Saturday, January 28, 2012

The ROM Spaceknight legacy, either do it right or don't do it at all!

After having looked at an Avengers Academy #25 preview which concludes the Hybrid story arc I started reflecting on what Marvel has done with the ROM Spaceknight legacy over the years. First of all this was a pretty good read but would it have killed Marvel to have Hybrid on at least one of the 3 covers for that story line? Not too mention an actual explanation of how Hybrid returned would have been nice given that he was psi-blasted to atoms by Nate Grey in X-Man 31* (1997). Don't bother looking at Marvel's updated wiki page on Hybrid that won't shed any light on his return either.
Marvel's efforts on the Rom continuity has been a mixed bag but quite frankly some of it I'd like to pretend never happened like the recent Avengers Academy issues. Among the other forgettable continuities was the 2000 Spaceknights mini-series along with their appearance in the Annihilation Wave . The follow up Annihilation Conquest saga basically introduced the spaceknights we would see in the first Annihilators mini-series which seem like was Marvel's way of saying that the 2000 mini-series had indeed been forgotten. But aside from Ikon those spaceknights were pretty lame too, about as useful as red shirted security guards from the original Star Trek series. And then there was the unexplained return of the Dire Wraith Queen Volx in the Annihilators mini-series who was killed at the end of the New Warriors series years before. I hate that kind of shit as if the writers don't think we'll notice logic gaps like that.
Then of course there's what I would describe at this point as Marvel stone walling us about why they're unwilling to bring ROM back in some kind of incarnation. Now for the most part I don't have a problem with how Marvel has handled peripheral elements of the ROM legacy such as the Dire Wraiths, The Torpedo armor, Hybrid and the neo-neutralizer over the years in New Warriors Vol. 1* . The story line in the 2010 Darkstar: Winter Guard mini-series* that revolved around the abandoned Wraith base (The Citadel) in Russia from ROM 42-46 was a pretty good way to introduce the Dire Wraith again into the Marvel Universe. And later again in Fantastic Four 577* (2010) as part of the Universal Inhumans. But right now I'm pretty much at a point where I'm feeling like it would have been better had Marvel just left Rom, Brandy and Galador continuity alone after the Rick Jones Wedding in Hulk 418* (1994) wedding appearance so that we the fans could just assume that they lived happily ever after while over seeing Galador's reconstruction era.
In fact, I think that works for me so as far as I'm concerned I'll throw both Avengers Academy and Annihilators mini-series into that pile of forgettable Rom continuity story lines. All that could have been part of some sort of Marvel alternate universe spin off and what not for all I care. As for Christos Gage (writer of Avengers Academy), Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Annihilators) . . seriously guys, either do it right or don't do it at all!

* denotes all the fairly well done Rom related continuities

8 comments:

  1. Hmmm I'm inclined to agree Dave to many storyline like to piggyback on none characters to carry on their story lines! Yet you get a writer who doesn't care enough to give a logical explanation for that character from past history!

    Some are worthy, some are for nostalgic reason like us the artist or writer just thought why not! But come on, don't just stick your toe in and call yourself wet, Jump in I knew I'd love them for it! Like you mentioned about the Dire Wraith lab in Russia that was Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Even more frustrating for me as a Rom fan is the way that Ikon has pretty much alluded to the demise of Rom by calling herself "the greatest LIVING Spaceknight" and the resemblance of her armor to Rom's. Why even bother with these characters if you're not going to do them justice?

    The inclusion of the Gen3 Spaceknights from the Limited series in the Annihilation saga really shortchanged just how powerful the Originals were. Rom stood toe to toe with Gladiator and a wounded and dying Plor actually took out an entire Shi'ar Imperial Guard SINGLE HANDEDLY. The Gen3 were about worthless and should go back to their Manga-Inspired universe. While it has never been stated, I really think that the Ikon/Daystar version of the Spaceknights should really be considered as FOURTH Generation. Their armor bears no similarities with the Teen/Angst Gen3 group and really seemed much more powerful than the previous iterations in the Limited Series.

    I would be happy if they at least paid tribute to Rom and then revitalized the Spaceknights into the powerful noble warriors we all came to love. What better heros could Marvel use that identifies with the times we live in? The Spaceknights were NOBLE, HONORABLE, SELF-SACRIFICING. That is what we need today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks for that very comprehensive comment maybe i should have had you write this posting.
      i never had that spaceknight mini-series and the spaceknight stuff from the Annihilation Wave and Conquest story lines was with me for a short while on loan. i've already removed my Annihilators mini-series issues from my ROM collection (tie-ins included) which are all contained in a single box. i didn't bother with any of the Annihilators Earthfall mini-series after the first issue.
      none of that shit deserves to be in my ROM collection anymore like i said in my posting as far as i'm concerned it never happened. fuck gage, fuck abnett & lanning and Marvel for sullying the legacy of Bill Mantlo's work.

      Delete
  3. David,

    Years ago I became aware of the concept of Krypto-revisionism. Trust me, it helps. :)

    http://www.indopedia.org/index.php?title=Krypto-revisionism

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i just checked out that link that was fantastic and so applicable here. thank you, i'm so glad you decided to visit here again. i hope you had a chance to check out the Rom tribute video i made in December. Bill Mantlo was quite pleased with it according to his brother Michael.

      Delete
    2. Hey David,

      Glad you liked that Krypto-revisionism link. It's really the only thing that makes sense, especially when you have decades of continuity with which to contend.

      I watched your tribute video. Great stuff! And, it's quite cool that Bill Mantlo got to see it and enjoyed it!

      In your most recent post regarding Avengers Academy, that's just another case in for which Krypto-revisionism can be applied. William Rosemann's reply to you was encouraging and classy, so that's cool.

      One day, ROM will return. As Bors said to Percival in EXCALIBUR, "Never give up the quest!" :)

      Delete
  4. Reminds me of a line from Mythbusters.... "I REJECT your reality and substitute my own!"

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for those comments Dana P. & Graphics Whiz they made me feel a little bit better. i gotta tell ya thursday night when i was browsing through that Avengers Academy #25 i was just seeing red as if my letter to Rosemann was ample evidence of that.

    ReplyDelete