geiger was able to absorb and release the radiation, but it was chaotic. He fashioned a vest and used boron sticks to stabilize Geiger's abilities. Geiger was able to think more clearly, and Molotov decided to ally with him instead of the militia. In exchange for the vest, Geiger agreed to help him find his wife. Unfortunately, they tracked her to a camp site in Nevada that was already raided.

For months, Molotov bunked with Geiger. Anytime Geiger had a flare up, Molotov would help him deal with it, including creating a cloak made from a lead apron to go with his vest and boron sticks. This went south when Geiger caught a scavenger trying to get into his family's bomb shelter. Geiger killed the raider, and Molotov worried Geiger would be just like the man who killed his wife. These feelings eventually led to Molotov leaving Geiger.

The Glowing Man

For twenty years after the bomb dropped, Geiger stood guard outside his family’s shelter until it was safe for them to leave. He had managed to convince survivors to stay out of Boulder City all together thanks to the tall-tales and urban legends of the “The Glowing Man” (and the many other nicknames Geiger went by). He is also joined by a two-headed irradiated wolf named Barney.

When a few brave scavengers wander across Geiger and are beaten up for trying to steal from him, they return with The King, the child monarch of Las Vegas, and his knights. The combined might of the knights was able to subdue Geiger and give the king the chance to blow open his family’s shelter to scavenge for more resources. Unfortunately, Geiger’s family was revealed to be dead, likely since the bomb was first dropped. This anger caused Geiger to lash out, burning a handprint on the king’s face and making a villain for life.

The Nuclear Football

One day, Geiger comes across two kids (Hailee and Henry) from Las Vegas, who barely escaped the city with their lives. Their mother was killed after she stole a U.S. nuclear football (a “relic from before the Unknown War”) that The King’s knights happened to recover. Their mother had hoped to trade it for entry into NORAD in Denver, the only place where the US government was supposedly still active. The kids still had it, and Geiger reluctantly agreed to escort them to their destination, as The King commanded his men to continue hunting them down so he could have control over the rest of the US nuclear artillery.

On their way, Geiger and Barney were forced to fight off The Organ People, survivors that refused to wear hazmat suits. Their bodies were riddled with tumors and searched for organ donors. Anything their surgeons didn’t stitch into them, they ate. He instructed the kids to keep driving while he fought off the cannibals. He nearly passed out from destroying a car, and in his weakened state, he was taken prisoner by NORAD soldiers. They left him in the care of medical professionals, who were stunned by his condition. He eventually came to and decided to sneak out now that the kids had been successfully delivered.

On his way out, he found Hailee being restrained by guards. She was panicking because she was just informed that her brother, Henry, had leukemia and couldn’t stay at NORAD. Geiger and Barney defended her and promised to keep Henry safe. NORAD had a zero tolerance policy for violence and let loose a secret weapon: the robotic soldier, Junkyard Joe. In the fight with Joe, Geiger ended up breaking both of his rods, one while giving Joe a fatal blow. His powers start to rage uncontrollably, but Hailee seemed to be able to dampen his powers naturally.

With clear roads to Geiger’s destination, he handed the kids over to the scientists who originally helped Geiger before exiling him. Geiger returned to his home to wait for the king and his reinforcements. With nothing left to live for, Geiger released all the energy he had, killing the king and his men and reducing Boulder City to a crater.

Search for a Cure

Having survived the encounter in Boulder City, Geiger and Barney continued to travel the wasteland, trying to keep a low profile. They are followed by one of the King of Las Vegas' knights, named Nate, who was so moved by Geiger's heroic sacrifice for Hailee and Henry, that he wanted to change his ways. He wanted to become a traveling companion of Geiger and offered rumors of a similar glowing man who had been cured. Geiger reluctantly agreed to let Nate help him find this cure.

Their first stop was Silverton, Colorado, where Nate had heard the cured man lived. Unfortunately, he had moved on. After Geiger and Nate helped the town deal with a thief, the sheriff shared with him the name and destination of the cured man: "Ash Arden, Lewiston Montana." It wasn't far before they were distracted by a bounty hunter known as The Electrician. He tried luring Geiger into a trap by kidnapping Barney, but Geiger managed to kill him, dropping him into a mechanical grinder.

