Garth Ennis: Back to 2000 AD and Past Failures

Seems Garth Ennis is on a bit of a civvie tour back in the realm of 2000 AD recently. From resurrecting the likes of veteran war anthology Battle Action, to fiddling with the amusing curiosity that is Banjo from Beyond the Stars, Ennis seems to have caught nostalgia in a big way.

Such a return to 2000 AD is as odd as finding milk in a beer bar. After all, Brit comic artists making it big in Uncle Sam’s land rarely flip back (we’re looking at you, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison). Secondly, to put it mildly, Ennis’ initial 2000 AD dabblings were not exactly Van Goghs. Ennis’ himself tearfully admits, “A lot of it is crap, to be quite honest.” His self-deprecation could flood a 1990’s indie comics series.

Two Faces of Ennis: A Tale of Two Continents

Even more amusing is that while Ennis was dropping the ball at Chopper, he was simultaneously sculpting his legacy on Hellblazer. While he was tripping over at Judge Dredd, he was authoring Hitman for DC. Perhaps there were parallel Garth Ennises during that phase, and the Americans got the better deal.

Reasons? Take your pick: Ennis’ style was more suited to the leisurely rhythm of Yankee comics than the faster-paced British anthologies. Or maybe a young Ennis couldn’t distance prodigiously idolized characters from his professional duties. Or simply put, the milieu of the magazine was a bit lame back then, so bad would have naturally attracted bad.

The Return: Taking a Mulligan

Fast-forward to the present, and here’s Ennis, back at the crime scene, as it were. And shockingly, his work’s not looking half bad. Sure, none of his British efforts have matched his American oeuvre. Yet, the bar has quite literally been sky-jacked. The recent Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley, though not a gem, is a solid effort. This revamp of the extended science fiction war serial penned by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons, traces the exploits of a blue-skinned, Genetic Infantryman, on the war-ravaged world of Nu Earth.

A Sketch of the Sci-fi War: Revamping Tradition

The Civil War backdrop pits our protagonist, a ‘Souther’, against the ‘Norts’. While Rogue Trooper seemed to operate on his own mission, the rest battled familiar enemies. Helping the Trooper are bio-chips, that breathe virtual life into slain G.I.s, complete with acquired knowledge and personality.

In all honesty, I wasn’t too sold on the original. Despite great visuals, the Old-school feel was off-putting, and the characterization somewhat bland. Yet, the series managed a fanbase strong enough for multiple comebacks and spin-offs.

Blighty Valley: Recreating the Narrative

You’re probably wondering, how does a second-rate series paired with a writer reknowned for great work elsewhere end up as anything but a disaster? Well, the beauty lies in shifting focus. Ennis, tweaking the sci-fi battle, morphs it into a historical World War I narrative, with the futuristic warrior flung back to the era of trench warfare.

Clichéd war characters like a hardened sergeant, a novice officer, a socialist and a royalist, populate the story, more symbolism than substance. Character development isn’t the forte here, rather it’s the interplay of ideologies that carries the narrative. A deft, if familiar game of chess, with Ennis as the grandmaster.

The Drawing Board: Meet Patrick Goddard

Solidifying this narrative is Illustration master Patrick Goddard. With two decades of 2000 AD experience, Goddard has lent his skills to serials like Sinister Dexter, Chopper, Judge Dredd, Anderson – generally playing Dr. Fix-It, stepping in when the regular artist is tied up. While never a revolutionary drawing board jockey, Goddard’s Blighty Valley contribution has certainly broken his own mold.

Maybe the stark black and white, or maybe the historical accuracy – there’s a vibe about Blighty Valley. Drawing obvious parallels with Joe Colquhoun’s Charley’s War, Blighty Valley is both an aesthetically pleasing and historically engaging experience.

From a Historical Recollection to a Futuristic Preview

Across the initial parts of Blighty Valley, one might suspect Ennis and Goddard of merely using Rogue Trooper as a front for an old-school war yarn. But as the tale unfurls, its purpose becomes unmissable. From the future soldier’s interaction with World War I warriors to lamentations about humanity’s lack of progress, the narrative leans heavily on the anvil of human advancement in warfare.

If anything, the forecast is grim; humanity seems hellbent on innovating ways to destroy itself. The non-ending nature of war, with plausible futures riddled with hellscape battlefields, is depressingly inescapable.

Blighty Valley: A Sobering Peep into the Future

The takeaway from Rogue Trooper then? History doesn’t arc, it simply lays a blood-red line. Future war stories, from Starship Troopers to All You Need is Kill embrace this macabre reality. They accept war as a constant, a reality etched into human history and future.

Blighty Valley refuses to entertain this plea bargain. It stares into the future of warfare, soberingly taking stock of the price we pay for lack of imagination and disregard for the past. As society lurches towards its own incarnation of Rogue Trooper, a chilling reminder lurks – fail to draw wisdom from the past, and each bloody step leads closer to the future of interminable war.