Review- ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 3

ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 3 (2000 AD, First UK Printing, 2012; Softcover)

Collects the Rogue Trooper stories from 2000 A.D. #410-419, 422-426, 428-432, 444-449, 520-531, 567-572, 574, 575, 589, 598-600, 602, 603, 2000 A.D. Annual 1986, 1987, 2000 A.D. Sci-Fi Special 1982-1984, 1986, 1988, 2000 A.D. Winter Special 1989, and Dice Man #3, 5 (cover dates March 23, 1985- Winter, 1989)

Writers: Gerry Finley-Day, Steve Macmanus, Simon Geller, Peter Milligan, Steve Dillon, Pat Mills, and Grant Morrison

Artists: Jose Ortiz, Steve Dillon, Boluda, Chris Weston, Eric Bradbury, Brett Ewins, Cam Kennedy, Mike Collins, and Will Simpson

These continuing adventures of Rogue Trooper and his biochipped comrades, Bagman, Helm, and Gunnar, seem to spin their wheels while continuing to entertain. Rogue's quest to get his fallen biochipped comrades regened into new bodies brings him back to Milli-Com, when peace talks between the Norts and Southers are interrupted by a third party.

Unknown to all, it is really a race of aliens who want to conquer Nu-Earth. The aliens approach Rogue with the promise of ending war for all time. All that he has to do is eliminate 34 key figures and peace will follow, or so they promise him. After fulfilling several of the hits his quest takes him to the ancient planet Earth, where he learns the truth in a slapdash way. What had been a huge sprawling epic seems to stop abruptly, and it seems an inorganic way to end what should have been a big bang of an ending. Oh well.

The writing is good and the artwork is solid, especially Jose Ortiz and Chris Weston's. This is fast paced, action packed stuff low on the search for literary credibility and high on fun. Comic books try too hard to be taken seriously nowadays. Not everything has to be sophisticated “adult literature”.

I thought that the Choose Your Own Adventure style stories at the end of the book were a lot of fun, especially the ones which require you to roll a die and use the score to determine where you are going. Neat stuff. This volume kinds of wraps things up well enough and would be a fine stopping point. There is a fourth volume in this line which is aging to perfection in my backlog as we speak. I hope to read it someday.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- The only covers that are included are 2000 A.D. #410, 422, 429, 568, 574, 598, 602, all in full color.

Linework and Color restoration: The black and white material looks sharp. The color material was scanned from original comics and looks decent.

Paper stock: Matte coated stock. Many people prefer an uncoated stock for black and white material but a coated stock will hold the blacks better. As long as it has little to no sheen it is more enjoyable to me. Your mileage may vary.

Binding: Sewn binding on softcover makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Cardstock cover notes: Matte finish with a dry feel to it. It is easily scuffed even when handled carefully.