Rogue Trooper

Rogue Trooper

2000 AD #228, including the first appearance of Rogue Trooper.
Character information
First appearance 2000 AD #228 (1981)
Created by Gerry Finley-Day
Dave Gibbons
In-story information
Full name Rogue
Publication information
Publisher IPC Media (Fleetway) to 1999, thereafter Rebellion Developments
Title(s) Numerous
Formats Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD.
Genre
Publication date 1981 – Present
Creative team
Writer(s) Gerry Finley-Day
Gordon Rennie
Artist(s) Dave Gibbons
Creator(s) Gerry Finley-Day
Dave Gibbons
Editor(s) Tharg (Steve MacManus - Matt Smith)
Reprints
Collected editions
The Future of War ISBN 1-905437-39-0
Fort Neuro ISBN 1905437161
The Eye of the Traitor ISBN 1904265529
To the Ends of Nu-Earth ISBN 1904265804
Re-Gene ISBN 1904265847
Realpolitik ISBN 1904265944

Rogue Trooper is a science fiction strip in the British comic 2000 AD, created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons. It follows the adventures of Rogue, a "Genetic Infantryman", a genetically created, blue-skinned, manufactured super soldier and his three comrades' search for the Traitor General. His comrades are in the form of biochips - onto which a G.I.'s entire personality is downloaded at the time of death for later retrieval - and are named Gunnar (mounted on Rogue's rifle), Bagman (on his backpack) and Helm (on his helmet). He is genetically engineered to be immune to almost all known toxins, can submerge in strong acid unaffected, and is able to withstand a vacuum in his bare skin.

Publication history

Gibbons left the strip early on, to be replaced by a succession of artists and writers who have taken the strip in several different directions over the years. Artists to have drawn the character include Brett Ewins, Cam Kennedy and Colin Wilson. This quest continued from 1981 until 1985, when the G.I. had his final confrontation with the traitor general and, after a brief further run set on the Planet Horst, Finley-Day ceased writing the strip. Simon Geller took over, reinventing the character as an intergalactic hitman attempting to end the war by assassinating key figures, but this new direction was dropped in 1989. John Smith wrote a 'flashback' story, "Cinnabar", set in Rogue's deserter days, before original series artist Dave Gibbons returned to write a much more radical revamp of the character.

In "The War Machine", Gibbons and artist Will Simpson created a different war, set on a different planet, starring a different Genetic Infantryman, this time called Friday. The bio-chips were dropped, and Gibbons concentrated on the politics and economics of war and the sinister nature of the genetic engineering involved. A new ongoing series featuring Friday followed, written by American writer Michael Fleisher. In Fleisher's final story, "Scavenger of Souls", the bio-chips are reintroduced via an alien 'soul collector'.

Fleischer was replaced with Steve White, who made the military aspect of the strip more up-to-date and tried to reconcile the two versions of the character. He also reintroduced Venus Bluegenes (Helm's treacherous girlfriend from an earlier story who gained a more prominent role during the Simon Geller run) who had her own short spin-off run. His run on the character was also notable for the 2000 AD debut of artist Henry Flint.

The character was rested after White's last story in 1996. In 1997 a related character, blue-skinned ambulance pilot Tor Cyan was introduced in the story Mercy Heights.

In 2002 the original Rogue was reintroduced, again in flashback to his days hunting the traitor general, written by Gordon Rennie. Artists have included Staz Johnson, Dylan Teague, Mike Collins, Simon Coleby and PJ Holden. In 2004 Rennie stated[1] that he had intended to revamp the character yet again, but had been blocked by 2000 AD editorial. He also hints that any return to the Rogue Trooper universe will concentrate on supporting cast and not include the Rogue character. This can be seen in the new series The 86ers.

