Talking ‘2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2024’ With Writer James Peaty Plus EXCLUSIVE Preview

What happens when you cross Rogue Trooper with Strontium Dog? The answer to that question — and more — will be revealed in the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2024. Writer James Peaty, artist Nico Assirelli, colorist Jack Davies, and letterer Simon Bowland are responsible for the “Rogue/Dog” story, and you can find out more about it in the following interview with Peaty (along with some EXCLUSIVE lettered pages):

Rachel Bellwoar: How much of a dream job was it to merge the worlds of Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper?

James Peaty: It was definitely a ‘pinch me’ job. I wouldn’t say it was a dream job as I never imagined that it was even a possibility! However, when the opportunity to work on the strip came along, I grabbed it with both hands as I knew it’d be a lot of fun to write. And so it proved.

Bellwoar: Would you call yourself more of a fan of one strip over the other or did you discover them both around the same time?

Peaty: While I did discover them around the same time, I’m *probably* more of a fan of Strontium Dog. For my money, SD – even more than Judge Dredd – is the definitive John Wagner/Alan Grant/Carlos Ezquerra strip for 2000AD. There’s just something about Johnny Alpha as a character, the supporting cast and the shape and design of that world that just feels special.

That said I’m very fond of the early Gerry Findlay-Day/Dave Gibbons Rogue Trooper strips and have always had a soft spot for the Gibbons/Will Simpson ‘War Machine’ reboot that ran in the late 1980s. I also really enjoyed the recent Garth Ennis/Patrick Goddard ‘Blighty Valley’ story that ran in the Prog last year. For me, when Rogue is at its simplest and most direct, it’s at its best.

Bellwoar: When writing, do you enjoy starting with a character first and building a story around them, or do you prefer starting with the plot first?

Peaty: To be honest, I don’t really think of them as being separate. It’s always the character *in* the story that makes the thing worth writing. But I think your lead characters will always dictate the story you tell. You can create an amazing world, you can construct an elegant plot filled with mind boggling concepts, but if you don’t have characters that your audience are engaged by then what you’re writing is probably dead in the water.

Bellwoar: Can you talk a little bit about the setting for this story and how you conceived it?

Peaty: The story’s set on the planet Horst – a name that should be familiar to long time readers of Rogue Trooper, but you don’t need to know anything about the past to enjoy what we’ve got planned. In our strip Horst is a frontier world, which gives us the chance to play with some of those classic spaghetti western-in-space tropes that Strontium Dog has always done so well.

I also wanted the setting to have a sense of wide-open spaces so that we could also lean into the ‘lone wanderer’ aspect of Rogue Trooper. I think those two elements have come together really well in the finished strip.

Bellwoar: In terms of creating this Rogue/Dog character, did you always know which features you wanted to highlight from each character or was it the result of a lot of experimentation with Nico?

Peaty: The collaboration on this was pretty straightforward: I wrote the script and then Nico drew it! Even though this is our second time working together (we produced a Cadet Giant strip for the ‘Judgement Day’ crossover a couple of years back) Nico and I have never spoken, so it’s a working relationship that’s been co-ordinated via the editorial team at 2000AD. I’m very lucky to get to work with him as he’s a brilliant artist and the work he’s done on this strip is simply top drawer.

At my end, I knew exactly which elements of each character I wanted to use in creating Rogue/Dog. In my mind the ‘War Machine’ version of Rogue and the classic Johnny Alpha design have a *slightly* similar silhouette, so that was the basic visual hook I leant into in the script and Nico has taken that and pushed it even further.

In terms of the character himself, I think the title of the strip leads the way on that front. The main character of Friday (which is a nod to the Gibbons/Simpson version of the character) is essentially a composite version of Rogue Trooper who exists in the world of Strontium Dog. What’s great about the early Rogue Trooper stories is that Rogue just *is* from the start. It maybe takes Johnny Alpha a little while to solidify as a character, but Rogue is Rogue from page one of his first story. So I took a lot of my inspiration from that.

Bellwoar: Given that this is the Sci-fi Special, were there any sci-fi elements you wanted to play up?

Peaty: Not particularly. Juggling two beloved characters and their respective milieus was more than enough work to be getting on with! I think our main focus was on delivering on the promise of the Rogue/Dog idea and telling an entertaining yarn along the way. All that said, there’s a lot of sci-fi madness in the strip anyway, so I don’t think anyone will feel short-changed on that front.

Bellwoar: Both Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper usually work with a team (sort of!) but, because Rogue Trooper’s team members speak through his equipment, he sometimes comes across as more of a lone figure. Will Rogue/Dog be more of a loner, too, and will his mission be more personal (like Rogue Trooper), or a job (like Strontium Dog)?

Peaty: Well, the answer to that’s contained in the title of the strip. How do you go from being a Strontium Dog to a Rogue/Dog?

As for the mission: well, let’s just say that bounty hunting and Fr1day’s personal objectives collide on page one of the story. How? Well, you’ll have to read the comic to find out.  What I can confirm is that no one’s backpack, rifle or helmet will be talking in this story. However, if you do like that aspect of Rogue Trooper, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

He said, cryptically…

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, James!

The 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2024 goes on sale July 3rd from 2000 AD.