ORDER of SAINT GEORGE

Membership:

Purpose: They are a group of Shadows formed to oppose evil shadows such as Dr. Zero.

Affiliations: Powerline (Lenore Castle, Victor Guillermos), Ripley Weaver, John Nighthunter (Skinwalker); briefly allied with Dr. Zero

Enemies: Henry Clerk, Dr. Zero

 

 

 

 

Base of Operations: The Monastery/Abbey of the Order of St. George, Meteora, Greece; Earth-Shadowline

First Appearance: (Janisery) Dr. Zero#1 (Shadowline) (April, 1988)
(as a group) St. George#1 (June, 1988)

 

 

 

History:
BTS - Dr. Zero became known as the Draghignazzo, or the Dragon, which inspired George of Cappadocia, who in turn inspired the Order of St. George. George served as the first knight of the Order.

(Critical Mass#5/2 (fb)) - In the Dark Ages, George of Cappadonia gravely wounded Dr. Zero. Zero went into suspended animation and was believed to be dead.
Sometime later, George grew tired of the Machiavellian ways of the Order, and left, leaving them without a paladin.

(Critical Mass#5/2 (fb)) - Centuries later, The Order established their abbey on the top of a mesa in Meteora, Greece. From this position of safety, the Order unleashed the black plague on humanity, designed to end feudal system that Zero had given to humans. It was about this time that Zero revived anew.

(Critical Mass#2/2 (fb)) <1908> - Near the Tunguska River, Zero battled a Knight of the Order of St. George. Zero was sorely pressed in the attack, and was forced to unleash his "vacuum effect" to destroy his foe. However, the Knight's armor had a failsafe device in preparation for the effect, which turned its energies back on Zero, nearly killing him. He was buried under some rubble and might have actually died, but he was saved by a young Vlad Gerasimov, who nursed him back to health. Vlad, and later his son, Gregor, earned Zero's undying gratitude and friendship.

(St. George#8 (fb1)) <2/20/1983> - Jeong Lee retired as a knight after he found himself questioning his beliefs and as a result losing a battle with Dr. Zero.

(St.George#8 (fb2) / Dr.Zero#1) <4/20/1986> - Abbot sought and failed to re-recruit Lee. Abbot opened the next page of the Register to Kara Janisery, and he recruited her as the next Knight.
After her training was complete, Jeong Lee confronted Kara Janisery, challenging her to be 100% certain about her belief in the Order. In order to prove her certainty, she slew him. Kara then attacked and was slain by Dr. Zero.
Barnabbas opened the next page of the book to Michael Devlin.

(St. George#1) - Barnabbas recruited Devlin to the Order. Abbot disagreed with Barnabbas whether Devlin was worthy and decided to strip him of the armor, but Devlin stole the armor and left the abbey. However, Abbot and Barnabbas had expected this and had pushed him into stealing the armor in order to goad him into action.

(St. George#2) - Barnabbas met with Devlin, warning him that Shreck would try to stop him.

(St. George#3) - Abbot chided Barnabbas for having lost track of Devlin, who had vanished.

(St. George#5) - Abbot monitored the worldwide events of Dr. Zero and the Merchants.

(St. George#7) - With Devlin still AWOL, Abbot unpacked the first armor he'd ever built, and debated donning it himself.

(Critical Mass#1 ) - Adam Neushuk and Ben Welles smuggled themselves into the Abbey, inside a shipment of food and supplies donated by the people of the village below the Abbey. Neushuk and Welles stole Abbot's Register, wounding one of the Order in the process. Abbot sent Lei-Kung to find them and retrieve the Register.

(Critical Mass#1/2 ) - Ripley Weaver met with Barnabbas, discussing their relative paths.

(Critical Mass#2 ) - Michael Devlin met with Barnabbas, planning to complete his training. Barnabbas revealed Kara Janisery's death to Devlin and Patty Richardson.
Abbot pined over the stolen Register and wondered what he had unleashed on the world in the form of Devlin.

(Critical Mass#2/2 ) - Lei-Kung retook the Register, killing Ben Welles in the process.

(Critical Mass#3/2 ) - Abbot donned his original armor in order to personally attack Dr. Zero.

(Critical Mass#4 ) - Abbot attacked Dr. .Zero, who sought not to fight him. Abbot continued to attack Dr. Zero until he fought back, nearly killing Abbot. Brother Angus returned Abbot to the Abbey.