Plot synopsis

The story is initially set on the planet Nu-Earth, where a stalemated war between the Norts and Southers is being fought. There is some similarity to both the American Civil War and to World War 1, with the Norts resembling Germany, and the Southers the Allied forces. During the conflict, many forms of chemical and biological weapons have been used, poisoning the planet's atmosphere and oceans. As a result, what remains of the population of the planet, including the troops of both sides, live in enclosed - "domed" - military bases and habitats. They wear protective suits, helmets and respiration gear when outside their domes. These suits are known as "chemsuits". Any damage to the helmet or chemsuit is usually fatal to the wearer, due to the toxic atmosphere of the planet. In an attempt to bring an end to the stalemate, The Southern High Command, over a period of years, have produced the GI - "Genetic Infantryman". The GI is a type of soldier genetically engineered to be immune to the poisonous atmosphere of Nu-Earth, and therefore be able to fight without the clumsy, inhibiting protective gear required by ordinary soldiers. The Southern High Command deploy the entire GI Regiment in a mass spaceborne capsule drop over an area of Nu Earth known as "The Quartz Zone", which resembles one of the Earth's Poles because the surface has an icy, glacier-like nature. The Quartz Zone assault was intended to be a surprise attack, but because a Traitor within the Southern High Command has passed details of it to the Norts, they are expecting the attack. The Norts employ Elite Infantry Regiments known as the Kashan and Kashar Legions to repulse the assault, and the entire GI Regiment - apart from Rogue - is wiped out, since they are virtually defenceless when dropping to the surface of the planet from space. This event is referred to as "The Quartz Zone Massacre".

Rogue, the only surviving G.I., goes AWOL in order to track down the Traitor General. Along the way he thwarts numerous Nort schemes, discovers and inadvertently destroys the only portion of Nu-Earth not contaminated by chemical weapons, and is betrayed by every female character he encounters.

A later storyline - "MilliCom Memories" - shows how the GI's progress through their training, first as children, then as adults, and explains that each GI has a number rather than a name. Rogue's original name is "GI44", that is, Genetic Infantryman 44. During their training - which bears similarities to US Marine trainng - each GI is given a nickname according to their abilities. For example, Gunnar is so named because of his marksmanship ability. The same storyline tells us that there were other "prototype" versions of the GI before the development of Rogue's class of trainees, some of which were inadvertantly killed by Rogue during his training.

The series begins with single episode stories, and later develops into multi-part epics which feature the distinctive artwork of both Dave Gibbons and Cam Kennedy. We are taken on a journey around the planet Nu Earth as Rogue attempts to track down and kill the Southern General - referred to as the "Traitor General" - responsible for the massacre of the GI Regiment. As the story progresses, it appears that the Norts have the edge over the Southers in respect of weapons technology, as in an early episode we see a tank battle where gigantic Nort tanks known as "Blackmares" wipe out smaller, inferior Southern Tanks. This has echoes of the encounters between German Tiger Tanks and American Sherman Tanks in World War 2.

In a multi-part story titled "The Marauders", Rogue encounters a group of deserters from both Nort and Southern sides, who operate as scavengers from a hidden base and attack both Nort and Southers in order to obtain food, ammunition and supplies. Unknown to Rogue, the commander of The Marauders is the Traitor General he is seeking, who has undergone extensive surgery to change his features and make him unrecognisable. The General later reveals himself to Rogue, then captures and tortures him. Rogue eventually escapes, and with the help of one of the Marauders - a Souther Pilot known as Player- defeats the Marauders that pursue him. The Traitor General, however, escapes, destroying the Marauder base as he does so.

Another storyline called "All Hell on the Dix-I Front" shows how a massive Nort assault forces the Southerners to retreat from a vast area of Nu-Earth, again similar to the Ardennes assault of World War 2. During this story we are introduced to other Elite units of the Nort military, such as the Sun Legion, a Regiment of solar glider troops, and the Scum Marines, an amphibious assault force. We are also introduced to "Sister Sledge", a military nurse who pretends to be attracted to Rogue but uses this as a cover to kill any Southern troops they encounter, since she is an enemy agent. She dies in the final episode of the series when Bagman causes her to fall from a boat into a poisonous ocean, the "Scum Sea".

A series entitled "Fort Neuro" introduces us to a Southern defensive structure similar to the French Maginot line of World War 2, which has been cut off from the rest of the planet by vast chemical clouds. The story shows that the Fort has been split into separate sectors by the same clouds, meaning each sector operates independently of each other, without any contact or cohesion. The soldiers within each sector are suffering from a type of PTSD, meaning that the soldiers from the French sector - known as "Franks" - wear Napoleonic era uniforms, and hold grand balls that were popular in that period. Other sectors display similar erratic behaviour, with the English troops - known as "Lime-ees" - dressing as holiday camp redcoats and behaving as though they are on a perpetual holiday, while the "Rom" garrison fashion themselves as 1950's Teddy Boys.

