The War Machine - 'Rogue Trooper'
by William Simpson and Dave Gibbons
Heavy Metal: War Machine, 1993
In 1993 Heavy Metal magazine published one of a regular series of special issues, this one devoted to 'War Machine' themes.
The star feature in this special issue was a full-length comic, titled 'The War Machine - Rogue Trooper', designed to showcase the 2000 AD character to a U.S. audience.
The Rogue Trooper character first appeared in 2000 AD prog No. 228 (September 5, 1981) and underwent a reboot in 1989, which took place over the course of ten or so issues, on into 1990. 2000 AD Prog 650 (October 28, 1989)
It's the 1989 - 1990 reboot from 2000 AD that is reprinted in this 'War Machine' special of Heavy Metal (although curiously, the magazine doesn't explicitly state this, simply referring to a copyright with Fleetway dated 1991).
William Simpson's artwork relies on a figurative, at times very murky, style that was much in demand in the early 90s. Simpson remains active as an artist for 2000 AD, having illustrated 2021's 'Desperadlands' story. According to a recent interview with 2000 AD, Simpson remains dedicated to:
'Pencils, paper, artboard, ink, acrylic, watercolour, gouache and sometimes oil paints, and then after I’ve scanned and pieced together my pages, maybe a little bit of photoshop highlighting, and that’s the art !'
Dave Gibbons's script for The War Machine - 'Rogue Trooper', designed as it is to reboot the character, is necessarily limited in its scope and I'm sure most readers will see where the plot is headed well in advance. There is some predictable 'war is hell' signaling, which I don't think will be all that novel to the reader, either.Summing up, hopefully the scans I've provided should give you an idea of what The War Machine - 'Rogue Trooper' is all about, and whether it's something you would find interesting.
For my part, I think it will be of interest to fans of 1990s comic book art, 2000 AD, and the Rogue Trooper character, in particular, but I can't see anyone else being sufficiently captivated by this graphic novel to designate it as a 'must have'.
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