(Critical Mass#5 ) - Devlin retired as the Knight, although Barnabbas noted that he did take the armor with him.

(Critical Mass#6 ) - Ripley Weaver and the Powerline kids returned to the Abbey, where they found Abbot clinging to life by a thread. There was dissention in the Order over what to do with Abbot, since he had broken the rules of the Order by wearing the armor himself.
Gordon Castle convinced Michael Devlin that he was needed, and he returned to the Abbey.
Ripley revealed the threat of Professor Henry Clerk, and he proposed an alliance with Zero against Clerk. This caused an uproar in the Order, which became moot when Zero himself arrived, threatening to destroy the Order .

(Critical Mass#6/2 ) - Various members of the Order opposed Zero directly, granting Abbot enough time to forge one final set of armor. The armor completed, Abbot died. Devlin confronted Zero savagely, escalating the conflict and deliberately goading Zero into unleashing his "vacuum effect." The failsafe within the armor incapacitated Zero, and Devlin forced him to listen to reason. Zero agreed to join with the Order and Powerline to defeat Clerk.

(Critical Mass#7 // 7/1 // 7/2 - all BTS) - The combined forces of Zero, Powerline, Devlin, and their allies foiled Clerk's plans.
Devlin retired from the priesthood and rededicated himself as the Knight of the Order of St. George.

COMMENTS: Created by Archie Goodwin, D. G. Chichester, Margaret Clark, and Klaus Janson.

St. George#9-13 were supposed to be part of the Shadowline crossover Critical Mass. Instead, due to poor sales, Epic cancelled the three Shadowline series and instead published the story as the double-sized, seven issue limited series Critical Mass.

The Tunguska explosion of 1908 remains a popular mystery, and is involved with several characters in the Marvel Universe.

Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck, aka Pooka, has a wealth of information here.

In Saint George#2, Barnabbas uses a false passport which states that he is a Belgian named Poirot. This probably refers to Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, featured in Murder on the Orient Express--Per Degaton.

Profile updated by Kyle Sims

CLARIFICATIONS:
St. George of Earth-Shadowline is to be distinguished from:

Abbot has no known connection to:

Angus has no known connection to:

Barnabbas, aka Robin Goodfellow and Puck, should be distinguished from:

Lei-Kung has no known connection to:

Kara Janisery has no known connection to:

Priests

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Priests of the Order of St. George are Shadows from all over the world, united by the desire to oppose the manipulation of their dragon, Dr. Zero. They vary in nationality and religious beliefs. For the most part they believe that the ends justify the means, and they have done such things as the unleashing of the black plague in the middle ages in order to accomplish their goals.
They utilize normal humans as knights, and supply them with armor which gives them power to oppose Shadows.
Their fate is uncertain following the death of their leader, Father Abbot. The other priests of the Order are referred to as "Brother."

--St. George#1 (Critical Mass#5/2(fb), St. George#8(fb), 8(fb), 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, Critical Mass#1, 2, 3/2, 4, 5, 6, 6/2

Father Abbot

The leader of the Order, he is also one of its eldest members. Abbot is able to create and manipulate machinery and building materials, and he is the one who builds the armor used by the Knights. Similarly, it is he who chooses the Knights and writes the book, the Register, that predicts the successors.

When Devlin was otherwise indisposed, Abbot donned the original armor he had built, and attacked Dr. Zero himself. Dr. Zero overpowered and badly injured him. Abbot died building Devlin's second set of armor, so he could defend the abbey from Zero, and then participate in the opposition of Henry Clerk.

 

 

 

 

--St. George#1 (Critical Mass#5/2(fb), St. George#8(fb), 8(fb), 1, 3, 5, 7, Critical Mass#1, 1/2, 2, 2/2, 3/2, 4, 6, 6/2

Anarchis

Gustav

Sacha

These three showed up when Abbot was injured after his battle with Zero. While Anarchis and Sacha were mostly silent, or supportive, Gustav was quite outspoken. He condemned Abbot for wearing the armor himself, he was outraged with Ripley Weaver's allies were allowed into a meeting of the Order, and he saw no reason to get involved with the plot of Henry Clerk, as that was a human problem. He shut up after Angus choked him a little. Gustav's got the goatee, but I'm really not sure which is Anarchis and which is Sacha. I'm also not sure if any or all of them battled Zero.