Rogue is immune to all known toxins, diseases, and acids with three known exceptions:

In a lighter moment during the Fort Neuro series, Rogue is shown to have difficulty breathing when in a staff car full of officers from the "Rom" sector, who in anticipation of a good night out with the neighbouring "Scan" sector, have applied too much aftershave.[3]

The Biochips are infected by a latent malady unknowingly contracted whilst passing through the Neverglades area of Nu Earth. The unnamed condition renders them susceptible to "Enzyme E disfunction", which causes their newly re-gened bodies to disintegrate, leaving only their bio-chips remaining.

Most Nort protective suits show only the eyes, and the Southers generally have see-through face panels; this reinforces the Good Guy/Bad Guy delineation.

Historical influences

Many elements of the Rogue back-story were inspired by World War II, the American Civil War and the Cold War. Norts (Northerner Unionists) fought against generally less-well equipped Southers (Southern Confederates), and several battles were referenced, such as the First Battle of Bull Run, which was retold as the Battle of Mek-Bull Run. The Norts appear totalitarian in nature. While their uniforms have Nazi connotations their dialect and names are mostly quasi-Slavic, as if they represented a futuristic version of the Soviet Bloc, although there is some usage of Germanic names as well, for example General Vagner, Admiral Torpitz. Their conduct and methods of waging war are also more barbaric than those of the comparatively civilised Southers. Although as the series develops the Southers are also shown committing comparably immoral acts as well. "Genetic Infantryman" is a direct homage to the supposed "Government Issue" tag that American troops were nicknamed after.

Bibliography

The Rogue Trooper has appeared frequently in comics and other media.

List of stories

The original run, all written by Gerry Finley-Day, included:

Subsequently, Rogue Trooper appeared in stories by three other writers:

There was a flashback story written by John Smith before the Friday reboot took place:

There were two one-off stories in annuals, both written by Alan Moore:

There were two one-off stories in sci-fi specials, both written by Gerry Finley-Day:

In a later sci-fi special Rogue Trooper appeared, written by Simon Geller:

In another sci-fi special an illustrated text story appeared:

Later annual stories were written by Peter Milligan and drawn by José Ortiz:

Rogue also appeared in crossovers with the new "Friday" series (leading up to the death of Bagman and Rogue in #949), all written by Steve White:

(For the full series of stories featuring Friday, see Friday (2000 AD)#Bibliography.)

After the new series finished, the original Rogue returned in a story set after his death, written by John Tomlinson:

The original Rogue later returned in stories set before his death, all written by Gordon Rennie:

Gerry Finley-Day returned to the character after 25 years away, for the end of year special in 2010:

In a short series of one-off stories called What If...? featuring alternative takes on popular 2000 AD characters, Rogue Trooper returned in a story written by Andy Diggle:

The series appeared in one-off stories in annual special issues from 2014:

Collected editions

The initial reprints of the 2000AD stories were printed by Titan Books. The most recent books are printed by Rebellion.

The complete series of stories from 1981 to 2012 (other than the Friday crossovers) were reprinted by Rebellion in four volumes:

The original Rogue Trooper stories chronicling the hunt for the Traitor General are also collected in another series of four books by Rebellion:

Additional stories have been collected into two more publications by Rebellion

Spin-offs and reboots

The 86ers

The 86ers was created by writer Gordon Rennie and drawn by artists Karl Richardson and PJ Holden. The story stars G.I. pilot Rafella "Rafe" Blue and her robot Gabe.

Venus Bluegenes

Venus Bluegenes appeared both in Rogue Trooper and in her own eponymous strip, with stories written by authors including Grant Morrison, Steve White and Dan Abnett.

Tor Cyan

Tor Cyan appeared both in Mercy Heights and in his own eponymous strip, in a series written by John Tomlinson.

