Slaine: The Horned God

Sláine #4

by Pat Mills, Simon Bisley (Illustrator)

FOR TOO LONG THE PEOPLE OF TIR-NAN-OG HAVE SUFFERED UNDER THE DOMINION OF THE DRUNES; strange druids who have poisoned the land with their magic. Slaine has had enough of their tyranny and, through the Earth Goddess, he learns some shocking truths about the priesthood and his own future. Now Slaine must unite the four kings of Tir-Nan-Og and use their mystical weapons as he and the Sessair tribe prepare for all-out war!

This new edition of one of 2000 AD's most popular stories comes complete with an intro and commentary by Pat Mills (A.B.C. Warriors) and features the stunning art of Simon Bisley (Lobo).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, British Literature

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Pat Mills, born in 1949 and nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since.

His comics are notable for their violence and anti-authoritarianism. He is best known for creating 2000 AD and playing a major part in the development of Judge Dredd.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook adaptations of comicbooks are an odd phenomenon but one that seems to be increasing in prevalence and popularity. This one, which retells the much-loved Sláine story The Horned God which first ran in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s in 2000AD, is pretty damned good.

I was pleasantly surprised as to how much the original artwork (by Simon Bisley, of course) sprang back into my mind while listening to this, particularly as I haven’t read the original for about twenty five years. The voice actors mostly did a great job and the sound effects and music were also very good (and I’m not normally a fan of music in audiobooks).

The only thing stopping me giving this 5 stars is that I’m not sure how new-reader friendly it is. I’m pretty sure some of it would have been somewhat nonsensical and confusing if I hadn’t read the original comics. One for existing Sláine fans only, I suspect.

[Daniel Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sword and sorcery barbarian fantasy from the pages of 2000AD. Gorgeous artwork, though it takes itself rather to seriously, even in its frequent moments of comedy, in a very 80s way.

Still, the underlying message of rejection of constructed Masculine values for more naturalistic Feminine ones is interesting, as is the idea of myth being a constantly evolving and developing cycle.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complex, fully realized world in an intelligent tale beautifully illustrated and styled more like a prose novel than your average graphic novel. Truly a classic and timeless fantasy story. This is a book that belongs in every Fantasy collection.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fantastic artwork by Simon Bisley, perhaps his best. This is a sort of homage/parody of the fantasy genre. It's more D+D than Conan (although Conan does make an unauthorized cameo appearance!)

I honestly didn't get into the story at all. Which is unfortunate because I really did enjoy the setting and the characters.

It's a book I didn't love, but could see myself revisiting in the future.

[Diego Beaumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cómic de espada y brujería con toque celta. Se puede pedir más? 🖤

[Cancerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kakav vizuelni atak na mozak. Gledajući Bizlijeve table, čini se kao da držite u rukama delo najstrpljivije i najdetaljnije osobe na svetu. Krv pljušti na sve strane, iznutrice se raspliću stranicama, nadrkanih izobličenih bića koliko ti duša prohte.

Radnja stripa mi je s druge strane bila užasno zamorna i nezanimljiva (jbga kelti i njihovi mitovi mi baš nikad nisu bili privlačni) ali ovako nečem ću se vraćati iznova i iznova pošto scene nasilja verujem da skoro neću nigde videti ovako prikazane.

[Κεσκίνης Χρήστος · Rating 4 out of 5]

Δυνατό. Σε κάποιες στιγμές φαίνεται να πλημμυρίζει αίμα τις σελίδες και να χάνεται ο ορθολογισμός, αλλά γιατί να μας χαλάει αυτό; Sword n sorcery με μυθολογία και ιρλανδική μαγεία. Πλούσιο σε μάχες και σχέδιο γεμάτο αίμα και αποκεφαλισμούς. Όπως μας αρέσει.

[Daniele · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrative is good and the narrators are excellent. Even though it is supposed to be a graphic novel, the screenplay, the music and the sound effects make it alive. A dive into a time of epic and gods and goddeses.