 

--Critical Mass#6 (6/2

 

Angus

Angus guards the entrance to the Abbey. He accompanied Abbot to his battle with Zero, and when Zero later attacked the Abbey, Angus attacked Zero himself.

He worships Mother Gaia, and can apparently transform into some sort of bear-like creature...or maybe that wasn't him; that artwork in Critical Mass#6/2 is kind of choppy.

 

--St. George#1 (3, Critical Mass#3/2, 4, 6, 6/2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barnabbas

He serves as the liaison between the Knights and the Order itself. In the past he has been known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, I believe.

His powers involve limited slight of hand tricks and manipulation of perception, such as making a piece of tissue paper appear to be a passport.

 

--Powerline#1-BTS, St. George#1 (2, Powerline#3, St. George #3, 7, Critical Mass#1/2, 2, 3/2, 5, 6, 6/2

 

Lei-Kung

 

He was sent to retrieve the Book of the Order when Adam Neushuk and Ben Welles stole it. He did recover the Book, killing Welles in the process.

He could transform into a monstrous creature with superhuman strength and the ability to reshape his limbs.

 

--Critical Mass#1 (2

 

 

 

 

Ripley Weaver is retired and receives a profile under the Powerline entry
--Dr. Zero#1, (named) Powerline#1

unnamed

He guarded the Register, and was wounded by Adam Neushuk (his one wing nearly cut off) when he stole the book. He also noted the arrival of Dr. Zero at the Abbey, but he was disintegrated as he sounded the alarm.

 

--Critical Mass#1 (6

 

 

 

 

 

Knights

The Knights are humans who are chosen by the Order, and wear armor forged by Abbot, which allows them to manipulate and project energy. They wear a helmet, some sort of chest harness, and use a staff. If a Knight summons energy and does not unleash it, he or she will feel a powerful backlash. The Knight's ability to use the armor is dependent upon his belief in his cause and his determination. The armor contains a fail safe that causes a powerful backlash of energy against Dr. Zero if he uses his "vacuum effect" attack

--St. George#1 (Critical Mass#5/2 (fb), 5/2(fb), 2(fb), St. George#8(fb), 8(fb), Dr. Zero#1, St. George#1-8, Critical Mass#1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 6/2, 7/1-7/3

George of Cappadocia

 

He was the first Knight of the Order, and it was he who inspired the Order. He nearly slew Dr. Zero, the Draghignazzo, forcing him into a lengthy period of suspended animation. Sometime later, he came to disagree with the Order and left it behind.

 

--St. George#1-BTS, Critical Mass#5/2

 

 

Knight of 1908

 

He battled Dr. Zero in Tunguska in 1908, during which Zero first encountered the failsafe built into the Knights' armor, which caused a backlash when he unleashed his "vacuum effect." The Knight was slain, and Zero almost died as well, but was saved by Vlad Gerasimov.

--Critical Mass#2/2

 

 

Jeong Lee

 

He was a Buddhist, and was the Knight back in 1983, but he came to doubt his mission and purpose, and so he retired. In 1986 he refused an invitation to rejoin the Order. When his successor, Kara Janisery, went to first face Dr. Zero, he confronted her, challenging her beliefs. She accused him of being an agent of Zero, and he told her that if he was, that she should act against him. She did, disintegrating him.

--St. George#8 (8(fb), 8(fb)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kara Janisery

She was a friend of Patty Richardson, and was the former lover of Adam Neushuk. She was a photojournalist had who faked evidence to produce a story that shut down a crime lord and his operations. It was shortly after this, in 1986, that Barnabbas approached her and convinced her to become the next Knight. She exposed herself as a Knight to Patty when she donned the armor and opposed terrorists in Belfast. She was shot during this firefight, and she retaliated, obliterating the man who had shot her.
She traveled to Gunyana to oppose Zero. Her predecessor, Jeong Lee, confronted her and challenged her resolve, and she slew him to prove herself. She ambushed Dr. Zero and did injure him, but was ultimately slain by him.

--Dr. Zero#1 (St. George#8(fb), 4(fb), 8(fb)/Dr.Zero#1

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Devlin has his own entry
--Powerline#1

Appearances:
Dr. Zero#1 (April, 1988) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Denys Cowan (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
St. George#1-8 (June, 1988 - August, 1989)
Critical Mass#1-7 (January-July, 1990)

First Posted: 01/02/2003
Last updated: 06/21/2004

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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