Friday (2000 AD)

Friday is a comics character who appeared in the British anthology 2000 AD between 1989 and 1996. He was created by writer Dave Gibbons and artist Will Simpson. Subsequently Michael Fleisher and then Steve White took over as regular series writers. Friday was the lead character of the new Rogue Trooper series, which was a reboot of the original 1981 series, of which Gibbons had been the creator artist (with writer Gerry Finley-Day).

Like the original Rogue Trooper, Friday is a Genetic Infantryman – a clone soldier genetically-engineered to survive in a toxic environment in which normal people require chemical-warfare suits and gas masks – fighting on the planet Nu-Earth.

In 1995 the original Rogue Trooper briefly appeared alongside Friday in the new series. (See also 2000 AD crossovers.)

Publication history
On the strength of Watchmen, the editorial staff of 2000 AD asked Dave Gibbons if he would be interested in redesigning the Rogue Trooper character. Gibbons accepted and proposed also writing it, which was greenlit by Richard Burton. However, time commitments would not allow him to both write it and provide the stories art and Will Simpson was brought in to cover the art duties. Gibbons says the redesign "was my chance to put everything into Rogue Trooper I wanted and take out all the crap, like the bio-chips"

The fourteen-part story was hit by scheduling problems due to the lateness of the art. Gibbons said "I'm still quite happy with the story, although the way it was serialised was erratic - in for two issues, then out again. I was trying to have something that was quite cumulative." Michael Fleisher took over the writing of the series with artists Ron Smith, Simon Coleby and Chris Weston. Editor Alan McKenzie has declared about the new writer: "on paper Fleisher was a good bet. ... But his work on 2000 AD was embarrassing. I did my best to save it, but you can't polish a turd."

After five stories Steve White was brought in to help address some problems. According to editor John Tomlinson "Ever since "War Machine" in 1989, readers had been confused as hell about who is Friday and whether he was the original Rogue. I told Steve to figure that out and explain it." This led to a two-year-long run on the series for the writer, although there was a move to hand the series to Mark Millar which only resulted in a three-part story. During this period Friday met both Judge Dredd, in an issue-length story, and later the original Rogue Trooper, the latter being intended to settle the issue of their origins and connections. Unfortunately, according to Tomlinson "Steve came up with a fairly watertight explanation, but it was enormously complicated and probably confused far more people than it enlightened." That story also brought in Venus Bluegenes, a G.I. Doll, who would appear in one more story before her appearance in the final story to feature Friday. Dan Abnett, co-author for that story, was complimentary of White's work, "Steve had such a great feel for military goings on," however, this couldn't overcome intrinsic problems with the story as "he was absolutely hamstrung by the weight of continuity." In the final story in 1996, Friday and Venus disappeared into a black hole and have not reappeared since. Subsequent Rogue Trooper stories have all featured the original version of the character (except for a non-canonical one-off story in 2024).

Characters
Friday's adventures are a retcon of the Rogue Trooper storyline. Since all the G.I.s were identical and had serial numbers instead of names, they gave each other descriptive nicknames to tell each other apart.
 * Friday (G.I. #19) is equivalent to Rogue. He seems to be less dogmatic and is stronger-willed than the other G.I.s.
 * Top (G.I. #01), the G.I. company sergeant and field-radioman, is equivalent to Helm. He has an upgraded version of the standard issue G.I. helmet with improved sensors, increased communications range and multiple channels.
 * Eightball (G.I. #08), the unit sniper, is equivalent to Gunnar. He has a rifle with enhanced sensors and a more powerful electronic sight.
 * Lucky (G.I. #13), the unit Equipment Man, is equivalent to Bagman. He has a Backpack with extra equipment, including Caustic Foam Dispensers and over-the-shoulder lighting mechanism.