[Mariken · Rating 4 out of 5]

art: 1000/5!!⭐️
story: 3/5 ⭐️

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I finish reading this collection for perhaps the 10th time, I find that Slaine is a very easy 5 stars for me.

The story is great, but the art, oh my lord the art of Simon Bisley is sublime. I initially became hooked on Bisley’s work through the black and white lines of ABC Warriors, so I was curious as to how he would translate into full colour. All questions answered in the first few pages - spectacular! It is difficult to imagine the amount of work that must have gone into each panel, let alone the whole book.

The story is fantastic too - at one level your standard Howard-esque hack and slash, but with a whole new level of story and characterization built in through the concept of Slaine’s adherence to the old all-mother goddess Danu. There is suspense, violence and also quiet times where the back-story is filled out in more detail.

If there is one small criticism under this heading, it is that there is richness is the back-story that remains unexplored - but to be fair here the comic does sit within Slaine’s broader story arc, so there is no doubt more to be mined from that.

A brief word on another character who almost steals the show from our hero - Slaine’s nemesis Weird Slough Feg, squatting within his noisome ‘mystic aura’. With a Yoda-like turn of phrase, denoting extreme age and anachronistic speech patterns, he has some of the best lines you’ll read in any comic anywhere:
“Eyes without life...
Sundered heads...
Piles of carcasses...
These are pleasing words to me...”

If you’ve not read this collection, do yourself a favour and track it down - the art is a guilty pleasure, and the story will keep you looking for more.

[Luis Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say this is a sword and sorcery tale is to call Space Balls a sci-fi flick. I think you might be missing the point. From my recollection this story was more of a parody of barbarian sorts of stories mixed with some of the United Kingdom heroes of old. You have to know where this story is kind of coming from or spoofing and then you can appreciate its brilliance. The art was the most craziest thing I saw when I was in high school and possibly in Heavy Metal magazine in junior high from a friend, but I have a vague memory of that. It is one that transformed me. That and Bisley's Judgment on Gotham with Alan Grant and John Wagner. I was more visually driven as graphic novels tend to be heavy on the visual side. By comparison Slaine: The Horned God is much much better than The Batman and Dredd story. I think it's deeper and funnier and tragic sometimes. Slaine (or PAt Mills) is an optimistic creature and naive in many ways, but those are usually the traits of visionaries who see what others can't in the eye for eye world we live in. It makes us see the monsters, witches and barbarians in our own world. With Slaine we see them and appreciate their importance in the fabric of storytelling, but in our lives they can destroy generations in a matter of seconds. Long live Slaine: The Horned God!

[Somnium · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kao što i Toppi-ja vredi kupiti pre svega zbog crteža, tako ne žalim ni što sam Slaine-a kupila.

Ko voli fantastiku, keltsku mitologiju, stil 80-tih, fazon glam metala (jer "metal je rat" 😎), ovo je prava stvar. Meni dovoljno bilo da otvorim, vidim par tabli - na njima zmajeve, patuljke, polugole divljake koji se kolju, dominantne nage žene... i kupljeno bez mnogo razmišljanja.

Priča na početku ovog prvog dela je dosta konfuzna, pa čak i zamorna. Milion nekih bogova, kraljeva, plemena... ne može čovek da pohvata sve odjednom. Imala sam osećaj da mi treba pomoćni papir da pribeležim gde je ko i šta je ko. Međutim, ispostavilo se da polako sve dođe na svoje kako radnja odmiče. Problem je verovatno i što nisam čitala ništa od priča koje ovoj prethode.

Ali, ljudi moji, koga boli uvo za priču kada vidite šta radi ovaj Simon Bisley!!! Kakve su to boje, kakva teskobna atmosfera, kakvi bizarni likovi, koliko krvi, bujnih ženskih izazovnih tela... i naravno razbacani muževni polunagi sirovi Slaine! Malo je reći da sam oduševljena! Čista umetnost. Neko njegov crtež poredi sa crtežom B.Sienkiewicza, ali mene su neke table podsetile i na Frazettu.

