Rogue Trooper: Last Man Standing

by Brian Ruckley, Alberto Ponticelli (Illustrations)

Nu-Earth, just another planet ravaged by a galaxy-wide war, its atmosphere poisoned by chemical weapons. Created to fight in such conditions were the G.I.s - genetically engineered infantrymen. But now only one remains, the man known as... Rogue Trooper. Join noted author Brian Ruckley and artist Alberto Ponticelli in this all-new story.

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2014

About the author

I was born and brought up in Edinburgh. After studying at Edinburgh and Stirling Universities, and after a good deal of displacement activity (varying from spending three months in the rainforests of Borneo trying to record the dawn chorus of gibbons to briefly working in a tea warehouse / factory), I moved to England to enter the world of full-time employment.

As much by luck as judgement, I had a series of on the whole enjoyable and interesting jobs, mostly based in London. All of them save one have been in the charity sector, and at various times they have involved extensive overseas travel, environmental and community projects, nature conservation and fundraising.

Writing was a big feature of my childhood, and has ebbed and flowed as a spare-time occupation ever since. I sold a couple of short stories in the 1990s, but didn’t really start thinking seriously about writing novels until the 21st Century had got underway.

At the start of 2003, I turned myself into a freelance consultant on environmental projects, partly in order to devote more time to writing; since then, the writing side of things has taken over almost completely.

I am now back in Edinburgh, where I live with my lovely wife, and miss the excitement of London only a little, and only occasionally.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back when I was a teenager and read nothing but 2000AD (in between Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams novels), Rogue Trooper was a character I couldn’t care less about. He had this iconic, cool look with his striking blue skin but he didn’t seem like a particularly complex or interesting character with a discernible goal – he just ran around a dull, rocky planet, killing stuff while his gun, helmet, and backpack talked to him (which I admit was a nifty detail).

Well, it’s now many years later and I’ve finally read a complete Rogue Trooper arc, and I’m surprised that my initial impression of the character was spot on!

Nu-Earth is a planet so ravaged by war, it’s atmosphere has become toxic. Enter the Genetic Infantry, troops engineered to survive and fight under its hostile conditions. Blue (what a racist nickname!) is the last survivor in his group but his comrades live on in the biochips he’s attached to his helmet, gun and backpack. After deserting and pursuing his own objectives, Blue is labelled the Rogue Trooper, on a seemingly endless mission in this vague and terrible war.

Brian Ruckley takes the right tack in this book - Rogue Trooper is essentially an ‘80s action movie with big, brainless violence and a ripped guy without a shirt firing a huge gun, and that’s how Ruckley writes it. There are no lofty themes decrying the horrors of war or complex characters - it’s pretty much shallow killing from start to finish, and that’s fine.

That said it’s not totally without soul. I love how the biochips, Gunnar, Bagman and Helm have these concerned talks about Rogue’s mental state out his earshot, like they’re looking out for their buddy even in death. There is a poignant sadness in how Rogue seems to carry the weight of his friends’ deaths as if he’s responsible which is maybe why he’s so withdrawn a character compared to the strangely lively and chatty biochips.

Alberto Ponticelli’s art isn’t on the same level as Glenn Fabry’s cover art but it’s still good. He’s not given much to work with given that Nu-Earth is mostly a barren wasteland with muted colours but Ponticelli’s work is never boring to look at. Also when Rogue goes after the soldiers out to bring him in, the battle is nicely choreographed in an easy-to-follow way.

Rogue Trooper’s not the most amazing comic you’ll read but it’s entertaining enough and it’s enjoyable seeing Rogue gunning down such two-dimensional baddies. Normally I’d critique that kind of thing but I feel it’s appropriate here as I think that’s how the character’s always been so Ruckley’s just being true to the spirit of the title.

In the mood for a comic you don’t need to think about to enjoy? Rogue Trooper’s your man and this book is a great introduction to him.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Rogue Trooper:Last Man Standing' is based on an older 2000AD character. He's actually a pretty cool character and I'd like to read more about him.

Stuck on a lifeless planet with a talking gun, helmet and backpack, he is a relentless and unstoppable soldier. When he rescues a soldier on the battlefield, he chooses to save him. When troops are deployed to destroy him, he has to make other choices. The talking equipment provides some comic relief which is needed since Rogue is so stoic.

Art by Alberto Ponticelli is pretty great. I love Rogue's blue skin and the starkness of the planet. Sometimes the dialogue was a bit hard to read from the talking equipment, but that could have been because it was a review copy. I liked this standalone story.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Alex Sarll]

As against Judge Dredd, a classic character where I can tell you exactly why every change made in every adaptation was wrong, I'm generally not even that fussed about Rogue - memorably described by one exhausted former writer as a gritty war story about a man with a talking hat. Making it remarkable quite how much the comparatively minor changes in this IDW version annoyed me, right down to the lack of skull graphics when the bio-chips bicker.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

One remaining GI named Blue aided by an unknown in the sky and computer chips of his fallen comrades seeks to discover who was behind the fall of the genetically created soldiers. A decent action tale that tosses the reader in the middle of the action. The tale is open-ended with room for more adventures to come.

[Edward Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent enough story, but I feel like it could have done more to distinguish it from the original, which I always thought had a lot of shortcomings. I love the idea of Rogue Trooper, but it's always felt like it was missing the essential spark that could make it as great as Dredd.

[Josef Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read

For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/rogue-... and follow me on Twitter @josenher