A wide gathering of tribal faces fills this panel edge to edge, warriors bristling with spears and axes crowded shoulder to shoulder with women, children and elders, all rendered in warm ochre and red tones against a pale, textured background. At the centre, a mother cradles an infant wrapped in white cloth, her calm expression a quiet anchor amid the more anxious or expectant faces surrounding her, while helmeted fighters with braided beards and ornate bronze jewellery flank the group on either side. Every face carries an individual expression, watchful, grim, weary or hopeful, giving the crowd a genuine sense of a whole community waiting together rather than a generic mass of extras. The composition's density and warmth, no open background space, every inch given over to another face or piece of tribal regalia, communicates the weight of collective anticipation the title describes, a people gathered to see whether their king returns. This kind of intimate crowd portrait, built from individually characterised tribal figures rather than battle spectacle, reflects the deep world-building Pat Mills brought to Slaine's Celtic and pseudo-historical setting, where tribes, druids and the Earth Goddess's followers were never just background dressing. Bisley's ability to give dozens of faces genuine individual character within a single tightly packed frame is one of the quieter strengths of his work on the strip, often overshadowed by his more famous scenes of blood-soaked combat.
The people wait the return of the king