Jaegir

Writer Gordon Rennie and artist Simon Coleby created an spin-off entitled Jaegir as a recurring series in 2000 AD, focusing on Kapitan-Inspector Atalia Jaegir, who serves in the Nordland State Security Police. Her role is to hunt down escaped war criminals.[4]

Collected editions

Hunted

Gordon Rennie and artist PJ Holden produced Hunted, a story told from the point of view of the Traitor General, in 2016. It began in prog 2001 and is ongoing as of October 2016.

IDW Publishing reboot

IDW Publishing's Rogue Trooper #1.

As of 20 July 2013, American company IDW Publishing announced that after the success of its adaptation of Judge Dredd from 2000 AD it would now champion Rogue Trooper with recoloured old issues as well as completely new stories. "Following the success of Judge Dredd, IDW and Rebellion/2000 AD expand their thriving relationship with the addition of Rogue Trooper to their publishing slate! IDW will launch an all-new Rogue Trooper series in 2014, and also offer newly colored re-presentations of past Rogue Trooper comics, too."[5] On 13 November 2013 it was announced that the new series would be written by British fantasy writer Brian Ruckley and drawn by Alberto Ponticelli.[6] Brian Ruckley acquired the position "by writing a pitch document that people apparently liked."[7] He described his first challenge as scriptwriter as "I can now say from personal experience that writing comics is not straightforward or effortless!"[8]

The new Rogue Trooper features a re-designed helmet, rifle and backpack which serve as the three main supporting characters in the stories. The first episode was originally set to ship at the end of February 2014,[9] but the first issue was actually released on 5 March 2014. Due to lower-than-expected sales, the decision was made to put the series "on hold".[10] The final issue of the new Rogue Trooper series was issue 4, published on 21 May 2014. All four issues were collected as a trade paperback and released on 17 September 2014 under the title Rogue Trooper: Last Man Standing[11]

IDW also published Rogue Trooper Classics, a series of recoloured stories from 2000 AD, in order. It was originally intended to consist of 12 issues (with issue 1 being published on 14 May 2014), but like the new Rogue title, it was cut short, with only 8 issues to be produced in total - again, a result of lower-than-expected sales.[12]

Other media

A range of Rogue Trooper material has been produced:

Novels

There are three novels based on Rogue Trooper:

Boardgames

The Rogue Trooper Boardgame was released in 1987 by Games Workshop.

Video games

A number of Rogue Trooper computer games have been released in 1986 and 1990. After Rebellion bought 2000 AD they released a Rogue Trooper video game in 2006, with a Wii version out in 2009.

In 2009 Rogue Trooper featured a guest role in the game "LittleBigPlanet" for PS3. It came in the form of content which could be bought in the PlayStation Store.

Film

Grant Morrison has said he will be writing a Rogue Trooper screenplay for Sam Worthington's production company Full Clip Production.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Gordon Rennie interview, 2000 AD Review, 4 June
  2. ↑ Prog 242
  3. ↑ Prog 300
  4. ↑ Armitage, Hugh (2014-03-12). "2000 AD teases Rogue Trooper spinoff Jaegir from Rennie, Coleby - Comics News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  5. ↑ Archived 30 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Brian Ruckley Suits Up, Ships Out With "Rogue Trooper"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  8. ↑ "Brian Ruckley · Rogue Trooper". Brianruckley.com. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  9. ↑ "IDW Publishing Products Shipping In February 2014". PreviewsWorld.com. Maryland, USA: Diamond Comic Distributors. 2014. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  10. ↑ Rich Johnston (25 March 2014). "Rogue Trooper On Hold At IDW, Full Speed Ahead At 2000AD". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rogue Trooper: Last Man Standing". IDW Publishing. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  12. ↑ Denton J. Tipton (editor) [dentontipton] (8 September 2014). "Eight issues now, due to sales." (Tweet). Retrieved 8 September 2014 – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Lyons, Beverley (3 October 2011). "Monster Success: Top comic writer Grant Morrison set to turn his novel Dinosaurs vs Aliens into a movie". Daily Record. Retrieved 3 October 2011. Indeed, after he's put the finishing touches to the Dinosaurs vs Aliens script, a prolific Grant is creating a movie adaptation for Sam Worthington's company. Called Rogue Trooper, the project is based on a character from the popular British comic book series 2000AD.
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