Comic Review 237 // Slaine: The Brutania Chronicles - Book 4

The penultimate graphic novel. As far as I know, there is only one more collection! How scary, no more Slaine tales. I will have to start painting the figures soon. But back to the review:

Title: Sláine: The Brutania Chronicles Book Four

Author: Pat Mills

Illustrator: Simon Davis

Blurb: Stone Killer! Albion. Celtic Warrior Sláine United the tribes of the Earth Goddess and became the first High King of Ireland, but is now a wanderer. Having journeyed to Monadh to rescue Sinead from the Drune Lords, Sláine has discovered that they have been experimenting on their own creations, much to the displeasure of the Cyths’ jailer, the Archon Yaldabaoth. Now, the Archon has awoken, and destruction will surely follow…

Format: 96 pages, Kindle Edition (Buy now via Amazon)

Review

Hmmm. There's so much I like about Sláine, but I am finding the story of his parentage to be dragging on a bit too much. The last collection dealt with his mother and set up the options of who could be Sláine's father and in this collection we finally get the answers. But boy did they drag it out!

We continue the overarcing themes of Folklore alongside the hatred of Christianity. It would seem unsurprisingly to Mills fans that he has issues with Patriarchal faiths (as we should), but it came across a bit to heavy in this title.

Overall the story wrapped up nicely and all the pieces are in place to leave Sláine  heading off into the wild. The real highlight of course is Simon Davis' artwork. It was beautiful, intriguing and had you searching out the details. The Stone Men, were brutal and I really hope we will see them in miniature form soon. Fingers crossed!

Now for a little break from Sláine before I read the final book. Maybe we should visit Judge Dredd for a bit? As always I appreciate you stopping in for the read and I hope you will consider supporting my blogging adventures by using the following links:

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Comic Review 235 // Slaine: The Brutania Chronicles - Book 3

Sad to think our time with Slaine is drawing to an end. There have been some spectacular highs in the series, along with lows. But no series has divided the crowd as much as the Brutania Chronicles. I've enjoyed the pace change, but I can see how this new/older Slaine is upsetting the fans. A broken hero in a world that no longer wants him is a step away from the young heroic barbarian of the 80s. Now I remember reading this series, so I am excited to revisit it; I remember the artwork being great.

Title: Sláine: The Brutania Chronicles Book Three

Author: Pat Mills

Illustrator: Simon Davis

Blurb: UNLEASH THE BEAST!

Overpowered by the fury of the Primordial, Sláine is on the brink of defeat. 

Cyth Lord Gododin attempts to break him by summoning memories that he would rather forget… 

Confronting the demons of his past, the Celtic Hero must cut through the Drune Lord’s twisted minions and reunite with Sinead to rescue Zana, the ape-woman, one of the last remnants of humankind before they were ‘improved’ by the Cyth. As their attempts to suppress humanity fall before Sláine and his axe, the Cyth must answer to their master and jailer – the Archon Yaldabaoth!

Format: 105 pages, Kindle Edition

Buy now on Amazon 

Review

Yep, stunning artwork as I remember. Simon Davis produces some beautiful panels. I also like how the colouring of the artwork helps us to know when we are in the present vs the past. The classic sepia filter really does help. 

It was a great read and we got to rediscover Slaine and the emotions that drive him. We basically get a Slaine with depth finally. This volume continues to build on the theme of isolation that Slaine has found himself in, no family, no tribe and no Ukko. These combine together to lead us to a self-doubting Slaine alone in the world and this weakness is punished by enemies who attempt to tap into this trauma to finally break Slaine's spirit.

Cyth Lord Gododin forces Slaine to relive parts of his childhood in an attempt to manipulate the warrior, and we take a back seat and join the ride as we watch the death of Slaine's mother, and attempt to solve the mystery of who Slaines father is (lots of fun twists here). Whilst this is happening Sinead with a weakened Slaine also attempts to rescue Zana, the ape-woman. Possibly the final survivor of the pre-Cyth races of earth. But with all the death and battling an older more scary power has woken and it would seem in book four that Slaine will have to face the Archon Yaldabaoth.

Everything is now nicely set for the final volume and I for one am excited to read it.

Comic Review 222 // Slaine the Wanderer by Pat Mills

Whoops, I have fallen behind on my Slaine reading and reviewing, I allowed the library finds to distract me for too long. But no more! Today we return to Slaine.

Title: Sláine: The Wanderer

Author: Pat Mills

Art: Clint Langley

Blurb: Tir Nan Og - the Land of the Young, a mystical place of myth and legend. Celtic warrior Sláine, the first High King of Ireland and Ukko his (un) faithful dwarf sidekick encounter everything from evil magicians and demonically-possessed maidens, to the bloody roots of modern day football, as they roam their world in search of adventure.

