Finn_(comics)
Finn is a fictional pagan warlock eco-terrorist created by Pat Mills. He first appeared in British fortnightly anthology comic Crisis in 1989 in the strip Third World War and later moved to an eponymous series in 2000 AD after Crisis was cancelled in 1991.
| Finn | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cover of 2000 AD #770, 1992 featuring Finn. Artwork by Jim Elston. | |||
| Created by | Pat Mills | ||
| Publication information | |||
| Publisher | IPC Media (Fleetway) | ||
| Schedule | Weekly | ||
| |||
| Genre | |||
| Publication date | 1989–1996 | ||
| Number of issues | 53 | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Pat Mills Tony Skinner | ||
| Artist(s) | Jim Elston Liam Sharp Paul Staples | ||
| Letterer(s) | Gordon Robson Steve Potter | ||
| Editor(s) | Steve MacManus & Michael W. Bennent Tharg (Richard Burton) Tharg (John Tomlinson) | ||
The character was popular but the series ended in 1996.[1] According to David Bishop the reason the character was suspended was due to concerns that he was in danger of duplicating the appeal of Mills's Sláine.[2] Mills has speculated that part of the reason was because some readers were complaining in the letters page about Finn "being a sinister witch and saying his authentic pagan practices were a bad example to readers".[3]
Finn is the alias of Paul Phillips. In Third World War it is established that Paul was once a soldier in the British Army stationed in Northern Ireland, but he deserted to become Finn, an eco-terrorist fighting to save the planet from multi-national corporations. Third World War began as a relatively realistic story set in 2000, with very little in the way of fantasy or science fiction elements, but that changed as Finn became more prominent.
In the eponymous strip in 2000 AD it emerged that the leaders of the corporations were in fact a secret society of powerful aliens called Newts. In this strip Finn was a mini-cab driver in Plymouth by day, and a white witch fighting the aliens by night. He used military equipment alongside magical items such as the Hand of Glory.
He first appeared as a supporting character in the series Third World War in the comics magazine Crisis; then in the eponymous strip in 2000 AD:
- Finn:
- "Finn Book 1" (with Pat Mills/Tony Skinner, with art by Jim Elston (1-10) and Kevin Wicks (5-10), in 2000 AD #770-779, 1992)
- "Finn Book 2" (with Pat Mills/Tony Skinner and Jim Elston/Kevin Wicks, in 2000 AD #807-816, 1992-1993)
- "Origins of Finn" (with Pat Mills and Liam Sharp, in 2000 AD #924-927, 1995)
- "Interventions" (with Pat Mills and Paul Staples, in 2000 AD #928-949, 1995)
- "Season of the Witch" (with Pat Mills and Paul Staples, in 2000 AD #991-999, 1996)
Reprints
- "Finn Book 1" (in Classic 2000 AD #13-14, 1996, Judge Dredd Megazine #329, 2012)
- Mlls, Pat (4 March 2011). "Pat Mills Unwrapped Part 2". Forbidden Planet International Blog. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- Bishop, David (21 August 2006). "Typing about myself in the third person". Thrill-Power Overload. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- Mills, Pat (26 September 2012). "Finn to Appear in the Megazine". Pat Mills. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- The 2000 AD ABC #40: Finn at YouTube
- Finn at Barney
- Finn at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
- Finn at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- 2000AD Podcast Ep109 – Pat Mills interview pt1 Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine via Everything Comes Back to 2000 AD