More Celebrations Of 2000 AD’s 45th Anniversary With ‘The Best Of Gerry Finley-Day’

by Richard Bruton

As part of the 45th Anniversary of 2000 AD, a chance to look at some of the most memorable work of Gerry Finley-Day.

All the way through the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, Finley-Day wrote almost everything there was to write in comics. But in terms of the early days of 2000 AD, he was a key, if often overlooked, element in making the comic a success.

Here, 2000 AD have collected a selection of his greatest work in those first 300 Progs, working with a who’s who of artists in British comics including Alan Davis, Dave Gibbons, Mick McMahon, Garry Leach, and Cam Kennedy.

Harry 20 on the High Rock – art by Alan Davis

Inside, you’ll find five of Finley-Day’s finest, Rogue Trooper, Harry 20 On The High Rock, The V.C.s, Invasion!, and the reinvented Dan Dare that really do showcase everything that was essential in Finley-Day’s work, the super condensed plotting, the getting to the core of the high concepts involved, the action-packed nature of all that he did… a perfect celebration of the early years of 2000 AD through the writing of one of its masters.

As Pat Mills says in his introduction:

His huge importance to British comics has usually been ignored or minimised by others, but the truth is he alone started the British comics revolution that led to a boom in comics sales from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Mills talks about Finley-Day’s creation of, and writing for, Tammy and the imaginative and emotional storytelling, the dark elements that infused the comic’s strips, and how Finley-Day’s work led to pave the way for Battle, Action, and 2000 AD.

He really was great at creating strips and stories that were wonderfully high concept, simple things to distill to their core, yet also stories that stayed with you over time.

It’s very much a best of, the only thing really missing being his inspired Fiends of the Eastern Front with Carlos Ezquerra. There’s a selection of great strips from his most famous creation, Rogue Trooper, plus his grittier reinvention of Dan Dare, both featuring Dave Gibbons on art.

You get another fine selection from his future war story, The V.C.s, featuring a triumvirate of artistic greats in Mick McMahon, Garry Leach, and Cam Kennedy. Continuing the future war theme, there’s his Invasion! series, created by Pat Mills, and introducing Bill Savage fighting back in a UK that’s been overrun by the eastern Volgan Republic.

And finally, opening the book, we have the complete saga of Harry 20 on the High Rock, with artist Alan Davis, telling the tale of a wrongly accused convict’s attempts to escape the orbiting prison, the High Rock, in the year 2060.

The Best of Gerry Finley-Day

Featuring Harry 20 on the High Rock, Dan Dare, Rogue Trooper, The V.C.s, and Invasion!. Art by Alan Davis, Dave Gibbons, Mick McMahon, Garry Leach, Cam Kennedy,

Published by 2000 AD on 30th August

Now… how about a bit of a preview of Gerry Finley-Day‘s finest works from The Best of Gerry Finley-Day…

HARRY 20 ON THE HIGH ROCK – written by Gerry Finley-Day, art by Alan Davis, letters by Tony Jacob.