Review by Ian Keogh

Over the previous volumes Andrei Molotov has been revealed as not only essential to what little control Tariq Geiger has over his radioactive hell, but also responsible for the condition of the USA he wanders. Presumed dead, Molotov was a surprise return in Volume Four, and the opening chapter here is his solo musings, rather strained comparisons made with the regrets of others who weaponised atomic energy.

The surprise is that what seems a fill-in chapter drawn by a fill-in artist (Eamon Winkle) leads into the crux of this volume as it turns out Geiger’s not invincible after all. The two part story that follows is largely drawn by Eduardo Pansica (sample art left), who’s the best artist to work on the series other than Gary Frank. Both create complete environments and embed the characters within it. Pansica’s preference is for extreme close-ups on pin-up pages, but both make good use of them. All Pansica’s good art, though, services the weakest story here, with a pantomime villain marking time.

Geoff Johns dropped us straight into the apocalyptic world from the beginning, but has gradually been populating that world. There’s purpose to that, but at the very least there are now enough supporting characters strong enough to carry their own episodes. Ashley Arden was briefly shown targeting child slavery last time, and here continues that mission. It’s such a hateful topic that it’s instantly evocative, and results in a visceral chapter, with Frank designing glorious hate at first sight culprits. Beyond Ashley, the surprise is of other characters having a longer shelf life than assumed.

As in previous volumes, Johns mixes in characters from other titles he’s creating, in this case the cast of Redcoat stopping by. Rather than being intrusive, seeing Geiger connect with other worlds is satisfying because Johns ensures there’s a proper story to be told necessitating the characters used. Someone travelling through time making corrections dangles the ultimate wish-fulfillment possibility of Geiger being reunited with his family, and the final three chapters here form an excellent, yet in several ways heartbreaking story.

There’s a continuing feeling of Geiger heading somewhere big with a destiny to fulfil rather than being an infinite series featuring the tyrant of the month, and watching him taking steps toward that continues to be a lot of fun.