Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley Review (Garth Ennis, Patrick Goddard)

If you grew up reading 2000AD like me, Rogue Trooper is one of those iconic characters you’ll never forget with his blue skin, blank eyes and cool gear - except that’s all I think of when I think of the character. Unlike Dredd or Slaine, there’s no Dark Judges or Horned God Saga storyline to point to as a high point in that character’s history. And I think that’s why Rebellion brought in Garth Ennis: to finally give Rogue one of those memorable storylines.

Or at least, that was probably the intention, because unfortunately Ennis’ Blighty Valley is definitely not that.

For those unfamiliar with his blueness, Rogue Trooper is a genetically-engineered infantryman in the far future whose dead comrades “live” inside his equipment: his helmet, backpack and rifle. Together, they roam Nu Earth fighting a never-ending conflict between the Norts and Southers.

In Blighty Valley, Rogue investigates a black hole that sends him back to the trenches of World War 1, where he dosses about with a British unit before they all get sent back to the future for some more shenanigans and then it’s all reset. It’s pretty boring stuff for the most part given that the characters continually tell you about how bad war is, especially the First World War, which, duh. A “blighty one” we learn is a wound that’s bad enough to send you home from the war, but not something to permanently ruin your life, and is something most of the soldiers hope for.

The occasional set piece is exciting, like them having to walk through a German camp quietly. Patrick Goddard’s art is really great too. The story overall though is vague, uninteresting, slow, aimless, and about as forgettable as most Rogue Trooper storylines are. IDW put out a half-decent Rogue Trooper book about ten years ago called Last Man Standing but there really aren’t any great books featuring this character to recommend to anyone interested.

Here’s hoping Duncan Jones has written something much better than Blighty Valley for his movie adaptation of the character, due out next year.