>Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Fargo, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Sláine, destined to wear the Horned Crown of Carnun upon a scarred brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!
Tales of the Celtic barbarian Sláine mac Roth and his faithful dwarf Ukko have been a staple of 2000AD since the early 1980s. One part Conan, one part Cú Chulainn, one part Incredible Hulk, Sláine serves the Earth Goddess Danu with deeds of great violence.
Just as with the other classic 2000AD heroes, Sláine’s influence can be seen in many traditional games, some very obviously. Sláine: The RPG of Celtic Heroes for D20 and Runequest, for example, allows one to play a character in the Land of the Young as a member of his tribe. The Drune and Sessair factions of the French wargame Confrontation also draw direct inspiration. Others are more subtle; the Crimson Spasm from Werewolf: The Forsaken 2e was inspired, at least in part, by the Warp Spasm of Danu’s followers. The stories themselves provide interesting fodder for a variety of fantasy RPGs. Some might be expected from the adventures of a violent barbarian Celt. Others, such as the time he fought extra-dimensional Nazis using Atlantean laser cannons, might be a bit more off the wall.
Our setting, The Land of the Young, the area which would become Britain before it was cut off from Europe by the rising of the seas.
Created by Pat Mills (Nemesis the Warlock, The ABC Warriors, The Redeemer, Requiem Vampire Knight) and his then wife Angela Kincaid, Sláine had a difficult gestation. Kincaid was better known as an illustrator for children’s books and could not keep up the pace of producing six full pages a week. Worse, her art was put through a very rigorous, very hostile editorial process which meant that it took eighteen months from initial submission in 1981 until it actually saw print. After the first story she would not draw another Sláine story again, but Mills still sings her praises
>The pay-off is that if, one day, Sláine ever makes real merchandising royalties for its creators, it will be Angela — rather than any of the subsequent artists — who is legally entitled to half. She deserved it for all the hard work she put in. Her Ukko is still the best, and she solved all manner of visual problems the reader is not even aware of, because she made the problems disappear.
Apologies for the crease along the top of this page, I couldn't find a scan without it.
Mike McMahon, who also drew the picture in the OP (which also has a lot of behind-the-scenes drama attached to it), was selected to be the next artist on Slaine but he finished his nine-part story "The Sky Chariots" long before Kincaid had finished her battle with editorial. By the time she was done, it was decided that McMahon's part would be shelved for six month to allow other artists to have a go. This was a deliberate move by Mills, who wanted to prevent the character from becoming associated with one of the leading 2000AD artists, like Dredd had become associated with Carlos Ezquerra, and thus erasing Kincaid's contribution.
Niamh is an Irish name which is pronounced closer to "Neve", like Neve Campbell from Scream. Sláine should probably be pronounced something like "Slahn-yeh", but Mills himself tends to go with "Slain" as in "he was slain by Drunes, but not before he slew thirty of them"
Shit son calm down.
As mentioned above, Slaine's warp spasm is based on Cú Chulainn's ríastrad, but its a lot more grisly than most interpretations.
Any bets on what horror lurks within the dungeon?
>Ukko's sightline
Oh I'll bet.
Didn't see that coming, no sir.
Apologies for the scan quality of this part, I can only assume the original pages had degraded quite a bit.
Finally McMahon's turn came.
Slaine's childhood. He does use these feats again in the future.
If anyone is reading along would they mind commenting occasionally to keep the thread bumped? I can't do it myself
The chalk giant is based on a real thing, the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, which may be NSFW depending on your workplace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerne_Abbas_Giant
Its cultural though, so it should be OK.
The quote is from the ancient Roman writer Lucan's writing on Gaul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PecHavmE5Og&list=PL7FB01CC5E1DE4358&index=15
Again, apologies for the scan quality. The middle panel should read
>He was fined for exceeding the waistline of a Red Branch warrior and became known as Roth Bellyshaker.
While the bottom one should be
>Roth returned to his Stall
>Roth: Hey Macha! You know that chariot race tomorrow?
>Macha: What about it, husband?
The Folk/Power Metal band The Lord Weird Slough Feg is named for the Slaine villain, incidentally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSqoc2evd8
They also did a concept album based on the RPG Traveller.
I'm sure this will have no far-reaching negative consequences whatsoever.
Blimey.
Just as a reminder, the target audience for 2000AD at this time was around about 11 years old.
Some possible inspiration for different barbarians here.
And for Chaos warriors who want more than the destruction of everything for whatever reason.
Post Tomb of Terror when you've done this one.
It's God Tier 2000Ad writing
'scuse the delay.
>>49713244
I'm really hoping we'll be able to get to that (if only because it comes with its own game!), but it'll be a while yet because it makes very little sense without some context.
By the way, thanks for bumping anon.
Ogham is something else taken from reality, albeit a bit later than its presented here. Its an early medieval alphabet found in inscriptions throughout Ireland and Western Britain, primarily Munster and Pembrokeshire. The earliest examples date from around 4th century AD, with some suggestions it dates back to within the first century BC.
Its also used as the basis for a joke in the Discworld novel Lords and Ladies, where Oggish runes appear.
Ukko always has the best expressions.
I'm pretty sure the Sky Chariots is the first Slaine story I ever read. It's either this one or the much later one with Boudica.
Anyone ever read the Edge Chronicles series of Y.A. books?
And that's the end of the thread. I think I'll take a little break here and at the very least finish off the story in a new one as there's only about 30 pages left.
New Thread with the final part of the story here >>49715579
>>49711797
By fucking Jove, that is some warp spasm!
>>49711205
This is awesome, thanks Sharkaranon!
>>49711205
that "dinosaur" looks like e.t. from this angle lol.