Collects:

- The Gong Beater (Progs #1635–#1638)

- The Amber Smuggler (Progs #1662–#1665)

- The Exorcist (Progs #1709–#1712)

- The Mercenary (Progs #1713–#1714 and Prog 2011)

Format: E-Book - 112 pages

Review

As mentioned in the opener I have let too much time pass between the reviews. But what a way to come back. A stand-alone graphic novel collecting four short tales. This is the perfect way to reintroduce me to the series. All the stories are created by Pat Mills so we know what to kind of expect and the art of Clint Langley which is always crazy and epic. I expect a fun read.

It was first of great to have Ukko back, he was absent from Invasions, and I missed him, so having him back in the downtrodden sidekick role was uplifting. The opening Tale 'The Gong Beater" was a fun light-hearted tale like the old Slaine. Seeing Ukko attempting to make some fast cash by turning an Old Cyth Tower into condos. Which ultimately goes wrong when the monsters start arriving.

This seems to be the theme of the book as we have a lot of old-school Slaine adventures, with them getting in trouble and fighting their way out again. It was a great reminder of where Slaine started off with humour and tongue-in-cheek fantasy stories, which have of late been replaced with darker tales. It was also full of cameos of old favourites, like Nest and the Guledig, who were actually nice touches as it showed some of the old characters still existed (it has been feeling like most of the characters had died at this point).

Ultimately if you are a fan of Slaine's early tales you will enjoy these. If on the other hand, you started with Invasions you may be wondering what happened to the heroic Slaine and why is the stupid Dwarf here (ha). The art was good and helps bring the stories to life, but I feel like something is lacking, maybe the palette of colours was dulled down too much? Overall a great refresher to the world of Slaine and I am ready for Books of Scars.

Comic Review 202 // Sláine: The Grail War by Pat Mills

Powering through the Slaine stories at the moment! We have reached book 8, The Grail War, by Pat Mills. Slaine is still travelling through time and has reached the era of the Crusaders! This should be a good one.

Title: Sláine: The Grail War

Author: Pat Mills

Illustrators: Steve Tappin, Nick Percival & Massimo Belardinelli

Fluff: Sláine MacRoth – Celtic warrior and High King of the tribes of the Earth Goddess Danu, continues his journey through time. Sláine arrives in thirteenth-century France, where he comes face to face with Crusader Simon De Montfort, the sworn enemy of the Cathars. While searching for the tortured reincarnation of his lover Niamh, Sláine is compelled to join forces with De Montfort to seek out the Grail Stone. The quest won't be easy, however – Sláine will have to defeat the dark forces of El if he is to stand any chance of saving Niamh's soul!

Collects:

- The Demon Hitchhiker (Prog #1032)

- King of Hearts (Progs #1033–#1039)

- The Grail War (Progs #1040–#1049)

- Secret of the Grail (Progs #1090–#1099)

- The Battle of Clontarf (2000 AD Annual 1985)

Format: Digital 176 pages

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Review

This title kicks off with King of Hearts, which sees Slaine paired up with William Wallace as he joins the Scots to fight off the English. We get to witness the defeat of Falkirk and William's retreat to his home. Here he communes with the ancient spirits of Scotland as he awaits to battle with the English again. As he prays, Slaine answers the call and becomes William's Champion due to the bonds between Ireland and Scotland. This helps to set up the Stone of Destiny story and introduce the Knights Templars as agents of the Cyth. So evil and brutal that I love it.

The rest of the book is, of course, The Grail War. We finally leave the shores of the British Isles and head into mainland Europe. Slaine has arrived in medieval France and joins forces with Simon De Montfort as he wages war on the Cathars. This is an exciting twist as up till now, Slaine has always fought against the Christian Church, but in a twist of fate, it turns out that Slaine's enteral love, Niamh, has been reincarnated as Simon De Montfort. The story has strange twists and turns as we have dragons and Lovecraft-style demons from space. I found that there was too much going on to remember it all, and I found myself rereading pages to remind myself.

The art, as with nearly all the Slaine books, is stunning, each artist is different, but all add a great depth to the story. They definitely added to the fantasy aspects of the story while still keeping us grounded in the darkness and gore. Pat Mills did an excellent job on the storytelling, but a little less religion/folklore would have helped me out no end. But for fans of Slaine, this is a great read.

As always, I appreciate you reading this far, and I hope you will check out the graphic novel using my link above. Looking for more fun? Head over to my Youtube page for more adventures (CLICK).

