I absolutely love Finn, I read "Origins" and "Interventions" as a kid and loved the character of Paul, and the art work. I've recently purchased book 1 and 2 (those megazine supplements are awesome, only just discovered them!) and loved them. I just need to collect "season of the witch" now.
I own Slaine "warriors dawn" and "lord of misrule" but I was never truly drawn in to Slaine's world, maybe I need to give them another read. Ultimately though, I much prefer Finn. It was such a shame his strip was cancelled, even Patt Mills said at the time that Finn's popularity was starting to supersede Slaine's.
Betteridge's Law (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines) would seem to be applicable.
My short answer would be......"no".
No, no, no, no, no.
Finn is a poor man's Sláine.
Is there a Slaine novel I should read that would make me appreciate the character more? I thought Finn's book 1 and 2 were much better than warrior's dawn.
If you don't like Warriors Dawn, which is IMO the pinnacle of 2000 AD's offerings, maybe Slaine the King or The Horned God? If that does not do, just leave the character as a lost cause.
Finn started life in Crisis, and that might colour my perception of him, I didn't adjust to him being a supporting character in a political comic turning to a green warrior/demon mason fighter, in 2000 AD, but what do I know, I like Colony Earth!
I much prefer Finn to Slaine. It might be because I prefer science fiction to fantasy. But I also feel that Finn is more imaginative and has some interesting ideas.
There's one episode in particular where some aliens, who have until then been presenting themselves amid bright shiny lights to make them look like "good guys," are revealed to be dark and tentacled like Cthulu, and their minion says something like "no, don't reveal your beautiful true selves, the cattle don't deserve it!" As a kid at the time I was quite taken with how suggestible we can be, that we would assume that invaders' motives would be pure based solely on something as irrelevant as their appearance. Slaine never had a moment or message like that.
Quote from: Richard on 23 March, 2017, 12:20:31 AM
As a kid at the time I was quite taken with how suggestible we can be, that we would assume that invaders' motives would be pure based solely on something as irrelevant as their appearance. Slaine never had a moment or message like that.
Hello Sailor! I'd have thought there were several "judged by appearances" moments, from Medb[spoiler] the young beautiful abductee turning out to be an evil patricidical witch[/spoiler] to the revelation that wise and noble Myrddin [spoiler]revealed as half-Cythron who views humanity as his personal herd of pigs[/spoiler] to the great twist where Abligensian crusader Simon de Monfort [spoiler]turns out to be the reincarnation of not Torquemada but Niamh.[/spoiler]
I might have preferred if Slaine ended with The Horned God and then Finn carried on in its place. Though the later Finn stories were horribly didactic, even by Pat's standards - Slaine being set in a mythical past makes it slightly less so.
No. For a while I thought Finn was Slaine reincarnated. I kept expecting the big reveal and it never came. At the time, and of the time, I think that Finn maybe had some better art and that may influence your thinking.
Yes. But then I've never actually read any Slaine so that probably explains that.
I do generally prefer Mills and Skinner to any of the roughly contemporaneous solo Mills stuff, tho.
Reading the parts of Finn that made it into Meg floppies I did think that it was a comic that I'd probably enjoy a lot more than the consensus, it plays with a lot of my Pet Themes.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 23 March, 2017, 07:39:28 AM
No. For a while I thought Finn was Slaine reincarnated. I kept expecting the big reveal and it never came. At the time, and of the time, I think that Finn maybe had some better art and that may influence your thinking.
Yeah, I was convinced that was coming too. At the very least, some sort of Eternal Champion connection. They are basically the same character with exactly the same preoccupations, just separated in time. At the time, there was also the Absalom style question of whether or not he was the same Paul from Third World War transformed from a smart, self-sufficient urban guerrilla into a thick, just-following-orders meathead.
I can see how you might like prefer it if you came to it first (especially if you had to compare with what was going on in Slaine at the time) but not given the other context.
Reading Finn again more recently, I enjoyed it quite a bit more. Mostly for the art and the dafter aspects, like him shagging a dragon or whatever it was.
I'm overall in the 'no' camp, but certainly at the time Finn was running I liked it more than contemporary Slaine.
I really liked Finn for the modern-day setting, and his basic look. The gas mask/witch headgear plus the Uzi made for some cracking covers and panels. And I liked that Mandy was very limited in her power, so Finn and co really were guerilla fighters who had no hope of completely defeating their enemies, rather than people mainting independence vs invaders as in Slaine, which they can and did manage successfully.
But, that same setting also made me struggle to enjoy the villains as much as I liked the Cythrons in Slaine. In a fantasy context, I find it easier to get my head around the 'let's treat humans as cattle' thing. In the real world, I don't buy that the Shining Ones, who are so powerful, are content to live as wizened old men who sit around on Board meetings vaguely oppressing the poor. I have a similar problem with Greysuit, who's villains seem to exist only to either commit or cover act gross acts of peadophilia. Yes, such people do exsist, but not 95% of all people in power are evil in that way. Are they??
The bottom line; Finn > / = 30% of Slaine.
Quote from: maryanddavid on 22 March, 2017, 11:59:54 PM
If you don't like Warriors Dawn, which is IMO the pinnacle of 2000 AD's offerings, maybe Slaine the King or The Horned God? If that does not do, just leave the character as a lost cause.
Agreed - if you can't find enough to grab your attention between the Angie Mills/Kincaid intro and the end of Horned God, then your interests lie in other stories.
No.
No.
Quotenot 95% of all people in power are evil in that way. Are they??
Pat would say it's 100%.
I completely sympathise with the orignal post since I find Warrior's Dawn impenetrable, while the first 2 Finn books are highly enjoyable.
Slaine does pick up after WD and eventually hits a peak with The Horned God so on balance I would pick Slaine over Finn.
Not up to date on Finn but don't they partially exist in another dimension as well?
Maybe they are out there doing bad Shining Ones stuff...
Quote from: AlexF on 23 March, 2017, 11:42:42 AM
In the real world, I don't buy that the Shining Ones, who are so powerful, are content to live as wizened old men who sit around on Board meetings vaguely oppressing the poor.
Sorry don't understand the question.
After all, they are the same aren't they?