Da ocenjujem samo crtež, bila bi čista 10!

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best comics ever published by 2000AD, one of the best comics written by Mills, and one of the best comics EVER. Bisley's art is incredible, and there's a weight to everything that isn't present in other Slaine books. It feels like one of the most important stories in the universe. Amazing.

[Dawie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe i just finished the audio dramatization of this, not my kind of thing sadly. I bet the comic is a lot beter. Sorry

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth collection of the adventures of Sláine, the Celtic warrior, this one follows his trials and tribulations as, after becoming king of his tribe, he now proposes to gather and unite the tribes of the Earth Goddess under a High King to fight off the twin threats of enemies from the north (the monstrous Fomorians) and the south (the drunes armies lead by the Lord Weird Slough Feg).

Uniting the tribes would also bring together their greatest weapons but would also lead Sláine on a journey of exploration as he meets with the Earth Goddess to learn more about the past, when Goddesses ruled the earth, and about the relationship of the tribes to her. His discoveries would lead him to not only to become the High King, but to become the new Horned God. The Horned God is not only the 'husband' of the Earth Goddess, but also means he has to replace the old Horned God, which turns out to be Slough Feg, who is suppose to have died at the end of his reign, but clings on to life, driving him insane.

As so the climactic battle begins, the land is convulsed and Sláine would have to lead his people not only to victory but to new lands which, through legends and myths, would come to be known today as Ireland.

The stories are presented here as if written from far in the future, in the Fortress of the Ever Living Ones by a now ancient Ukko, who is chronicling the life of Sláine. And what an amazing chronicle it is so far. Sláine here is now shown to be more than 'just' a barbarian, hacking and slashing his way through enemies. He has to plan and scheme to bring the tribes together and even perform acts of diplomacy.

"The Horned God" is considered one of the better long stories about Sláine and it's not hard to see why from this book.

[A1Cvenom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to round the score up to five star simply due to the artwork. The story is definitely not the most easy to follow, but every single panel of this comic is epically drawn. In my opinion, this is the pinnacle of heavy-metal comic style stories. Every character is jacked and every girl is gorgeous. What more can you ask from a Celtic barbarian fantasy story?

[E Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually impressive graphic novel interpretation of Celtic mythology

[Dave Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Massive oversized graphic novel from 2000AD. Epic stuff

[Paulo Vinicius Figueiredo dos Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parece o Conan, mas não é o Conan. Apresento a vocês um guerreiro celta que mesmo tendo alguns traços do famoso cimério, realiza uma jornada tão diferente e curiosa que pode incomodar os fãs de espada e feitiçaria. Isso porque a cultura celta é diferente do que estamos acostumados. E Pat Mills conseguiu dar ao personagem individualidade diante de tantas cópias do personagem de Robert E. Howard que surgiram ao longo dos anos. Tem crítica religiosa, tem defesa do matriarcado, tem valorização da natureza. São três capítulos de uma saga que vai nos levar a lugares diferentes, indo do OutroMundo até a campos de batalha inundados pela fúria de uma deusa ciumenta. Mas, claro tem cabeças rolando por toda a parte com uma arte absolutamente maravilhosa de Simon Bisley. Então, queria apresentar a vocês essa HQ que passou meio batida por todos e vale o seu tempo.

O anão Ukko irá nos contar a história de Sláine Mac Roth, um guerreiro da tribo dos sessaires, que ficava no norte da Irlanda. Ao lado de Nest, uma sacerdotisa, ele está registrando as memórias de Sláine, desde suas batalhas, até suas buscas pelos artefatos sagrados da deusa Danu passando pelo processo de unir as tribos contra os drunes. Sua jornada terá glórias e fracassos como a sua separação da rainha Niamh que levou seu filho embora; ou a traição da feiticeira Medb que usou de suas artimanhas para impedir a união das tribos. Através de seu caldeirão, ele entra em contato com a deusa Danu que lhe instrui a mudar suas concepções sobre o mundo e restaurar o poder das mulheres, do matriarcado, mesmo que os clérigos atuais se coloquem em seu caminho. E para alcançar esse feito ele terá de derrotar o Estranho Lorde Slough Feg, o antigo deus guerreiro que dará lugar ao novo, encarnado na figura de Sláine. Terá ele sucesso em sua empreitada?

Vou comentar um pouco sobre a edição da Mythos porque ela possui pontos positivos e negativos. Antes de mais nada é preciso destacar que o material veio no formato adequado. Sei que diante da qualidade do pincel de Simon Bisley, ficamos tentados a desejar uma edição grande e que valorize a arte. Mas, como o personagem é relativamente desconhecido no Brasil era preciso trazê-lo em um formato que não ficasse tão caro. Isso mantendo um cuidado adequado. E foi isso o que aconteceu nessa Prime Edition que é uma espécie de meio termo entre as capas cartonadas e as edições Gold, mais luxuosas. Ao final tem alguns extras legais com Pat Mills fazendo diversos comentários sobre as escolhas que ele e Bisley fizeram na HQ. Vale a pena ler para descobrir as influências, as mudanças e como eles chegaram nesse produto final. Mas, preciso comentar sobre alguns problemas de impressão. Como a arte de Bisley é pintada, existe a possibilidade de, ao imprimir, a arte sair desbotada ou lavada, como se dizem. E isso acontece em diversos momentos, principalmente no primeiro e no segundo capítulo. Seja com o letreiramento embaçado ou com a arte escurecida demais. Pode ter sido um problema do meu lote específico, mas alguns trechos ficaram bem difíceis de entender o que estava acontecendo na cena e o problema não era na arte. Era simplesmente porque estava escuro ou manchado demais.

Antes de passar para o roteiro, preciso comentar sobre a arte do Simon Bisley. Que coisa inacreditável. O domínio que ele tem do pincel faz com que a HQ cresça em qualidade. Fornece a ela aquele adjetivo épico que realmente parece ter vindo de uma saga. Alguns quadros são verdadeiras obras de arte e podem ser emoldurados numa boa. As cenas representam uma explosão de cores, com várias coisas acontecendo ao mesmo tempo. E Bisley passa por uma enormidade de ambientes, desde os cenários oníricos do mundo de Danu, passando pelos prados em que os sessaires viviam, aos campos de batalha. As batalhas são intensas e o pincel na tela revela esse sentimento através de uma confusão de corpos se confrontando uns com os outros. Sangue e vísceras jorram pelas páginas da HQ. Bisley bebe da influência de espada e feitiçaria, mas produzindo algo que tem personalidade própria e é capaz de encantar o leitor. O que me deixa impressionado é que o roteiro de Mills não facilita nem um pouco a vida do artista, propondo coisas como um homem de palha gigante, uma lança com rosto feminino sedenta de sangue e naus voadoras que sobrevoam um campo de batalha. No final, Bisley entrega isso e muito mais. Inclusive fica a brincadeira feita por ele durante a coroação de Sláine: tem um bárbaro igual ao Conan do lado direito de Sláine.

Outro ponto da arte de Bisley é sua representação de corpos. É aquele tipo de arte que combina com a proposta de uma história de fantasia. Os personagens tem sua estrutura corporal bem definida e vemos os músculos de Sláine trincando quando ele manuseia seu machado de batalha. As mulheres são voluptuosas quando desejam assim o ser ou apenas esbanjam sua feminilidade e seu domínio sobre os demais. Ao mesmo tempo, Bisley não teme desenhar formas abjetas e grotescas como os demônios do mar de Balor ou o próprio Estranho Lorde. Em uma determinada cena, a feiticeira Medb invoca um ser gosmento chamado Avagddu que é representado por Bisley em toda a sua glória depravada. Se movendo como um muco maldito pelo quarto de suas vítimas enquanto pensa em como irá devorá-las.

O roteiro de Mills segue a ideia de alguém escrevendo uma história sobre um personagem famoso. E Ukko é essa pessoa que faz o registro. O anão maluco faz várias alterações na história, gerando um desconforto da parte de Nest. Ou seja, temos um narrador completamente não confiável e a maneira como isso é feito é bastante divertido. No meio da história, Ukko dá sua opinião sobre o que está contando e não esconde sua vontade de registrar apenas os grandes combates, matanças e os trechos mais festivos da vida do personagem. Mas, Nest quer que as ideias de Sláine também sejam registradas por conta de sua visão diferente sobre a existência das tribos. O quanto ele confrontou o que não dizia respeito à vontade da deusa. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, Ukko fornece momentos extremamente divertidos em situações que um personagem como o Conan não viveria. O papel de Ukko na história nos faz lembrar o quanto sabemos pouco se as histórias antigas são totalmente verídicas ou não. Isso porque elas dependiam da índole daquele que a estava registrando. Qual o enfoque dado por aquele que registrava uma vida? Era nas ideias ou nos grandes feitos?

Por momentos, a narrativa da HQ pode ser um pouco difícil de ser compreendida. Mills não quis facilitar a vida do leitor e se focou no que ele pretendia trazer acerca da cultura celta. E ela própria não é simples de ser compreendida. São nomes, epítetos, costumes estranhos. Compreendo essa dificuldade e tenho que apontá-la mesmo. Mas, uma vez que você se acostuma com o estilo de narrativa, a história flui bem. Precisa deixar um pouco de lado essas dificuldades e se focar mais na história em si. Mills tem uma fórmula bem simples de ser compreendida, mas realmente as diferenças culturais intimidam. Particularmente gostei do encaminhamento da história e ela tem esse ar de saga lendária. O roteiro segue aquele modelo de ir em busca de diversos artefatos e o personagem precisando enfrentar obstáculos para realizar seu objetivo. O que vai mudar o rumo da história são as suas decisões, que vão mexer na forma de governo das tribos e em uni-las por um ideal comum.

A ideia do matriarcado é cara à cultura celta. Muito por conta desse contato com a natureza, a deusa Danu defende uma sociedade voltada para a comunhão de ideias. Tem um momento em que Danu e Sláine estão conversando e ela expõe a contradição entre um herói irracional e violento e outro que não leva a vida a sério e favorece o riso e a alegria. Enquanto a religião mais masculina valoriza o outro mundo e deter o fim do sofrimento, Sláine carrega a noção do aqui e do agora. Do desfrutar os dias enquanto eles acontecem. De entender nossa presença efêmera neste mundo. A mulher tem um papel importante nas tribos da HQ. O casamento é um contrato que vale por um ano e pode ser renovado de acordo com a vontade da mulher. Niamh se apresenta como uma mulher decidida e que chega até a participar dos combates no lugar de seu marido. Ou seja, vemos uma sociedade marcada por aspectos femininos que transbordam pela maneira como todos conduzem a política. Ao invés de um reino centralizado, províncias unidas por laços de lealdade e com terras distribuídas a todos. Se uma sociedade masculina representa o eu, a guerra e a vaidade, a feminina representa a união, a comunhão e a alegria. Elementos ressaltados pela cultura celta.

Sláine é uma HQ de capa e espada bastante diferente. O personagem só se parece com o Conan. Com sua habilidade narrativa, Mills deu personalidade a ele, ao torná-lo detentor de ideias e conceitos que remontam a outra era e outra cultura. A narrativa faz um mix do mítico com o estranho ao nos colocar diante da fúria de deuses e criaturas semi-divinas. Deuses esses que podem mudar de tendência e de vontade durante a história. Danu tanto pode ser a deusa que auxilia Sláine como aquela que será a primeira a destruí-lo. A arte de Simon Bisley está sensacional, toda orientada no pincel e na aquarela. E o mais legal é que podemos ver a evolução do artista que na terceira parte já adota uma outra forma de pintar. Sláine merece a sua atenção por uma série de razões que apresentamos aqui. Mas, mais do que isso: se trata de uma boa história.

[Wim Dewilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slaìne you magnificent bastard!

The Horned God is the very first thing I've read of Slaìne and it really blew me away. But that shouldn't have been the surprise it was because both Pat Mills and Simon Bisley are genuine 2000AD powerhouses.

I would be wrong to say that Slaìne is only a blood shedding, ax-wielding, built-as-a-stone-shithouse brute.
I would be equally as wrong to say that he were only a philosophizing, cunning and plotting barbarian...
Because he's both or none of the above, depending on whatever is on his fickle mind or what he has to be to achieve his goal and there lays the beauty of both the character and this book.

It's swings wildly between acts of sheer brutality (rendered stunningly by Bisley) and moments of deep thoughts (told expertly by Mills) but somehow it all makes sense.


Truly the stuff of legends!
As in it's based on a wide array of Irish & Celtic legends but also as in a timeless piece of comics.

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slaine turning from a Conan clone to something deep and philosophical that touches issues like freedom from oppression, feminism, acceptance of life as it is, religion and much more in a drawing style more akin to proper paintings than comics. Read this by listening to the metal band The Weird Lord Slough Feg or die.
Edit: after the second re-read, it's still awesome as it was before. On a side note, I don't get by Pat Mills needed to criticize the Golden Age WW in Marshal Law since his feminist message clearly follows the same, exact beats of that character (The supremacy of love over fear and brute strenght, War and conquest as a mysoginy product, the titular hero's journey through a fight with his/her inner demons culminating in the job as the heralder/emissary of mother goddess rule on earth, matriarchy as the wordly natural order of things, even Niahm could be your tipycal Marston Amazon versed in both science and combat) with a celtic mythology maquillage, but whatever.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute masterpiece, Bisley’s art is consistently brilliant, the plot and story is compelling, and as the comic itself references towards the end of the story, this collection firmly establishes Slaine as more than just a musclebound barbarian, with Mills actually achieving his aim of combining Celtic mythology and reflections on the nature of the hero alongside examinations of contemporary and ancient societies, feminism, religion, politics, nature and life and death.

[Alan Baxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this in '89 when I read it in 2000AD and I still love it now. The art is fantastic and the story is dark and twisted and epic.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Sláine the Horned God’ by Pat Mills. It is narrated by a full cast and has a running time of 2 hours, 47 minutes.

Sláine the Horned God is an extremely popular comic series that premiered in the U.K. comic magazine 2000AD in 1983. This dramatised production provides an excellent introduction to this classic barbarian fantasy series.

My late husband was a devoted fan of 2000AD and knowing my interest in Irish mythology introduced me to Sláine the Horned God. He also felt that its feminist aspects would also appeal. He was right.

At the opening the tribes of Tír na nÓg are under the domination of the drunes; a dark cult of druids who have poisoned the land with their magic. The warrior Sláine seeks out Danu, the Earth Goddess, from whom he learns some shocking truths about the priesthood and his own future.

Danu offers Sláine the opportunity to become her consort, the Horned God, by defeating the Lord Weird Slough Fegg, who had refused to die when his seven-year reign as Horned God ended and has unnaturally extended his life. If Sláine achieves this it would restore the worship of the Goddess and also improve the position of women in their society.

This was simply excellent. I listened to it over the course of a morning and was totally enthralled. The performances were outstanding including Colin Morgan as Sláine and Gerry O’Brien as Ukko, the dwarf, who is Sláine’s companion and the chronicler of his adventures. Ukko is very much comic relief with great banter between him and the druidess Nest, who ‘encourages’ Ukko to write down the saga. Nest, who was portrayed by Fiona Glascott, was my favourite character.

