Teaser StarScan(Prog851,4Sep’93)welcoming back Slaine:Demon KIller(Progs852-59,11Sep-30Oct’93).With art by Glenn Fabry
Torquemada revels in hideous creations,the Monads,a by-product of his dreadful “purification” plants,factories of mass-murder reserved for all those the Grand Master considered “impure”!
Nemesis the Warlock(Book VI):Torquemurder Pt.1(Progs482-87,9Aug-13Sep’86).
Script:Pat Mills.Great gothic art!:Bryan Talbot.
Gathering together the Treasures Of The Goddess-the Cauldron Of Blood,that has the power to regenerate the dead;the Spear Of The Sun,that howls with battlelust never tiring of slaying and the Sword of The Moon with the ability to cut through anything,Slaine is finally ready to face the armies of the Formorian Sea-Devils.
Headed by Balor of the Evil-Eye,alongside dark sorceress Medb,they wish to preserve the corrupt,fetid rule of the old Horned God,Slough Feg.
Both worshippers of the Earth-Goddess,Danu,Slaine and Medb follow opposite paths,one wishing darkness and destruction,the other a spirit of light and happiness-“the laughter in the woods”.
In a final battle with the Old Horned God,Slough Feg,Slaine spiritually and physically emasculates the decaying,skeletal Feg becoming the Goddess’ champion,the New Horned God!
Slaine:The Horned God Book III(Progs688-98,21Jul-29Sep’90).Script:Pat Mills.Art:Simon Bisley.
Extremely rare outing into the world of 2000AD as V For Vendetta artist,David Lloyd draws this one-off Slaine adventure,Cauldron Of Blood,in short-lived role-playing comic Diceman(#1,1Feb’86)
The Patrick Goddard art droid’s wonderful centre-spread from the Pat Mills scripted Savage:Rise Like Lions(Progs1813-23,2Jan-13Mar’13)
In Slaine:The Horned God(Book II,Progs650-64,28Oct’89-3Feb’90)the Warped One must gather the Treasures of the Earth Goddess.
In possession of the Cauldron Of Blood,that always feeds the hungry and has the power to raise the dead;he must obtain the Silver Sword Of The Moon,which can cut through any metal;the Flaming Spear Of The Sun-it must be kept in a drugged state to slake its thirst for blood-and the Stone Of Destiny,so called owing to it’s piercing cry of approval emitted when the true Ard Ri-King Of Kings,stood upon it.
However Medb,sorceress of the evil Drunelords,in the guise of Megrim part of Slaine’s tribe,is determined to spoil the Celtic warrior’s quest…
More stunning fully-painted art,from master of fantasy,Simon Bisley,written with the usual thrilling mix of history and mythology by Pat Mills
The stunning pin-up that is Slaine:The Mega-Scan by Simon Bisley,given away free with the weekly Prog,sometime in the early ’90s,though don’t ask this droid when exactly!
All I do know is that it still hangs pride-in-place on the door of the Tumblr-module!
After Glenn Fabry’s gloriously detailed art on Slaine:The King(Progs500-19,13Dec’86-25Apr’87)it was hard to see how anyone could match the artist’s level of intricate linework(see previous post)
However nobody was expecting the sheer revolution one young artist was to bring to the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic(and British comics in general)with his full-colour visual masterpiece,The Horned God.
That artist was,of course,Simon Bisley and his stunning work on Slaine would spawn a slew of(lesser)imitators;unfortunately setting the new all-colour weekly Prog back several years with pages of muddy brown artwork,where there should have been a celebration of vibrant,multi-coloured strips!
However,this wasn’t Bisley’s fault and his European-style on Slaine and earlier b/w ABC Warriors,brought worldwide attention to the comic at a time when many of our most talented creative droids had left for mega-stardom across the pond,working for the Big Two!
The Horned God(Book I,Progs626-35,13May-15Jul’89).Script:Pat Mills;art:Simon Bisley
Meet Slaine’s Tribe~The Red Branch!
In Slaine:The Mini-Series(Progs589-91,27Aug-10Sep’88)we are properly introduced to his tribe,the Red(or Violent)Branch.
A fearsome lot,especially the women(!),who favour going into battle Skyclad(naked)and are all capable,like Slaine,of warping the power of the Earth Goddess through their bodies,often with such ferocity that “their hair stood on end..their bodies swelled up..and some even twisted round in their skins-so that their feet and knees switched to the rear and their heels and calves to the front”!
Having driven the vile Fomorian Sea-Devils from their lands,Slaine outlays his plan to bring other neighbouring tribes together,so that he can gather three more sacred treasures to match their Cauldron Of Blood-that always supplies food and can even bring the dead back to life..
- The Silver Sword of the Moon-that can cut through any metal
- The Flaming Spear of the Sun-that howls for blood and is kept drugged in a draught of crushed poppies to restrain it..and
- The Sacred Stone of Destiny
With these four treasures the Sea-Demons would be defeated and the lands of Tir-Nan-Og finally free!
Script:Pat Mills.Art:Glenn Fabry
Return Of The King!
After it is revealed that Slaine is to be king of his tribe,he leaves druidess Nest at the Eternal Fortress of the Ever-Living Ones and returns to his homelands in Eriu(Ireland)to fulfill his destiny.
Bringing with him the Cauldron Of Plenty,a gift from the half-god druid,Myrddin(or Merlin)said to feed all those who come before it.
Little does Slaine know this is exactly what his tribe needs,who under the yoke of the Fomorian sea-devils,particularly leader Balor of the Evil-Eye and tax collector,Quagslime,are suffering greatly and slowly starving to death.
On his way home he meets his childhood love,Niamh,recently banished from the tribe for accusing(correctly!)Ragall the King’s wife of being an evil demon.The King’s wife is,in fact the dark sorceress Medb,who Slaine “rescued” from a giant wicker man,before she could be burned alive.Medb believed she would be born again and made the spirit bride of the great time worm,Crom Cruach.Robbed of this “honour”,Medb vows vengeance on Slaine and his whole tribe.
Before Slaine parts from Niamh,she reveals that she has born him a son,but as he abandoned her to give birth alone,she wants no more to do with him,and is taking their son to train as a druid.
Although Slaine is horrified at this turn of events,he knows better than to argue with the fiery Niamh,and must leave her to set things right with his tribe and become…
Slaine:The King(Progs500-08,13Dec’86-7Feb,87,517-19,11-25Apr’87).Script:Pat Mills;art:Glenn Fabry
