Unnatural Order Vol. 1: The Prisoner

by Christopher Yost, AndWorld Design (Letterer), Val Rodrigues (Illustrator)

ZERO DARK THIRTY meets LORD OF THE RINGS and GAME OF THRONES in UNNATURAL ORDER Vol. 1: The Prisoner , a genre-blending tale of dark fantasy, science fiction, and action adventure by writer/creator Chris Yost (co-creator of Marvel's X-23 and writer of films ( Ragnarok) and series STAR THE MANDALORIAN) and artist Val Rodrigues where the world is not how it's supposed to be.

EVERYONE WANTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

One will transform it.

One will save it.

One will destroy it.

After the fall of the Britons and the Roman invasion of Hibernia, the captive known only as the Druid is released, sending a darkness across the world…an age of horrors, of fire, and entrails. As the innocent burn in the Wicker fields, those who would resist learn of the existence of a man who even the Druid fears. For it is this prisoner, a soldier from a different time, who alone knows the Druid’s this is not how the world is supposed to be.

Collects issue #1- 4 of the gripping, genre-bending, action-packed sci-fi dark fantasy series!

For fans and readers Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Rainbow Six (Tom Clancy), Rainbow SIEGE (video game); Timeline (Michael Crichton), The Castaways in Time series (Robert Adams), Seven to Eternity (Rick Remender / Image Comics), Black Science (Rick Remender & Matteo Scalera / Image Comics), Vanish (Donny Cates /Image Comics ), Barbaric (Michael Moreci & Nathan C. Gooden / Vault) Brandon Sanderson’s Dark One (Vault), Monstress (Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda / Image Comics), The Sacrificers (Rick Remender / Image Comics), Briar (Christopher Cantwell & German Garcia / BOOM!) Coda (Simon Spurrier & Mattias Bergara / BOOM!), Once Upon A Time at the End of the World ( Jason Aaron & Alexandre Tefenkgi / BOOM!), Something is Killing the Children ( James Tynion and Werther Dell'Edera /Image) Grim, W0rldtr33 (James Tynion , Jordie Bellaire, Fernando Blanco / Image), Conan the Barbarian, and Hellboy

From writer Chris Yost ,(co-creator of X-23 , writer of X-men, Amazing Spider-man, Batman, Avengers , and more!), films ( Ragnarok and Secret Headquarters ), and television/streaming ( Star The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop ) and in-demand artist Val Rodrigues!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

Published June 18, 2024

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a unique fantasy world given its origins and the secrets surrounding the magic of the world. I was really enjoying the world even before the reveal of how the world is not quite right and when that reveal hits, it's so good. The creation of the story concept and the dialogue are top-notch.

The art team of Val Rodrigues and colorist Dearbhla Kelly just kills it in every panel. I love how dark and gritty the world is and how often colors get used to emphasize fear and anger. This new world is very scary and unnatural for one of our main characters and this gets played up very well with the art direction. And lastly shoutout to the amazing Andworld Design for bringing the words to life with impeccable lettering. There are some really fun panels in this one where the lettering brings the words to life.

FOUR AND A HALF STARS

Thank you to the publisher and Rockstar Book Tours for the review copy. All thoughts are my own.

[B.J. Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

UNNATURAL ORDER Vol. 1: The Prisoner is an intriguing blend of Spartans, Druids, and horror, but the story is misguided by having too many characters for a reader to follow. Just as one character gets introduced, a new character is brought into the fold a few pages later. It gets confusing at times, at least storywise. I did like the "prisoner" twist, which I didn't see coming at the end of the first issue. By the way, this volume collects four issues—Issues #1–4.

The illustrations save this graphic novel from being a complete disaster. They have a weird mashup blend of metal rock and Hellboy. There's action, blood, and plenty of weirdness.

Despite shortcomings with the story—which borrows a bit from Stephen King's Dark Tower novels—I still had fun reading UNNATURAL ORDER Vol. 1: The Prisoner, many thanks to the fantastic artwork. ╌★★★✰✰

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unnatural Order Vol. 1: The Prisoner by Chris Yost is about a group of warriors trying to save the planet from a great evil, the Druid. The Druid wishes to bring change, but doing so will cause the world to end and be reborn into something different. A group of warriors is trying to exact revenge on the Druid for killing their respective families, and they are hunting for its weakness. They heard of a rumor that there is a prisoner from a different time who knows the Druid’s secrets and weaknesses. Will the warriors be able to save the prisoner and put a stop to the Druid’s plans?

The graphic novel was an okay read. It did take a bit for me to get into it as there were many characters. The story got interesting as it progressed, albeit a bit predictable. I thought it was an entertaining read and I would be open to read more chapters from the author. I did enjoy the graphics and thought they were well done.

[Jaimes_Mystical_Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting graphic novel that combined dark fantasy and science fiction with a bit of action and adventure. This book had a unique storyline and captivating artwork which helped create this original story. Overall this was a good graphic novel read.

Thank you to Vault Comics for the gifted copy.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all, I thought this was ok but not as good as it could have been. It started pretty well, other than some stiff dialogue, which, in retrospect, might be purposeful to the plot (Something not apparent from the beginning). Then it got confusing, things moved too quickly, the arguing got tedious, and the end came about too quickly.

[Estibaliz · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Interesting idea (albeit not that original), poor execution, unattractive art.

The storytelling was muddy, and pretty rushed at the end, and the character development was also fairly weak.

Not really interested in seeing where the story goes from here...

[Kris Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was, as the kids say, aiight.

[Jeremy Fowler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has such an interesting premise and I feel like it will keep building into something truly amazing! It just took me a minute to get into it and figure out what was going on.