I always wondered why Gerry Finley-Day left Rogue Trooper. I never got a clear answer. It was almost like he was moved out and after this move Rogue Trooper was never the same. Yes, I am Rogue Trooper and Gerry fan, so just wondering.
From what I remember being told that with an editor change Gerry was told that they didn't need his services any more on Rogue Trooper as they were bringing in a new future war story (which ended up being DR & Quinch goes to war) and was just never offered any new work. So he has gone into vertual retirement as his wife now does not want him having anything to do with comics again.
It is a pity that he was treated like that because I have heard that he is a true gentlemen.
He did write a Rogue story in the xmas prog 2011 called "Dead Ringer" art by Staz Johnson.
I've heard various times that he was treated shoddily, but I don't know where I heard it - probably on here. I don't know if it gets a mention in TPO.
Quote from: Funt Solo on 22 January, 2021, 04:26:11 PM
I've heard various times that he was treated shoddily, but I don't know where I heard it - probably on here. I don't know if it gets a mention in TPO.
To be fair, even Pat Mills, probably GFD's staunchest supporter, describes him as an 'ideas' man rather than someone who delivers finished scripts. 2000AD has never been short of people wanting to write for them and, if I was an editor, I'd certainly be more inclined to give work (and money) to a writer who's going to deliver a final script over one who'll send in a rough draft that will need an unpaid and uncredited re-draft.
There have also over the past 20+ years been big changes in the way publications are created. When I first started freelancing, one of my editors sent me an email specifically to say how happy he was with what I'd filed. He remarked that he'd "only had to change one semi-colon". I thanked him and noted that I proofed the work as best I could before it was sent. He replied, saying most writers don't—but they'd probably start having to.
That was prescient, because gradually magazine staff got chipped away. Editors became fewer in number. Production staff were increasingly spread across multiple publications. Even high-end mags suffered similar problems, and newspapers increasingly do as well. The point is that whereas once you as a writer could have got away with sending the ideas as something half-formed for some poor sod to smash into shape in-house, that's no longer acceptable, with a few exceptions. (There are some old-guard writers for national newspapers still getting away with that, for example.)
I've no idea if that's the case with GFD, of course. But if there were any old-school script droids being a bit slapdash in their writing, in a manner that required heavy editorial input, I suspect that would not have cut it years ago, let alone in the modern era where Matt Smith has a frankly bonkers level of workload.
Now I'm imagining the complete submitted scripts, prior to editorial changes:
Hats off to Helm: there must be something the helmet can do? Steve?
Major Magnam: an arsehole in a pistol
Fort Neuro: Allo Allo meets Silent Running meets South Pacific
I don't think there have been loads of interviews with Gerry so there is not a great deal of information out there but Pat Mills does talk about him in the link below:
https://www.millsverse.com/10-of-the-best-celebrating-some-of-2000ads-unsung-heroes/ (https://www.millsverse.com/10-of-the-best-celebrating-some-of-2000ads-unsung-heroes/)
An interview with Gerry in our last Comic Archive, 'Fantastic Adventures' a handful of copies still available - www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/
(https://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/wp-content/blogs.dir/29/files/2020/06/Fantastic-Adventures-COVER-350x415.jpg)
Yes, Gerry expounds at great length about his inner thoughts....not. It's an interesting interview and kudos to the guys for getting it, but seriously he's like the anti-Mills.
Accordingly to Pat Gerry did not hand in polished scripts it had to be edited.
Quote from: maryanddavid on 23 January, 2021, 10:58:47 PM
An interview with Gerry in our last Comic Archive, 'Fantastic Adventures' a handful of copies still available - www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/
(https://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/wp-content/blogs.dir/29/files/2020/06/Fantastic-Adventures-COVER-350x415.jpg)
Highly recommended purchase!
There are transcripts of the interview I did with GFD for the original TPO articles here:
https://viciousimagery.blogspot.com/2007/02/28-days-of-2000-ad-21-gerry-finley-day.html
https://viciousimagery.blogspot.com/2007/02/28-days-of-2000-ad-22-gerry-finley-day.html
His comment about his legacy at 2000AD is refreshingly candid:
"You can get all puffed up about things, but it was just work."
The Betelgeusian word "scrotnig" came from a typo when Gerry failed to spell "escorting" properly. His scripts were notorious for having so many typos that they practically had to be deciphered.
Quote from: davidbishop on 24 January, 2021, 06:43:55 AM
His comment about his legacy at 2000AD is refreshingly candid:
"You can get all puffed up about things, but it was just work."
And yet, his most popular character has just last year had a new TTRPG published, has a feature film at some stage of development, and the 14-year-old video game available on all modem platforms is still the only 2000AD character Rebellion have used.
It's quite an enduring legacy for "just work".
Quote from: davidbishop on 24 January, 2021, 06:43:55 AM
Quote from: maryanddavid on 23 January, 2021, 10:58:47 PM
An interview with Gerry in our last Comic Archive, 'Fantastic Adventures' a handful of copies still available - www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/
(https://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/wp-content/blogs.dir/29/files/2020/06/Fantastic-Adventures-COVER-350x415.jpg)
Highly recommended purchase!
There are transcripts of the interview I did with GFD for the original TPO articles here:
https://viciousimagery.blogspot.com/2007/02/28-days-of-2000-ad-21-gerry-finley-day.html
https://viciousimagery.blogspot.com/2007/02/28-days-of-2000-ad-22-gerry-finley-day.html
His comment about his legacy at 2000AD is refreshingly candid:
"You can get all puffed up about things, but it was just work."
Cheers David!