Rogue Trooper

Rogue Trooper
2000 AD #228, 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	War
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 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 genetically engineered to be immune to almost all known toxins. He 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. 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.

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^{[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.

Bibliography[]

IDW Publishing reboot[]

Other media[]

References[]

External links[]

• Rogue Trooper at Barney
• Rogue Trooper at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Rogue Trooper at the Comic Book DB
• Rogue Trooper - 1st Episode (BBC)
• Eidos Rogue Trooper game website
• NTSC-uk's Rogue Trooper Review
• Tales of the GI online strip