ROM #32 Cover art re-imagined

I really like where the artist was going with this it's too bad they never quite got around to finishing it. I don't think I ever had a name to go along with this art work but if the artist should happen to find this posting please let me know who you are so that I can properly accredit your work here. At any rate good job this coould have made for a really good variant cover of this issue that features the return of one of ROM's most deadliest enemies.

A BIG thanks to all the commentators & what sets ROM apart from other toy based comic book titles

Thank you everybody who left a comment of support in the previous posting in regards to my ROM out of Limbo initiative. We can only hope that Marvel is paying attention because certainly they are aware of the cult following by now for this character. The Floating World fund raiser auctions for Bill Mantlo's medical care (all ROM fan art), the first Annihilators series, the continued presence of Ikon on the team and even Jonathan Hickman's nod to the ROM legacy in FF#9 which only came out a couple weeks ago is clear evidence of that. And the Dire Wraiths who are synonymous with ROM have been a pretty regular menace in the Marvel Universe for over 30 years now.
I know just as there are ROM fans out there, there are also those who don't understand all the bruhaha over him. All I can say is that for those of us who grew up with him he was the Optimus Prime/Robocop of his time. Like Optimus he was a powerful and noble figure with obvious leadership qualities but as a cyborg he also was in constant torment like Robocop always yearning for his former life as a man. As a kid you could look up to him but also relate to him as a stranger in a strange land who was often uncomfortable in his own "skin".
Also consider this when thinking about comic book titles that are based on toy lines which basically fall into two groups. On one hand you had comic book titles that had the benefit of toy lines that enjoyed some success on the market first. In the case of The Transformers and G.I.Joe we're talking about wildly successful toy lines. In other cases like The Micronauts and Shogun Warriors it was toy lines that enjoyed at least some success for a period of time. But there's more titles then I can remember that were based on toy lines that were virtually D.O.A when they hit the market for which the comic titles they inspired soon followed usually cancelled within 4 to 9 issues. The Inhumanoids, Visionaries, Sectaurs and Air Raiders are among the many who are good examples of that. Don't feel bad if you don't remember or otherwise have never heard of these titles you obviously didn't miss much.
But not ROM Spaceknight! Despite being based on a single electronic doll that was poorly marketed and fell flat with the public his series never the less spanned 75 monthly issues and 4 annuals. And that was over 25 years ago and as you've read already in this posting ROM still has plenty of staying power despite this licensing bullshit that's dogged the mythology. All we can do at this point is hope that my correspondence with Dan Abnett will be the first step to something great happening in the near future as opposed to just going nowhere. Any new information that comes my way on the matter I'll be sure to post it here right away.
Another good reason why Marvel needs to bring ROM back is because he's bad ass rather a spaceknight or human. At one point during the series ROM makes a deal with Quasimodo The Living Computer to exchange his armor in return for being cloned from the living cells contained within the armor. The deal goes bad when ROM realizes that his new body is faulty and starts to decay. Despite this however when ROM crosses paths with Dr. Dredd (a wraith warlock) who he instinctively recognizes as a Dire Wraith he attacks him unarmed with out hesitation. Despite Dredd's shape shifting abilities and ROM's dying body ROM manages to strangle Dredd to death with his bare hands! In or out of Galadorian armor ROM is bad ass and that's why Marvel needs to man the f__k up and get him out of legal limbo and back into the mainstream Marvel Universe again!

Barring anything Earth shattering ROM related falling into my lap I'm probably gonna be on something of a hiatus for a while but I'll still be checking and responding to comments.

Dan Abnett's response to my idea about how to bring back ROM! Hope we can hopefully believe in

I just came up with the idea of trying to contact Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning on FB yesterday and woe and behold look who I hear back from first thing early in the morning about taking my idea to Marvel's legal department. I replied to Dan by letting him know about what I've seen and heard about the buzz surrounding ROM on this blog as well as stuff like the Comics Alliance ROM http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/03/09/rom-spaceknight-comics/ posting just before the 1st Annihilators series and more recently what went on at Jim Shooter's blog http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/06/coming-of-rom-knights-tale.html So let's just hope Marvel's legal department seriously takes this under consideration. So while we wait here's some for your viewing pleasure in the mean time . . . .

Left click on FB screen image capture to magnify This is a commission piece that had been worked on for some untold melania now by Scott Rosema for Tony who is one of the billions of followers of this blog. But now that it's done we can all marvel at it. There's so much cool stuff going on I don't even now where to start. The colors are the first thing that really grabs me about this. The flames on Firefall, Starshine's light eyes or the reflections on the Deathstar like flooring are just a few of the features that makes this such an awesome illustration to ogle at. Be especially mindful of how the artist maintained the integrity of the Galadorian Hall of Science setting and the attention to detail. Tony, the proud owner of this piece has a few words he wants to share with the viewers,
"This is another awesome commission piece done by Scott Rosema for my buddy Tony the Fyrfall. Set in the Hall of Science, we can see the Spaceknights defending their human remains against some unseen threat. Notice the attention to details like the reflections, colors, wall art, and names on the crypts."

ROM referrences from new comic book day this week, new digital art & my Youtube rant

I was tinkering around with this ROM drawing from his page in the Marvel Universe Handbook (#9 Vol. 1) art work. I ended up giving the drawing a black back ground, glowing eyes and some Micronaut style fonts. Then I came across what I think is the coolest Torpedo custom figure I've seen out there. And believe it or not this one is at least 1 of the 3 that I know of. His visor looks especially awesome! So I thought it might be cool to dress up the image with some cool fonts along with some lighting affects.
The link below will take you to my Youtube video on Annihilators Earthfall #1. I'm not happy with the decreased pg count and the cover price along with the RR back story but for what it's worth it did have some high points such as this nod to the ROM legacy with this line IKON drops on these aliens which happen to be disguised as humans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2ueLWAmq9o

And here's something I just learned about Friday afternoon thanks to a comment left on the last posting before this one by a fellow who goes by the name of Brandon. The comment was vague but it prompted me to check out FF#9 on Youtube where I fortunately found a reviewer (majinoni6) who pointed this out. What you see here is one of several Reed Richards from different dimensions involved in some sort of conflict with the Inhumans. There is a sect of Dire Wraiths who are part of some alien cult that worships King Black Bolt. As you can see here "Reed" turns a familiar looking weapon on some Dire Wraiths. We've been seeing the Dire pop up in the FF series a couple of times now and I know we'll be seeing more of them in issues 10 & 11.
So if you've seen my Annihilator Earthfall Youtube video you know I'm not too happy with Marvel right now. But I must say this homage to ROM has made some in roads to Marvel getting back on my good graces. So last year we had Darkstar: Winter Guard and this year we've got the Annihilators and now this. It seems if nothing else the ROM buzz has made it's way to Marvel's high ups in the last year or two so I guess that's cause for some cautious optimism. Operative word here "cautious".