Gerry Finley-Day

Gerry Finley-Day (born 1947, in Broughty Ferry, Dundee) is a Scottish comics writer, prolific from the 1960s to the 1980s, best known as the creator of "Rogue Trooper".

Career

He began his career at D.C. Thomson & Co., before becoming the editor of IPC Media's girls' title Tammy in 1971, for which he wrote strips such as Ella on Easy Street and The Camp on Candy Island. Tammy's stories were full of cruelty and adversity, based on research showing that girls wanted stories that made them cry.

Finley-Day rose to become deputy managing editor of IPC's girls' comics department, but quit to become a freelance writer. In 1974 he was drafted in by Pat Mills to help develop characters for Battle Picture Weekly, launched the following year, for which he wrote Rat Pack, The Sarge, D-Day Dawson, Return of the Eagle, Sergeant Without Stripes, Cold Steele, Skreamer of the Stukas, Glory Rider, Cooley's Gun, One-Eyed Jack and many others. He had a penchant for creating honourable German heroes, including Fighter from the Sky, which started out in Action and transferred to Battle after Action was merged into it. In August 2022, Rebellion published The Best of Gerry Finley-Day with a short UK booking signing tour at Forbidden Planet shops. The book includes the full Harry 20 on the High Rock as well as excerpts from Dan Dare and the V.C.s