The Order: Die Mensch Maschine

by Kek-w, John Burns (Illustrator)

THE WORLD AND HUMAN HISTORY IS AT STAKE!When Anna Kohl’s quest to discover the fate ofher missing father leads her to the mechanicalknight, Ritterstahl and a group of her father’sold comrades, she discovers that he was a partof a secret organisation dedicated to fightingthe fiendish extra-dimensional Wurms! 

The vile invaders are back once again and onlythe centuries-old Order can stop them. Speciallyequipped to fight these horrific creatures, theonce mighty warriors and ingenious intellectshave been ravaged by time. Can the Orderprevent all reality from unravelling? 

From medieval Prague to the streets ofElizabethan London, wherever and wheneverthe Wurms appear, The Order will be waitingwith their blades, gunnes and rocket-bombes!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2017

About the author

Writer, Musician, Artist, Human Gadfly.

2000AD / Rebellion Publishing: JUDGE DREDD, ROGUE TROOPER, JUDGE DEATH / FALL OF DEADWORLD, THE ORDER, INDIGO PRIME, SAPHIR, BLACK MAX, etc

COMMANDO Comic, BATTLE, MISTY & SCREAM, BIG MONSTER FUN, etc.

In US: EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SNIFTER OF DOOM and other comics / Text stories for AHOY COMICS. CAP'N DINOSAUR for IMAGE COMICS.

Various short stories incl. several for RUDY RUCKER'S FLURB eZine, BIG ECHO, etc.

INFO AND SOCIAL LINKS HERE: https://about.me/kekw

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

Pretty yet derivative clockpunk secret history, in which various historical personages and kick-ass warrior women team up with a clunky automaton to fight the incursions of extradimensional Wurms through early modern history. Very much the sort of strip one pages through with mild enjoyment in the weekly prog, rather than the kind which needs a collected edition to be pressed on the unconverted.

[Albert Myburgh · Rating 2 out of 5]

An old-school kind of idea of crusades against the evil supernatural which - except for a few novel ideas with very little follow through - delivers nothing much more than what it sets out to be. I enjoyed the art-style though, a bit reminiscent of the older Alan Moore comic-style, just in colour.

All and all not too bad, but I have higher expectations of 2000AD stories.

[Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little alt-history romp with a lovecraftian tinge to it.
Great art with great, moody colors (with a love for green.)
There’s two stories in the collection and even in the first one things got better as it moved along. I’d love to read more stories set in this world.

[Richard Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm old.

I do not understand graphic novels sometimes. And comic books.

Sometimes.

I loved most of this graphic novel, but I swear I kept looking to see if I had skipped some pages or something. I understood what was happening, and then I didn't. Who are these people? Why do they seem to know each other? What is happening now? Is that the same guy as that... wait, no, they're both on the same page now... What's going on with time?

Anyway, I'm old. I guess that's the problem.

There's a really cool story here and some amazing art. Some great characters, too. I think I'd like to read it as a novel. Or have it expanded into many, many more pages of sequential art. A bit more exposition to help me understand how we went from here to there.

Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna re-read it and see if I can get in the flow the second time. And I'm gonna do a better web search to see if there are prequels and sequels. (Couldn't find any the first time around.) Meantime, you should take a look if you like creepy medieval and renaissance fantasy with lots of action. It's cool.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll always make time for anything John Burns draws. And these stories, featuring a science fiction tale against a historical backdrop, are certainly fun and engaging. However, what keeps it from being truly excellent (and earning a fourth star from me) is that the most fascinating part of the story is wondering what's really going on. We're introduced to the Order of the Ouroboros, who appear to maybe be some sort of time-traveling or future-aware organization dedicated to fighting the incursion of wyrms from another dimension into ours and to preserving the established timeline. They have advanced technology, including a robotic knight working with them. But who they really are and what they are really trying to do is still just background mystery at this point, and what we actually see in the stories are fairly straightforward monster-fighting adventures. There's enough mystery to keep me reading the series, and the art is fantastic, so I'm willing to stick around to see where things go.

[Ricardo Nuno Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a surprising and thrilling graphic novel!!!
It has warriors, knights, queens, action, (long-lasting) romance, intrigue, mystery, humor, violence, guns and lots of explosions!
What more can you ask in this Middle Ages tale of bravery and camaraderie?

Great art across these two-tales volume, and a riveting mind-bending story!

Wow, just wow!
You'll surely have fun with this one!

[Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this cheaply to see the John Burns artwork and was not disappointed by that. Lively, colourful, dynamic, Burns makes the whole story interesting as it progresses through time. But I just didn't care for the story or characters. I realise it was episodic, appearing in 2000AD first but still it didn't grab me

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully drawn art combined with a handful of different concepts makes this a 3-star title to me. There is not that much exposition which is good. On the other hand, there's a lot of confusion in parts of the story, as some threads and characters are introduced without much context.

[Sanjeev Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stunning art.
Less so the story.
Cyber punk in the Middle Ages and Tudor times.
Nice idea.
More time on character development would have helped.
Enjoyable romp but nothing much to savour apart from
The delightful paining

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

First part good but the idea didn't carry to the second part.

[GaryTheThunder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fängt gut und erfrischend an, wird dann am Ende aber etwas konfus sowohl zeichnerisch als auch erzählerisch.