First apperance of a chainsword, in Dr. Who!

[TheCreator]

A chainsword was (is, will be) wielded by Abslom Daak in the Dr. Who comics of 1980. That's predates 40k by about 7 years.

HE KILLS DALEKS WITH IT! I'M GEEKING OUT!

http://www.dalek-killer.net/
http://comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=1425

[zenjah]

Nice find!

o.O

[Mr.Pickelz]

Now that is cool. :)

[gwensdad]

And 1st appearance of the word "Ogryn" was in Doctor Who too.
They were large, brutish muscle for the Daleks.
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Ogron

(useless facts brought to you by the letters "R" & "T"-can't spell Rouge Trader without them)

[SonicPara]

Unrelated to Doctor Who but chainswords surfaced again somewhere else recently in the body switching episode of Futurama's 2010 season. Bender and other robots use them to fight each other.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Ironically enough (given the topic) I remember the adverts for Absalom Daak collected edition in White Dwarf! I think it was issue 133.

Though, let's be fair; if we're going to say who did chainsaws first, I believe "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" predates everything chansaw related. You can argue there's a difference between a chainsaw and a chainsword... but not the way Leatherface uses that damn thing :)

[Brass Scorpion]

And 1st appearance of the word "Ogryn" was in Doctor Who too.Actually, that's "Ogrons" I believe, but I've always thought that's where GW got their idea to call them "Ogryns", especially since most of the guys in the GW studio would have grown up watching the show in the UK.

As for the chainsword first use, is there anyone out there who might know if there might be an even earlier appearance in Judge Dredd comics? A lot of 40K background is lifted from Judge Dredd and that kind of thing fits right in there.

[chromedog]

Thinking back to my old 2000AD collection.

The stories of Nemesis the Warlock v Torquemada, Grand Master of Termight, and his beloved chainsword "Cheryl" which was often used on "unbelievers".

Given that some of the Nemesis artists ALSO worked on 40k (hell, many of the 2000AD writers have done stuff).