Slaine the Barbarian

Warrior's Dawn

Written by Pat Mills

Drawn by Massimo Belardinelli, Angie Kincaid and Mike Mcmahon

Of all the iconic characters of 2000AD, Slaine has always had one of the most fanatical fan followings. A mercenary, barbarian and king, Slaine was was a total departure from the far future police men, bounty hunters, space truckers and rogue genetic killing machines he shared pages with (Fun as they certainly are). A unique and blackly funny character, this extremely welcome collection of the first Slaine stories is a perfect chance to get caught up.

Travelling Tir Nan Og, Slaine is an outcast whose only associate is Ukko, an unusually mercenary dwarf. In these early stories, he’s a Conan like figure, getting the job done and leaving, frequently with an angry mob at his back and, thanks to Ukko, light some gold pieces. Nonetheless, the essential elements of the character are on display here, from the unusually florid insults used in battle to the infamous 'warp spasm', an attack which sees Slaine transformed into a monstrous near-beast and unstoppable in battle.

What really works here though, is the sense of twisted history.

Pat Mills has turned established Celtic myth just a little to the left, creating a world where weird stones power technology, immense lizards and beasts roam the landscape and no one looks twice at a warrior who can swell to four times his normal size and use horses as melee weapons. Not that, let's face it, you'd want to look twice at someone like that. They'd probably kill you. Or try and eat you. Or both.

Pat Mills' wry, gleefully violent stories reach their peak in “Sky Chariots”, a wonderful story that sees Slaine and Ukko involved in what must be one of the best sky pirates stories ever told with the images of longships engaged in air to air combat surely an early highlight of the character's life span.

Mills is on uniformly strong form here, and is backed up by a trio of phenomenal artists. Angie Kincaid brings an early, sinewy strength to the characters and his world whilst Massimo Belardinelli's elegant European style harks back to Conan without losing sight of the character's roots. Finally, Mike Mcmahon's unique, blocky style brings out the Terry Gilliam-esque, warts-and-all nature of the character and his world. All three are eccentric, all three are unique and all three turn in genuinely phenomenal work.

An axe, a dwarf, a warrior. It's a small start to be sure, but Slaine's infectious confidence is on every page and with a start this strong, greater things were always inevitable. Phenomenal, unique fun.