Talking ‘Rogue Trooper: Ghost Patrol’ With Alex De Campi And Neil Edwards

Whether you’ve been a Rogue Trooper fan for years or are only coming to the strip in light of the upcoming movie, writer Alex de Campi and artist Neil Edwards‘ new Prog story, Rogue Trooper: Ghost Patrol, has something for everyone. With colors by Matt Soffe and letters by Jim Campbell, here’s what De Campi and Edwards could share:

Rachel Bellwoar: What excited you the most about getting to write and draw a Rogue Trooper story and did you have much history with the character before this?

Alex De Campi: I’d written Rogue once before a few years ago for 2000 AD and have a fairly solid body of other work around war stories both fictional and nonfictional (Bad Karma, True War Stories). He’s always been a character I’ve liked as a vehicle to tell stories with, so when Tharg came to me with the zarjaz proposition that I write a graphic novel-length Rogue story that could bring the character to a new generation, I jumped at it.

Neil Edwards: Yeah I loved Rogue Trooper from growing up in the ’80s and his design was amazing! I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to tell this story and hope I do Rogue justice!!

Bellwoar: For those familiar with Rogue Trooper’s mission to locate the traitor general who tipped off the Norts and got the other Genetic Infantryman killed, the opening moments of Rogue Trooper: Ghost Patrol are pretty wild. What was it like getting to portray this crucial moment in Rogue Trooper’s origin story and from such an interesting perspective?

De Campi: Oh, I get to re-examine a lot of crucial moments in Rogue’s history from different perspectives, but that cold open in particular was both to introduce the character to new readers with a bang (or maybe a splash?) while also making older readers yell with recognition. Sure, it was cheeky, but also: I regret nothing.

Edwards: It was fantastic to show Rogue’s “birth” and the story really moves at a pace, so getting to show a pivotal moment like this was super rewarding.

Bellwoar: Do you have any favorite runs from Rogue Trooper or writers and artists who have worked on the character? 

Edwards: Blimey yeah Rogue has had some amazing artists working on the character!! Dave Gibbons, Brett Ewins, Cam Kennedy, Will Simpson and Patrick Goddard all brought a huge presence to the character!

De Campi: You know, I keep going back to the Gerry Finley-Day run, with Dave Gibbons and then Colin Wilson. I think a lot of later writers have tried to make Rogue “theirs” in a way that they never would have tried with, say, Dredd. And some of it has worked, and some of it hasn’t. The concept of the character and the setting are so solid, you can do so much just iterating on that.

Bellwoar: The press release for this strip brought up the timing of it starting before Duncan Jones’ Rogue Trooper movie and it sounds like accessibility was a big consideration. How challenging was it to find the right balance between catering to new readers but also keeping longtime fans satisfied?

Edwards: I feel the story quickly brings the reader into the world and expands its lore. It’s really very fast paced and has huge action moments!

De Campi: It took me a while to figure out how I was going to do it, but once I had the premise and the structure it wasn’t that hard. There’s a lot in “Ghost Patrol” for the faithful 2000 AD reader — but also a whole new story. I kind of live for structural challenges like this.

Bellwoar: Is there anything you can reveal about the title for this strip, “Ghost Patrol”?

De Campi: Ah, there are so many twists and turns in this story I don’t want to reveal anything. Just that Rogue was born with the echoes of ghosts in his head, and it turns out those ghosts might not really be dead. Things (and people) can be lost so easily on Nu-Earth, the grim future planet of only war — but finding them again? Hoc opus, hic labor est.

Edwards: Sorry no spoilers from me either, Tharg would have me vaporized!!!

Bellwoar: Rogue Trooper himself is largely absent from part one. I personally love the boldness of that decision but was that an easy one to make?

De Campi: Part One introduces the story’s three main characters, of which Rogue is the most important one — but not the only one. And we see Rogue in, how do I say it, the very beginning of his story, and then we change scenes to meet one of our other characters, who is near what they think is the end of their story. Both are wrong, but therein lies the tale.

There’s a lot of narrative boldness that goes on in “Ghost Patrol.” We make big swings, and I hope people indulge me a bit of character work here and there as well. But Rogue is in every episode, so are the chips, we have great moments from Gunnar, Helm, and Bagman — and we meet some other really fun characters along the way, both new ones and old friends.

Edwards: He certainly makes his mark through the story even if he is in the opening chapter a little … so just wait until you see chapter 2!

Bellwoar: PTSD is a subject that has come up in some of your previous series, Alex, like Bad Karma and True War Stories. What do you think it is that keeps drawing you to telling veterans’ stories?

De Campi: I like talking about what happens to the hero after they vanquish the evil and save the land. What do you do next? And what if the evil wasn’t even actually evil, and wasn’t vanquished, and nothing was saved? What then? What do you do after you survived?

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Alex and Neil!

Rogue Trooper: Ghost Patrol starts September 17th in 2000 AD Prog 2450.