Review Tuesday: Rogue Trooper: Welcome To Nu-Earth

From the greatest comic book in the galaxy, 2000AD (the creators of JUDGE DREDD), we also get 

ROGUE TROOPER - WELCOME TO NU-EARTH

In a bleak war-torn future, the planet Nu-Earth holds an important strategic position that both the Norts and Southers are battling intensely to try to gain and hold. The planet's atmosphere has already been poisoned by chemical weapons so humans need special suits to allow safe passage along the planet.

The Southers bio-engineered a race of Genetic Infantryman who are impervious to the deadly planet, but were all wiped out by a traitor except for one, Rogue Trooper. Carrying the Bio-Chips of three of his buddies, his mission is to track down and kill the perfidious general who was responsible.

From the Wiki:

Rogue Trooper was 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. 

I am not sure where in the grand scheme of the story these strips come from. I was under the impression these were the earliest tales of Rogue Trooper to hit 2000AD as it shows how Rogue ended up carrying the bio-chips of his friends, and why he's on his own mission to hunt down the traitor general. However, the story alludes to adventures that aren't included in this compilation. As I understand it, ROGUE TROOPER didn't run very long in 2000AD initially. It ran it's course, had its conclusion and was done. I believe that they compiled the strips into two volumes that are only available in hard copy at this time. I read that they also tried bringing it back a couple times in various ways, such as continued missions or reboots but none were very well received. 

This volume of ROGUE TROOPER adventures flows very well and tells a good portion of the story, and enough to make you sympathize with the main character(s). It also gives you a grim feeling about the future of humanity because no matter how advanced we become, technology is for either war or pornography. A sad realization, indeed. But Rogue and his colleagues are clever and brave warriors and the pages turn way too fast because it's compelling and provocative reading. I highly recommend this as a perfect entrance into the world of violent future-war. Give it a shot!  

THIS VOLUME INCLUDES THE STORIES FROM 2000AD PROGS 228-232, 234-235, 239-240, 249-250, 265, 266-277, 278-279, 280-281, 282-289, 316-317

Get it on AMAZON:

• Kindle
• Paperback
• 2000AD