Review by Frank Plowright
Stalwart of serialised British boys comics during the 1970s and the 1980s, Gerry Finlay-Day is an under-rated writer and there’s no argument that he’s more than deserving of a Best Of anthology. Unfortunately, this isn’t it, as it’s exclusively series from 2000AD, and so little of his best work appeared there. In fact he eventually seemed rather lost as the weekly forged new directions.
A major problem is frequently apparent. The idea of serialisation was ingrained in Finley-Day, so individual episodes of weekly titles begin by resolving the cliffhanger set the previous week, move the plot forward slightly involving some action, and finish on another cliffhanger. The formula generated hundreds of adventure serials published from the 1950s to the 1980s, when it worked fine with a week between each episode, yet collected it’s so obvious, so often. It conceals that Finley-Day’s series concepts are extremely workable, but they sink in formula when he writes them. It’s very telling that Pat Mills’ introduction only mentions one strip reprinted here.
Finley-Day’s at his best with his earliest work presented at the end. Bill Savage and his revolutionary army battering invading Volgons wherever they come across them are fast paced single episodes. If the art from Ian Kennedy, then Carlos Pino now looks a little old fashioned, the joyously violent material still pulls no punches.
‘Harry Twenty on the High Rock’ is the great idea of an escape from an orbiting prison, and features a couple of good twists, but it’s otherwise mired in mediocrity, and only notable for some early art from Alan Davis (sample spread left). The entire story is reprinted here to save you picking up the individual collection.
Finley-Day’s thuggish version of Dan Dare makes no pretence of being anything other than pulling the cast from week to week, but take the the character as he is rather than a classic British hero, and these are acceptable adventures. They’re raised no end by the elegance of Dave Gibbons art (sample spread right). The V.C.s is another good idea, a squad of space troopers allocated all the dirty jobs in a war against the Geeks, and therefore known as the Vacuum Cleaners, but again, it just drifts. Yet again there’s some great art, though, with Mike McMahon kicking the series off, and Cam Kennedy’s grittier style working better than Garry Leach’s polish on the remainder.
Possibly due to more great art from Gibbons, Rogue Trooper is the one Finley-Day 2000AD creation who’s proved a legacy character. The idea of a genetically modified soldier carrying the personalities of his comrades around as data chips embedded in his equipment is strong, and individual episodes are selected here. However, Finley-Day never moves the concept beyond the standard war story, and these examples rapidly lose their attraction. It’s all the more puzzling for Finley-Day’s greatest material being inventive World War II stories with strong characters that avoid recycling clichés.
In the end, it may be Finley-Day’s name in the title, but almost everything memorable is provided by the artists. If you want a better selection of Finley-Day’s work reprinted, check the recommendations.