Comic review 201 // Slaine: The treasures of Britain by Pat Mills

Hard to believe I am now on book seven in the Slaine series! I really wasn't sure heading into the Slaine stories if I would enjoy them or not. For me, the idea of Slaine was very much like Conan, but as I have read more, I have realized how different they are. Pat Mills is a true treasure of Britain! Now on to the graphic novel.

Title: Slaine: The Treasures Of Britain

Purchase via Amazon

Author: Pat Mills

Illustrator: Dermot Power

Fluff: Slaine Mac Roth - Celtic warrior and High King of the tribes of the Earth Goddess Danu, has been summoned through time to the age of Camelot. King Arthur has fallen in battle, and a curse has caused darkness to fall upon the kingdom. To heal the land, Merlin and Morgaine la Fee need Sláine (accompanied by his unfaithful sidekick Ukko, the Dwarf) to retrieve the lost 'Treasures of Britain' - magical artifacts also being sought out by the Saxon plunderer Hengwulf. These powerful items are defended by the demon-like Cyth, who harvest human misery to revive their masters - the Dark Gods of Cythrawl!

Format: Epub

Other info: First published October 15, 1997

Review

Now, as many kids have been. I was enthralled by knights, castles, Camelot and Arthur. So I was happy to see Slaine getting thrown into the mix. The story takes place after Arthur falls in combat with his son Mordred. The land of Brittania has been covered in darkness, Saxons and Christianity. To save the kingdom, the rivals of Merlin and Morgaine La Fee combine their powers to call on the Great Dragon of Britain to bring forth a hero to recover the 13 treasures of Britain. Said hero is, of course, Slaine and the proper lead Ukko, the Dwarf.

Now, of course, Slaine can't just march in as himself, so he takes on the Green Knight (Gwalchmai) role and will discover new and some old enemies along the way.

This is a fantastic story and, for my personal tastes, actually beats out the Horned God. Set in a theme, I thoroughly enjoy how this perfectly added to the stories and myths. The story is enhanced to another level by the work of Dermot Power, whose action scenes are intense and full of movement while the colour palette matches the story theme perfectly. We also get some humour-filled tales which helped break the epic up. I can't recommend this title enough; it was a joy to read and look at and deserving of more praise than it has received.

I hope you will give it a go and let me know what you think.

Comic Review 195 // Slaine: Time Killer by Pat Mills

Feels good to be back into Slaine after a little run of Star Wars. Don't get me wrong reading some other sci-fi was fun but it is not 2000 AD. Here we go with book two in the Slaine series by Pat Mills.

Title: Slaine: Time Killer

Author: Pat Mills

Fluff: 2000 AD's ever-popular Celtic hero returns in a deluxe collectors' hardback edition Before the events of 'The Horned Go'', a group comprising of Slaine; Ukko, his faithful((if evil-smelling) dwarf; Nest, a trainee priestess who knows the secrets of the Land of the Young; and Slaine's vast, voracious dragon steed, the Knucker, wander Tir-Nan-Og in search of the fortress of the Ever-Living Ones, arch-druids who may hold the key to the final defeat of the evil forces oppressing Slaine's people. But a chance encounter with a demonic alien race who are besieging the fortress hurls Slaine and his allies through time... to ever-greater battles, threats, and challenges

Comics

Format: 128 pages, E-book.

Review

First up I was surprised to discover this book is only made up of two stories! In the first tale, we are headed north with Slain and Ukko. Whilst travelling they come across a young lady in need of help. We discover her name is Nest of the Speckled face. Nest lives and works on a Dragon Farm! Slaine soon finds out that the farm is being accused of having a rogue dragon who is attacking the local village. Soon the truth is revealed and a wild dragon is loose, leaving it up to Slaine to ride a dragon into battle and save the village. Overall a classic fantasy story arc, with abusive uncles in power, evil villagers and dragons. Such a great start.

In the second tale, we have the trio heading north as Nest leads them to the Fortress of the Ever-Living Ones. As they arrive they find the fortress under siege by the villainous Pythons. An evil alien race imprisoned in the past on Earth, who manipulate time in an attempt to enslave the humans of earth. This story turned out to be an all-out battle, full of very strange artwork and creatures and starts to introduce the wider world of the mysticism of the Slaine lore. It is definitely a strange ending to the book as they leave us on a cliffhanger! My interest is definitely riding high and the High King has now been bought.

Compared to the first book we definitely see the epic stories starting to build. I can now comprehend where Pat Mills is trying to take the character, I also loved the mention of Finn in the story as that was one of my favourite comics back in the day before they removed it :(

I hope you enjoyed the review and stop back tomorrow for some more fun!