Geiger and his traveling group are detoured again when they save a trio of children from irradiated overgrown insects. They escort the children back to their idyllic town, Grover's Corner, which was shut off from the outside world and protected from the Unknown War. After confirming their safety, the travelers (now joined by Nate's pet, Zigzag) tried to leave, but they were attacked by the New King of Vegas, Richard Quarters. Geiger was forced to kill the king and his posse of knights. Blinded by his rage and energy, he nearly killed Nate in the process.

Lewiston

As they got closer to Lewiston, Geiger's power levels started to overpower even his dampening vest. After nearly exploding, Geiger started to lose consciousness and die, but he and the others were approached by Junkyard Joe, now friendly after having his NORAD programming corrupted in his fight against Geiger. He shocked Geiger back to life and carried him to Lewiston, where they finally met Ash Arden. He was actually a she, with a dampening vest similar to Geiger's but with much more control over her radiation. Geiger was unimpressed with her progress, but his attempts to leave were interrupted by energy spikes that knocked him unconscious. With no other choice, Geiger stayed to undergo a similar treatment as Ash.

Unfortunately, there was no miracle cure. Ash learned to control her radiation through will. She tried to help Geiger focus his powers, eventually putting him up against a nearby doomsday cult, The Hillborn. Geiger lost control and burned the whole group, but Ash and Geiger agreed to keep trying. Their future attempts to control Geiger's radiation were interrupted by the U.S. Army. During the ensuing fight, a tank blasted Geiger into a hidden room where he found Dr. Molotov being held captive. Molotov revealed that Lewiston was built on top of a missile silo with a nuclear weapon that Ash intended to use with Geiger's help triggering it.

Ash had set up the missile to detonate underground, endangering the survivors of Lewiston with fallout. She had been secretly training Geiger so he could absorb the fallout and hopefully her own internal radiation with it. It worked, but it was too much for Geiger to handle. The radiation started to kill him, and Ash was convinced by Molotov to share it with him after all. After the dust settled, Ash sneaked away.

Coldwater Prison

Geiger kept Molotov locked up and forced him to fix Joe. Meanwhile, he and Nate would fight off mercenaries coming to look for Geiger. Eventually, it got too much, and they decided to leave. Unfortunately, when the mercenaries caught up with them, Geiger's power level spiked, presumably due to the extra power he absorbed from Ash. He exploded, killing the mercs and throwing himself far away from his travelling companions. He was found unconscious and powerless by inmates of Coldwater Prison, a super prison that was taken over by the inmates during the Unknown War.

They mistook Geiger for a member of Goldbeard's gang and had him locked up for further interrogation. Goldbeard had men on the inside who used Geiger as a diversion so Goldbeard's crew could sneak into the prison and grab some of his belongings he had hidden in the prison. They tried torturing Geiger with an electric chair, but all it managed to do was recharge his energy levels until he was strong enough to take them all on. He collapsed, ready for the end, until Barney found him and dropped the boron rods by his side.

Character Profile

• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 245 lbs
• Eyes: Brown
• Hair: Bald (formerly Brown)
• Marital Status: Widower
• Known Relatives: Tracy (wife, deceased), Marcus (son, deceased), Violet (daughter, deceased), Molly (pet, deceased), Barney (pet)

• Distinguishing Features: Without his boron rods, Geiger glowed neon green and his skeleton became visible through his skin.

Powers & Abilities

Walking Bomb: Geiger is a walking, talking source of radiation that would glow green, displaying his skeleton. He is able to generate heat; one knife attack even melted before it could stab him. He was also capable of exploding with energy.

• Superhuman: The radiation also enhanced his strength and durability.
• Immunity: Geiger is capable of surviving in the irradiated landscape without a hazmat suit.
• Dampening Vest: A scientist created a vest to stabilize his powers with two boron rods in it. These rods could be pulled out and used as offensive weapons, however, it reduces the effectiveness of the vest and causes him to glow green.

Other Media

Television

• It was announced on October 20, 2022 that Geiger would be adapted for television by Justin Simien and Geoff Johns for Paramount Television Studios. To date, there has been no other news on the project.