It would be impossible to talk about Garth Ennis and Patrick Goddard’s Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley – the hardcover collection of the recent serialised 2000 AD story – without some slightly spoiler-ish content. The very premise of this adventure for the future war genetic infantryman turns, after all, on a rather neat early twist. So beware the following if that’s something you would prefer to avoid…
Blighty Valley takes place in the early chronology of the long-running strip. Back then our protagonist had lived up to his name by stepping back from the Nu Earth war between the Norts and the Southers to embark on his quest to find the Traitor-General whose betrayal had led to the slaughter of his fellow genetically-engineered soldiers. As anyone familiar with the history of Rogue Trooper knows, the feature has a somewhat unsalvageable continuity. The conclusion to its original narrative set-up had left it directionless; a complete reboot then saw it shorn of many of the elements that made it a fan favourite in the first place; and a subsequent decision to merge the two continuities together created an epic mess of Hawkman-style proportions. Sensibly, Ennis and Goddard make the sensible decision to set their story in the Rogue Trooper glory days. And the result is a cracker. One of the finest things to have been published in 2000 AD in many a year.
A little bit of historical exposition there to act as buffer between introduction and potential spoilers. Blighty Valley follows up on Ennis’s recent revival of so many of the classic Battle Action war characters for Rebellion by paralleling Rogue’s future war with the War to End All Wars. A disruption to time sees the G.I. sent back in time to the First World War. There he becomes entangled in the struggles of a tiny group of British soldiers who, like Rogue and his bio-chip buddies, have also seen their comrades wiped out around them. The question now is how does Rogue find his way back to his own era? Or will he end up dying on the battlefields of a war fought centuries before his own time?
Ennis gives us a motley band of Tommies to represent a number of demographics. There’s the hard but fair sergeant whose seen it all before, the young privileged officer now totally out of his depth, the socialist private with a constant commentary on their exploitation, the young working class lad destined to die before he can become a man, and even a German POW thrown into the mix to emphasise their shared humanity. Despite the fact that essentially they are all there to embody certain social groups or situations, Ennis ensures our empathy for them from the outset, making later twists all the more dramatic for the impact they have.
What’s so impressive about Blighty Valley in terms of its presentation is the way that it captures the rhythm of 2000 AD’s old school weekly delivery. If not for the odd swearing or more adult moment it feels like it could have been lifted from a run of Progs from 40 years ago. And Ennis and Goddard are perfectly in synch creatively. Goddard’s art has a clear and well-defined quality, playing to the absolute strengths of its black and white delivery, with a line in stark realism that is nonetheless never undermined by the more fantastic elements of the tale. His role in ensuring we invest immediately in this small cast is a vital one, with their visual characterisation ensuring the reader feels inextricably connected to the hopelessness of their plight.
Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley captures the hopelessness and futility of both sets of characters’ warbound existences in a rollocking good adventure strip. The powerful finale has much to say in terms of social commentary in the bleak way that the golden age of 2000 AD always did. That dark but pertinent finale provides a message that each reader will want to experience first for themselves. Suffice to say that in the moment it’s both potent and chilling. And if that doesn’t tempt you then look out for the “old chip” joke that precedes it by some way. If you are a lapsed 2000 AD reader you could not pick a better re-entry point than Blighty Valley.
Garth Ennis (W), Patrick Goddard (A), Rob Steen (L), Dylan Teague (CC) • Rebellion, £18.99
Review by Andy Oliver
