Origin
Aaln-1 was one of the earliest script droids to work in 2000AD’s Command Module for Tharg the Mighty. For some reason the droid displayed a distinct Scottish personality, wearing a tartan cap and speaking with a strong, almost indescipherable, brogue. When the Dictators of Zrag stole 2000AD’s Command Centre, Tharg’s spaceship which was cunningly disguised as a London tower block, and threatened to disintegrate Tharg, Aaln-1 bravely but foolishly charged them to protect his master, failing to realise that Tharg was in no danger; the Dictators turned the disintegration weapon on Aaln-1, obliterating him. After summarily defeating the Dictators, Tharg swiftly replaced Aaln-1 with a new assistant, the droid Burt.
Creation
Aaln-1 was the droid alter ego of 2000AD writer and editor Alan Grant, playing on the comic’s affectation that it was edited by an alien and otherwise produced by robots. When Grant decided to quit as editor in order to concentrate on his writing career, he wrote Aaln-1 out of 2000AD, giving him a suitably heroic demise.