Sláine (comics)


Sláine is a comic hero published for the first time in British magazine 2000 AD.
Sláine is a barbarian fantasy adventure series based on Celtic myths and stories which first appeared in 1983, written by Pat Mills and initially drawn by his then wife, Angela Kincaid. Most of the early stories were drawn by Massimo Belardinelli and Mike McMahon. Other notable artists to have worked on the character include Glenn Fabry and Simon Bisley. The current artist is Simon Davis.
Sláine's favourite weapon is an axe called "Brainbiter". He has the power of the "warp spasm", based on the ríastrad or body-distorting battle frenzy of the Irish hero Cú Chulainn, in which earth power "warps" through his body, turning him into a terrifying, monstrously powerful figure. He is a devotee of the earth goddess Danu.

Plot

At the start of the series Sláine was a wanderer, banished from his tribe, the Sessair. He explored the Land of the Young in the company of an unscrupulous dwarf called Ukko, fighting monsters and mercenaries in the fantasy tradition. In one early adventure he rescued a maiden, Medb from being sacrificed in a Wicker Man, only to earn her enmity – she was a devotee of Crom Cruach, the god to whom she was to be sacrificed, and was looking forward to the experience. Her master and mentor, the ancient, rotting and insane Lord Weird Slough Feg, became the series' main villain.
Following stories featured sky chariots, dragons and prehistoric alien gods.
As the series progressed, Sláine returned to his tribe and became king, leading them against the Fomorians, a race of sea demons who were oppressing them. Then, in the landmark storyline The Horned God, Sláine united the tribes of the earth goddess against Slough Feg and his allies, while his personal devotion to the goddess led to him becoming a new incarnation of the Horned God Carnun. By the end of the story the Land of the Young is no more, and Sláine is the first High King of Ireland.
Subsequent stories saw Sláine sent through time by the earth goddess to fight alongside Celtic, and other, heroes and heroines such as Boudica, and more recently return to Ireland to defend his people against new enemies alongside his wife Niamh.
These new enemies turned out to be a full Fomorian invasion led by Balor and the sadistic Moloch, murdering, raping and eating their way through Slaine's tribe until, wracked with warp-spasm, Slaine was able to take out Balor. The tribal council forced Slaine to let Moloch go, hoping he would fulfill his promise of keeping the Fomorians out of Ireland; instead, he deliberately returned to rape and murder Niamh. Wanting vengeance, Slaine abdicated the throne to go to Albion and kill Moloch, which he succeeded in doing. In his absence, his son Kai left the tribe to search for his father and Ireland faced a second invasion – "the dread of Europe", Atlanteans whose ancestors had lived in Ireland before the tribes of Danu and who had been forcibly turned into hosts – Golamhs – for the symbiotic Sea Demons under Lord Odacon, who easily threw the tribes' Sky Chariots into the Otherworld. Upon Slaine's return, he found the new High King Sethor, former member of the council who had granted Moloch freedom, was willing to surrender half of Ireland to Odacon in return for the gifts of science and civilisation.
Slaine was able to convince the tribal council that the demons could be killed and war was once more declared on the invaders, but it was clear that Ireland would be constantly attacked by wave after wave of Fomorian invasion. Slaine hit on the idea of having the Tribe of Danu escape to the Otherworld that their Sky Chariots had been sent to, thus freeing them from the demons and allowing the Atlanteans to settle peacefully in Ireland; both armies united against Odacon and his Sea Demons. Slaine was able to free the Atlantean leader Gael from being Odacon's Golamh by handing over Sethor to take Gael's place; and they led their armies to bolster the city of Tara. While the tribes fought a defensive battle, Slaine was sent to the Otherworld to secure the blessings of Danu for the Tribes of the Earth Goddess to settle there; this done, he returned with her power behind him and led a charge that decimated Odacon's forces. The Tribe was cast to the Otherworld in the aftermath, and Slaine assisted Gael in finally destroying Odacon and the parasitic spawn with which he had infested the outer-lying villages.
With Gael as High King of Ireland and founder of the eventual Gaelic race, Slaine left to track down his son. He found Kai at a travelling funfair, and later embarked on a quest to track down Crom Dubh.

Publication

They have been collected in a number of volumes but recent trade collections include:

Main characters

Video games

2000 AD RPG appearances:
Solo RPG appearances:
The first Sláine novel was released at the end of 2006: