God must be spinning in his grave

[Rambo]

I've nothing against blatant attacks on christianity - I'm guilty of that myself everyday!

I enjoyed the Bouddica ones, and the Treasures of Britain. I didn't enjoy so much the ones with the Cathar heresy and Simon de Montfort - the problem was I knew about Bouddica, and Arthurian history, myth and legend is one of my main interests. However, I can see that if you didn't know the legends (as I didn't know much about the Cathar heresy) then the skill of Mills in linking the Arthurian legends in a single story that was, like the Horned God, kind of, how do I put it - a generic Celtic 'uber legend' hero-story. In the same way I don't know enough about de Montofort and what have you to say, "Ah, yes, very subtle!" the way I did a couple of times reading the Treasures of Britain.

The Name of the Sword certainly wasn't my favourite Slaine epic, but it was head and shoulders above the last outing in "The Secret Commonwealth." That was awful, just awful. It flew in the face of everything that had gone before, didn't seem to be based on any legends I know of, and the story itself was boring and written without skilful twists or witty dialogue. I din't even like the art, though I realise some did. Tragic, a complete waste of a great character and space in a great mag. It may have killed Slaine for good.

[roystead]

Yup "Name of the Sword" - I've now reached prog 999 in my reading (and switched back to the Megazine before going on with prog 1000 onwards) and I've just finished reading that story.

I enjoyed it - a hell of a lot more than the Slaine "alien monsters attack in silly costumes" romps at least.

It was a blatant attack on Christianity, on the surface, but the final episode put it all into context and it got watered down to an attack on "unnatural religions" (my phrase - and please don't ask me what it means...).

It also changed, explicitly and retroactively, Slaine's timeline at the end of this story (Niamh never had sex with Slaine, but instead escaped and became a warrior in her own right), which might or might not explain the moans I've read here about later Slaine stories.

I'll find that out when I read them, I guess...

Roy