The cast also included Ayoola Smart as Niamh, Gemma Whelan as Medb/Megrim, and Stephen Hogan as chief baddie Lord Weird Slough Fegg.

This is barbarian fantasy at its finest, drawing deeply on the mythic cycles of Ireland. I unreservedly recommend this audiobook.

[Ville-Markus Nevalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slaine is a book of contradictions: it's beautifully crafted, filled with precise artwork of horrors and carnage, and then there are rushed pictures with the character's faces contorted in amusement. It tells an epic tale of conquest and gods and goddesses and there's a horny dwarf that wants to bang the women. It's both a history and a tale already told in destiny, and there are meta-level joke about making the story.

It's a mixed bag in many ways, both good and bad. Sometimes the sudden shift in tone are hilarious and work excellently for the story, and sometimes they are just that, abrupt jokes that make you cringe. At times you can almost feel the grandeur of the legend being told and at times you've no idea what is happening and why, where it's all leading to and what happened before.

However, the artstyle is not only stellar, it's aweinspiring. There are dozens and dozens of panels that I desperately want to hang on my walls as posters, there are depictions of heroes I want to use as my character on a game and ones to use as inspiration for my next story. The pulp-style art, where the heroes have biceps bigger than a dragon's leg, the monsters are abominations from nightmares and the damsels are both siren-like and dangerous, is breathtaking. Even the humorous depictions work, whether that is the stupid-smug of Slaine or his spikey hair, it's always great.

And perhaps for that reason alone I'm willing to rank this so high, even if the story did not always seem to make sense (the deliberate contradictions did not land as well as they certainly hoped to), I was always eager to see what else awaited on the next page and the one after that. If the story was a bit more coherent, whether that is in the tale itself or the way it was told, I'd be happy to rank this much higher. Now, for me, the story is mostly a device that allows for great art.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it's because this is an intermediate entry in a continuing series that I just jumped on, but much of the story in this volume of Sláine made little sense to me. The narrative is heavy on exposition and world-building, but little to elucidate what adventures Sláine has already been on. The Robert Howard influences are very apparent, as are the influences that influenced Howard himself, but I do think Pat Mills does a good job differentiating Sláine from properties like Conan the Barbarian.

I mostly decided to try out this volume because it prominently features Simon Bisley artwork, and it really does not disappoint on that front. The gorgeous painted compositions are striking and evocative, something that easily could have been pulled from the pages of Heavy Metal and the like. It's the pinnacle of Bisley's edginess that makes this such a slick and stylish feature, and why I'd recommend any lover of comics to give "Sláine: The Horned God" a shot. Maybe other readers will connect with the story and characters more than I did, but for what it's worth, I still had a good time with this simply from soaking in Bisley's immensely creative designs.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is first thing I noticed on this one. It is simply divine painted gorgeousness. It really steals the show will all the expressions, gore and twisted fun.
And this time the story almost rises to the art. Sometimes wobbles to boredom, but then something interesting happens and drags the whole thing to the path of interesting. Good stuff.

[Mr Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pick it up for the story and stay for the art.

I think this is the reason Simon Bisley is my favorite artist, so many amazing scenes and work in this you get lost in it.

Slaine is a good character but the story was hard to follow at times but the artwork is SO good I didn't care.

Full of 80s heavy metal, battles, jokes, sex and badass this is a fantastic book.

[Samuel Capper]

07/02/25 - 13/02/25

3

Reads like an epic but it never quite took. A fascinating world to be sure, and several characters appealed to me, but I never got a grip on anyone or anywhere for long enough to get stuck in. Maybe I should try some more Slaine in the future?

"eyes without life... sundered heads... piles of carcasses... these are pleasing words to me..."

[PJ Ebbrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can admire this book, but it does not ignite my passion. Pat Mills has read a lot of The White Goddess and more, it shows in the script. Bisley art is gorgeous but not too my taste. A high water mark for 2000ad, yes, indeed.