Ghost Machine officially launched at New York Comic Con 2023. It dubs itself as a first-of-its-kind creator-owned and operated media company. Creators co-own all the characters and universes developed for Ghost Machine, sharing in all publishing, media, merchandise, and beyond. The pioneering creator collective consists of Jason Fabok, Gary Frank, Bryan Hitch, Geoff Johns, Lamont Magee, Francis Manapul, Brad Meltzer, Peter J. Tomasi, and Maytal Zchut. The company plans to announce additional talent in the months ahead, including one major superstar creator. All creators will be exclusive to Ghost Machine for their comics work after completing their already committed to projects.
From the announcement:
As the recent Hollywood strikes have shown, creatives are disenfranchised with the traditional industry model—creators seek increased empowerment as a natural progression to an ever-changing entertainment landscape. Ghost Machine’s enterprising business model is at the forefront of this evolution with the characters and full company ownership shared by its creators in every way.
Ghost Machine’s titles will be published through the original champion of creator-owned comics – Image Comics – which launched in 1992 when seven of the top comic book creators left Marvel Comics to own their own work and ideas.
A two-issue prequel series, Geiger: Ground Zero by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, ships in November and December before Ghost Machine’s first official release in January 2024 with Ghost Machine #1, a 64-page special which will introduce its FOUR SHARED UNIVERSES of characters: 1) The Unnamed; revealing a mysterious group of genre heroes from across history, featuring characters and titles like Geiger, Junkyard Joe, Redcoat, and First Ghost. A Geiger series, based on Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s hit comic of the same name, is already in development at Paramount TV with director Justin Simien. 2) Rook: Exodus; a sprawling sci-fi epic which takes place in the far future, on a world where every aspect of nature is controlled by humanity. 3) The universe of Family Odysseys centering around the time displaced family, The Rocketfellers, and their friends. And 4) An epic Horror Universe co-created and illustrated by one of our secret superstar artists to be announced, currently under contract. Following Ghost Machine #1, Ghost Machine’s titles will begin shipping in April 2024 with an all-new ongoing Geiger series, Redcoat and Rook: Exodus.
