Rogue Trooper

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Rogue Trooper

2000 AD #228, the first appearance of Rogue Trooper
Character information
First appearance 2000 AD #228 (1981) (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 Military science fiction
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 1905437390
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 G.I. (or Genetic Infantryman, a genetically modified, blue-skinned, manufactured elite 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 immune to every poison gas known of in the storyline, excepting one series, in which Rogue discovers there is a plant with an entirely new poison. He can submerge in strong acid unaffected.

Contents

[edit] Story

The story is set on a planet, Nu-Earth, where a perpetual war between the Norts and Southers is being fought. During the war all forms of chemical and biological weapons have been used poisoning the planet and the troops of both sides must live in enclosed cities and fight in protective gear. The Southers have, through genetic engineering, developed a race of warriors who are immune to the deadly atmosphere and will therefore be superior troops. The Souther High Command deploy their secret weapon, the Genetic Infantry, in an airborne assault but a traitor has betrayed the secret of the G.I. to the Norts and they are massacred during the drop.

Rogue, the only surviving G.I., goes AWOL in order to track down the Traitor General responsible. 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.

[edit] Historical influences

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Many elements of the Rogue back-story were inspired by World War 2, 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. The Norts' protective suits show only the eyes while the Southers have see-through face panels which reinforce the Good Guy/Bad Guy delineation. "Genetic Infantryman" is a direct homage to the supposed "Government Issue" tag that American troops were nicknamed after.

[edit] Different directions

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. Notable 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. The story was a success[citation needed]. A new ongoing series featuring Friday followed, written by American writer Michael Fleisher, but this was less successful[citation needed]. 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. Despite White's valiant efforts, the two continuities never really gelled[citation needed]: his decision to add a galaxy-wide religious war into the mix may not have helped[original research?].

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 a later story[volume & issue needed] it was revealed he was cloned from the original G.I..

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.

[edit] Bibliography

The Rogue Trooper has appeared frequently in comics and other media[citation needed].

Once the Rogue Trooper appeared in 2000AD comic in a single big frame telling the comic's readers not to play with fireworks[citation needed].

[edit] Collected editions

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

The original Rogue Trooper stories chronicling the hunt for the Traitor General are now collected in four publications by Rebellion

  • The Future of War (collects 2000 AD #228-265, 160 pages, June 2007, ISBN 1905437390)
  • Fort Neuro (collects 2000 AD #266-310, 192 pages, January 2007, ISBN 1905437161
  • The Eye of the Traitor (collects 2000 AD #312-349, 192 pages, October 2005, ISBN 1904265529)
  • To the Ends of Nu-Earth (collects 2000 AD #350-392, 160 pages, January 2006, ISBN 1904265804)

Additional stories have been collected into two more publications by Rebellion

  • Re-Gene (collects 2000 AD #401-406, 410-419, 422-432, 444-449, 160 pages, March 2006, ISBN 1904265847)
  • Realpolitik (collects 2000 AD Prog 2003, #1301-1312, 1344-1349, 1380-1385, 1462-1464, 1477-1479, 144 pages, February 2007, ISBN 1904265944)

[edit] Other media

A range of Rogue Trooper material has been produced:

[edit] Novels

There are three novels based on Rogue Trooper:

[edit] Boardgames

Main article: Rogue Trooper (board game)

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

[edit] Video games

Main article: Rogue Trooper computer and 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.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Gordon Rennie interview, 2000 AD Review, June 4

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_Trooper"