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Jaegir
Jaegir: Beasts Within
Atalia Jaegir hunts down war criminals among the worlds controlled by Nordland State Security - until she is recruited for a mission to root out the genetic curse at the heart of the fascist system she serves.
From the Rogue Trooper universe comes a brand new heroine with a incredible new adventure.
While war rages across the galaxy between the Great Nordland Republic and their Souther enemies, Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir of the Nordland State Security is charged with investigating and tracking down war criminals. It’s a thankless task - viewed with suspicion and hatred by her own people. Jaegir is no stranger to conflict and betrayal...but her work is interupted when she is recruited by another arm of the state to hunt down a monster afflicted with a genetic disorder sown into their ranks by the Southers.
Written by Gordon Rennie (Absalom, Judge Dredd) with art by Simon Coleby (The Authority) and Carl Critchlow (Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle).
Stories include:
• Strigoi
• Circe
• Brothers in Arms
• Tartarus
PLUS!
• Simon Coleby Interview
• Cover Gallery
From the Rogue Trooper universe comes a brand new heroine with a incredible new adventure.
While war rages across the galaxy between the Great Nordland Republic and their Souther enemies, Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir of the Nordland State Security is charged with investigating and tracking down war criminals. It’s a thankless task - viewed with suspicion and hatred by her own people. Jaegir is no stranger to conflict and betrayal...but her work is interupted when she is recruited by another arm of the state to hunt down a monster afflicted with a genetic disorder sown into their ranks by the Southers.
Written by Gordon Rennie (Absalom, Judge Dredd) with art by Simon Coleby (The Authority) and Carl Critchlow (Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle).
Stories include:
• Strigoi
• Circe
• Brothers in Arms
• Tartarus
PLUS!
• Simon Coleby Interview
• Cover Gallery
176 pages, Paperback
First published August 27, 2014
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Gordon Rennie
393 books34 followersFreelance writer for over 20 years – When he’s not being ungainfully employed as a BAFTA-nominated video games scriptwriter, he keeps himself busy writing comics, novels, screenplays and Doctor Who audio plays. Comics work includes Predator, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Missionary Man, Necronauts, Caballistics Inc and Absalom, and Dept. of Monsterology for Renegade.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 12, 2019
I liked 2000ad's Rogue Trooper story well enough, and this comic flips the perspective to the enemy side of the norts. It does a pretty adequate job humanizing them a little, showing how they ended up the way they did, and mudding up the rather black-and-white morality of the original comic - while still maintaining the full extent of their villainy without trying to make them seem like the secret heroes of the whole thing.
Bit of solid characterization, too.
Bit of solid characterization, too.
January 11, 2022
My second entry into Rogue Trooper universe. This time from the perspective of the baddies, the Norters.
We follow Atalia Jaegir, captain in Norters' security services (all with the very silly names that are sounding so prescient today, brrrr) as she slowly works through the war criminals within Norters' ranks. She works together with her squad and I have to say I truly enjoyed the stories where she takes care of the untouchable elite and uncovers more and more about the genetic experiment that basicaly doomed the entire Norters military elite.
What helped me a lot to get into the story is the way Norters are depicted - for all means and purposes this is W40K Imperial Guard - but more humane. People in constant warfare with the Southers and ready to do whatever it takes to win. Similar to IG they are mix of Tsarist and Revolutionary Russian troops mixed with fatalism of the Prussian armies. With that being said Atalia and her team act like some pseudo Inquisiton team and it is truly great to watch them as they march stoically to any danger that stands in their way.
Art is beautiful, reminds me greatly of Lazarus comic. Level of details and constant gloom of heavy technological worlds dedicated only to war is amazing. Pages truly come to life - always under ever present fog of war and ever present scream of jet engines as they transport troops onto the battlefields.
Only downside is that story ends on the high note (same as 86ers) and I hope, truly I hope, that they will publish new stories soon.
Recommended to fans of gritty SF warfare.
We follow Atalia Jaegir, captain in Norters' security services (all with the very silly names that are sounding so prescient today, brrrr) as she slowly works through the war criminals within Norters' ranks. She works together with her squad and I have to say I truly enjoyed the stories where she takes care of the untouchable elite and uncovers more and more about the genetic experiment that basicaly doomed the entire Norters military elite.
What helped me a lot to get into the story is the way Norters are depicted - for all means and purposes this is W40K Imperial Guard - but more humane. People in constant warfare with the Southers and ready to do whatever it takes to win. Similar to IG they are mix of Tsarist and Revolutionary Russian troops mixed with fatalism of the Prussian armies. With that being said Atalia and her team act like some pseudo Inquisiton team and it is truly great to watch them as they march stoically to any danger that stands in their way.
Art is beautiful, reminds me greatly of Lazarus comic. Level of details and constant gloom of heavy technological worlds dedicated only to war is amazing. Pages truly come to life - always under ever present fog of war and ever present scream of jet engines as they transport troops onto the battlefields.
Only downside is that story ends on the high note (same as 86ers) and I hope, truly I hope, that they will publish new stories soon.
