Finn: Origins

Pat Mills (writer)
Tony Skinner (writer)
Jim Elston (artist)
Kevin Wicks (artist)
Liam Sharp (artist)
2000AD

Finn is a cab driver by day, and a witch by night, part of a coven dedicated to protecting humanity from the agents of the old 'Great Ones', the ancient intergalactic beings who separated humanity from their beastly nature, and have maintained control ever since.
These arcane and anarchic adventures from Pat Mills, Tony Skinner, Jim Elston, Kevin Wicks, and Liam Sharp are collected for the first time.

Jumping from the pages of Crisis' 'Third World War' the character of Paul, otherwise known as the eco-warrior Finn,  got his own relatively short lived series in 2000AD.  Going for a much more fantastical storyline than the near future dystopia of 3WW, here, Finn is the hit-witch for a Cornish coven battling the alien 'Newts' and their human agents, 'The Shining Ones', who run the world as opposed to the 'eco-terrorist' character at war with the corporate state.

This version of Finn is magically endowed and his enemies are intergalactic aliens and super-powered yuppies which for me isn't as interesting as the other incarnation but it's certainly good cosmic pulp fun. Whilst Mills and Skinner have had to tone down the pagan politics and disguise it's ecological agenda for this swap to 2000AD it's definitely still there at the root of the story so it's heart remains in the right place and the artists are perfectly suited to this more fantastical and superheroic iteration so I'll definitely be there for a second volume but superheroes aren't particularly my thing so I'd love to get the third 'Third World War' collection first.

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Third World War Book 2: Back to Babylon

Pat Mills
Alan Mitchell
Carlos Ezquerra
Sean Phillips
Duncan Fegredo
Rebellion

The second thrilling Treasury of British Comics collection of the politically charged thriller by Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra.
After her eye-opening experiences of corporate interference in Central America, Eve returns to Britain with a renewed political drive and determination to fight for what she believes in.
Written in the late 80s by Pat Mills (Nemesis the Warlock, Slaine) this incendiary second volume of the ground-breaking political comic not only contains contributions by legend Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd, Preacher) but also introduces international comics stars Sean Phillips (Criminal, Kill or Be Killed) and Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy, Kid Eternity).

In this second volume of Third World War the focus moves from South America to the UK as Eve, Paul and the rest (who don't really feature all that much) return home on leave to a country in pieces where the wealth gap is unbreachable and civil liberties have ceased to be a thing.

'3WW' was set in a Thatcherite wet dream version of now that always seemed horribly plausible although in this case one that has been mixed with a gang culture worthy of inclusion in 'The Warriors'.

Paul, or the 'eco-terrorist' Finn as he was revealed to be in the previous volume is off doing his thing for most of the book whilst Eve becomes increasingly involved with the Black African Defence Squad (BADS) who have liberated, renamed and occupied a walled off Brixton.  It's here that the focus of the book lies with Mills riffing on colonialism and racism - both political and casual - and on the experiences of black people in the UK and under UK jurisdiction whilst - almost - never forgetting that he's writing a dystopian sci fi comic.

Mills was at the top of his game when he wrote this series producing it alongside work such as the iconic Slaine: The Horned God and Marshall Law whilst the much missed Carlos Ezquerra always produced the most sublime work.  Alongside these we have co-writer Alan Mitchell, recruited by Mills to provide an authentic voice to the work, and two artists who have become international names in their own rights but here produce work that is sympathetic to that of Ezquerra.

As is often the case - both with Mills and political work in general - it is a little heavy handed in places but equally with its focus on racism, green issues, food poverty, state surveillance and economic disparity it's still as depressingly relevant now as it was then and like all the best dystopian fiction it's terrifyingly apposite.

Buy it here - UK / US.
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Third World War: Book One

Writer
Pat Mills

Artists
Carlos Ezquerra
D'Israeli
Angela Kincaid

Rebellion

Eve is unemployed after leaving university and is immediately conscripted as a soldier working for a corporation and discovers just how South American countries are being exploited to create food needed to feed the increasing population for their profit under the guise of western paternalism.

When Crisis came out in the early 90s I jumped on it and loved it.  The leftist slant was right up my anarcho punk street and I devoured every issue.  I still have them here even though I sold off most of my collection long ago keeping only those books I couldn't bear to part with or thought I'd like to read again; this was partly the former but mostly the latter.  Over the course of it's life Crisis featured stories by the likes of Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Al Davidson, Glenn Fabry, Rhian Hughes, Milo Manara, Steve Parkhouse, David Lloyd, Steve Yeowell and in the case of the book in question here, 2000AD legends Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra.

Now I always expected to reread this stretched out on the floor with a big, teetering pile of the (typical UK sized) comics next to me but miracle of miracles it's been reprinted and so I just had to grab a copy.

This first one is the story of the influence of multinationals on South America and the ravages it brings. It's an eye opening story but not necessarily a good one.  Mills' focus is almost entirely on the politics and everything else is secondary at best.  The characters are loosely sketched and very much stereotypes that serve to propel Mills' next polemic.  It's either going to annoy the hell out of you or you're going to agree with it and it'll depress / anger the hell out of you (delete as applicable).  It is though a vital and important read that remains sadly relevant that I'd urge anyone to read.

Now, I need to admit here that this first story arc of TWW is the one I wanted to reread the least.  As I mentioned earlier I was pretty politically minded when this was published and so the politics behind Mills' story here was something that I was already aware of and remembered both the story and issues pretty vividly.  What I really want to read again comes next once Eve and Paul are back in the UK and we get the New Azania and the Green Army storylines and so to an extent I bought this one to support it and encourage Revolution to print the next arc which if memory serves are particularly apposite for the world we live in now.

Buy it here - Third World War: Book One (Volume 1)

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Affiliate links are provided for your convenience and to help mitigate running costs.