Pat Mills' Slaine has always been a favourite 2000AD character of mine, he was so different from all the other characters in British comics at the time. In typical Pat Mills style, he was no super slick faultless hero, he was an awesome Celtic rogue and I was hooked from episode one. So when I heard that Uncle Pat was writing a book about the creation of Slaine it was on my to buy list right away. It took a bit longer to see publication than first expected, other projects got in the way, but now we have it and as soon as the digital edition went on sale I had to buy it.
The book begins with the genesis of Slaine in 1981, with his then wife and artist of episode one Angela Kincaid. Then takes us on a journey through each Slaine story bringing us right up to date with the final Slaine saga, Dragon Tamer with art by the amazing Leonardo de Manco.
This could easily have been a dry piece of writing, simply listing dates, ideas and artists for each saga. But, the old punk of British comics hasn't let us down! Pat has written a very honest and open book that not only tells of the ideas and processes behind the creation of our favourite Celtic warriors stories. He also opens the door on the sort of machiavellian machinations he had to deal with from certain editors and others in the comics industry. Equally, he weaves through the book the story of his own quest to discover the identity of his biological father and how that, and the personalities of the possible fathers, influenced characters within the stories.
Did I like everything about the book? No, personally I could have lived without the addition of comments from readers and fans of Slaine that are peppered throughout the book. But it does highlight how Pat reads and listens to the feedback from the fans of his work. A lot of the current crop of 2000AD writers, artists and editorial staff could take a prompt from this attitude.
If you're a fan of Slaine, 2000AD, or just the creation of comics I highly recommend Kiss My Axe for a great insight into the creation of a character and the behind the scenes of the British comics industry.