Recommended to fans of gritty SF warfare.
March 25, 2018
This is a Superb Story based on the ' 2000ad ' Rogue Trooper world -
but based on the Viewpoint of the enemy - ' Nordland ' from Atalia Jaegeir's experiences -
this is really recommended , great art-work and nice story telling -
The eponymous protagonist of the 2000 AD strip Jaegir is Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir, a veteran of the war between the Norts and the Southers on Nu Earth.
I highly recommend this Book highly and the new series has just started in 2000ad -
note there was a series called ' Warchild ' (2000 AD #1996-1999, 2016) -
This Four-part story is NOT in this collected edition - and the latest 2000ad Prog 2073 ( March 2018 ) called " In the Realm Of Pyrrhus " - which I highly recommend you buy - as its really well written ( and Simon Coleby's art is fabulous )
but based on the Viewpoint of the enemy - ' Nordland ' from Atalia Jaegeir's experiences -
this is really recommended , great art-work and nice story telling -
The eponymous protagonist of the 2000 AD strip Jaegir is Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir, a veteran of the war between the Norts and the Southers on Nu Earth.
I highly recommend this Book highly and the new series has just started in 2000ad -
note there was a series called ' Warchild ' (2000 AD #1996-1999, 2016) -
This Four-part story is NOT in this collected edition - and the latest 2000ad Prog 2073 ( March 2018 ) called " In the Realm Of Pyrrhus " - which I highly recommend you buy - as its really well written ( and Simon Coleby's art is fabulous )
October 9, 2021
Another Rogue Trooper spin-off but this time the view is on his adversaries, so that is a positive.
Stories are all the time teetering on the verge of I-can-not-care-less but then something happens that kept me going. Sadly the art did not make things easier. I kept mixing characters and that was a annoying.
Stories are all the time teetering on the verge of I-can-not-care-less but then something happens that kept me going. Sadly the art did not make things easier. I kept mixing characters and that was a annoying.
September 1, 2024
War on Nu-Earth is hell, but it's where Rogue Trooper calls home, where he runs around killing Norts. from the Nort point of view, things aren't much different, but they've also got the nasty leftovers of geentic experiments to deal with in between investigating numerous war crimes. Rough and tough sci-fi war epic, a fresh take on an old favourite.
October 30, 2015
Review originally published on my blog
Writing convincing bad guys is an under-appreciated art form. Too soft, and they won’t be sufficiently menacing. Too hard, and they become one-dimensional. The portrayal of a bad guy organisation is even harder; it’s all too easy to fall into Bond-villain territory. The bad guys in the original ROGUE TROOPER stories definitely fell into the one-dimensional camp. Although I’ve enjoyed the occasional TROOPER story, the tales were obvious World War II allegories. The Norts – complete with chem-masks and lighting-bolt insignia – were communist-Nazis: quite obviously bad guys. The Southers had helmets with open face-plates, and they even got dialogue: these were obviously the good guys. The Norts were nothing more than cardboard cut-outs – presented for Rogue to knock down – whilst shouting “Nein!” and “Stak!”
That preamble out the way, let me start by saying that JAEGIR is absolutely bloody brilliant. Gordon Rennie and Simon Coleby have done an incredible thing with JAEGIR: written a convincing bad guy story, whilst simultaneously fleshing out the wider ROGUE TROOPER universe.
The principle is simple and yet instantly compelling. The Southers and the Norts are stuck in a war of attrition, ensnared in an arms race that leads them to commit ever greater atrocities. The Norts are out-numbered by the Southers, and thus at some point in the past developed cloning tech to overcome the natural disadvantage this presented. However, this has produced taints within the Nort bloodline: causing sudden and dangerous mutations known as “Strigoi”. Enter Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir, of the Nordland State Security. Often acting in secrecy, it is her job to hunt down these mutants and execute them. She is both feared and loathed by those within the military system: a stranger among her own people.
JAEGIR: BEASTS WITHIN compiles the stories STRIGOI, CIRCE, BROTHERS IN ARMS, and TARTARUS, and there’s barely a page I didn’t like. The art is muted but incredible: every panel drenching you in the horrors that the war causes. The Norts are quickly and effectively fleshed out to such a degree that their military machine feels real; the historical communist/Nazi elements are still there, but meshed with more original sci-fi ideas to create a fresh universe. There are numerous nods to the original ROGUE TROOPER stories, which made me smile. Atalia served on Nu Earth, and like most of the Nordlanders she has heard the tales of the blue demon – “[t]he blue-skinned nightmare that was created just to take Nort lives.” The prose is just awesome: Rogue is repainted as a terror, a thing to be feared, rather than a war hero. My favourite scene has to be when Atalia pursues a suspect into a chem-bar; populated by veterans of Nu Earth, so damaged by their experience of the hell-world that they spend the evenings drinking in a bar with poisoned atmosphere!
Atalia is also a compelling and convincing heroine. Over the course of the four stories, her background is fully fleshed-out and well explored. There are lots of flashbacks and asides, but neither of these is intrusive. By the end of the volume, you’re well aware of the richness of this mythology, and the potential for further exploration of both the world and the character
Writing convincing bad guys is an under-appreciated art form. Too soft, and they won’t be sufficiently menacing. Too hard, and they become one-dimensional. The portrayal of a bad guy organisation is even harder; it’s all too easy to fall into Bond-villain territory. The bad guys in the original ROGUE TROOPER stories definitely fell into the one-dimensional camp. Although I’ve enjoyed the occasional TROOPER story, the tales were obvious World War II allegories. The Norts – complete with chem-masks and lighting-bolt insignia – were communist-Nazis: quite obviously bad guys. The Southers had helmets with open face-plates, and they even got dialogue: these were obviously the good guys. The Norts were nothing more than cardboard cut-outs – presented for Rogue to knock down – whilst shouting “Nein!” and “Stak!”
That preamble out the way, let me start by saying that JAEGIR is absolutely bloody brilliant. Gordon Rennie and Simon Coleby have done an incredible thing with JAEGIR: written a convincing bad guy story, whilst simultaneously fleshing out the wider ROGUE TROOPER universe.
The principle is simple and yet instantly compelling. The Southers and the Norts are stuck in a war of attrition, ensnared in an arms race that leads them to commit ever greater atrocities. The Norts are out-numbered by the Southers, and thus at some point in the past developed cloning tech to overcome the natural disadvantage this presented. However, this has produced taints within the Nort bloodline: causing sudden and dangerous mutations known as “Strigoi”. Enter Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir, of the Nordland State Security. Often acting in secrecy, it is her job to hunt down these mutants and execute them. She is both feared and loathed by those within the military system: a stranger among her own people.
JAEGIR: BEASTS WITHIN compiles the stories STRIGOI, CIRCE, BROTHERS IN ARMS, and TARTARUS, and there’s barely a page I didn’t like. The art is muted but incredible: every panel drenching you in the horrors that the war causes. The Norts are quickly and effectively fleshed out to such a degree that their military machine feels real; the historical communist/Nazi elements are still there, but meshed with more original sci-fi ideas to create a fresh universe. There are numerous nods to the original ROGUE TROOPER stories, which made me smile. Atalia served on Nu Earth, and like most of the Nordlanders she has heard the tales of the blue demon – “[t]he blue-skinned nightmare that was created just to take Nort lives.” The prose is just awesome: Rogue is repainted as a terror, a thing to be feared, rather than a war hero. My favourite scene has to be when Atalia pursues a suspect into a chem-bar; populated by veterans of Nu Earth, so damaged by their experience of the hell-world that they spend the evenings drinking in a bar with poisoned atmosphere!
Atalia is also a compelling and convincing heroine. Over the course of the four stories, her background is fully fleshed-out and well explored. There are lots of flashbacks and asides, but neither of these is intrusive. By the end of the volume, you’re well aware of the richness of this mythology, and the potential for further exploration of both the world and the character
September 5, 2016
With Jaegir the creative team of Gordon Rennie, Simon Coleby and Len O'Grady introduce one of 2000AD's best and most interesting new characters in quite some time.
Set in the war torn sci-fi future of 2000AD classic Rogue Trooper, with the backdrop of a war of attrition between the Southers and the Norts, Jaegir focusses on the Norts and introduces Kapitan-Inspector Atalia Jaegar an officer of the Nordland State Security Police. Atalia along with her team, Sergeant Kesslen Klaur ,veteran Nort soldier, Reesa, a bio-warfare infiltration agent and Sergeant Heize, seek out war criminals hiding in Nort territory.
Everything about Jaegir works and works brilliantly, capitalising on elements of Rogue Trooper whilst also introducing numerous original elements establishing its own new version of the established world. The idea of stories exploring the power plays and underhand machinations within a fascist totalitarian state is interesting in itself but filtered through a sci-fi setting with interesting fleshed out characters, war criminals and more besides it's even better.
Highly recommended.
Set in the war torn sci-fi future of 2000AD classic Rogue Trooper, with the backdrop of a war of attrition between the Southers and the Norts, Jaegir focusses on the Norts and introduces Kapitan-Inspector Atalia Jaegar an officer of the Nordland State Security Police. Atalia along with her team, Sergeant Kesslen Klaur ,veteran Nort soldier, Reesa, a bio-warfare infiltration agent and Sergeant Heize, seek out war criminals hiding in Nort territory.
Everything about Jaegir works and works brilliantly, capitalising on elements of Rogue Trooper whilst also introducing numerous original elements establishing its own new version of the established world. The idea of stories exploring the power plays and underhand machinations within a fascist totalitarian state is interesting in itself but filtered through a sci-fi setting with interesting fleshed out characters, war criminals and more besides it's even better.
Highly recommended.
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March 11, 2015Yet another unnecessary Rogue Trooper spin-off, but at least switching to the perspective of the (even more) villainous Norts confers a dash of novelty.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews