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SPACEKNIGHTS #1 (of 3)
Written by JIM STARLIN & CHRIS BATISTA
CHRIS BATISTA (A)
Cover by CHRIS BATISTA
• The planet Galador rebuilds its elite defense force, recruiting a new generation of Spaceknights!
• Can Balin and Tristan, sons of legendary Spaceknight Starshine, live up to the legend of their family name?
• Collecting SPACEKNIGHTS (2000) #1-2.
48 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
I'd like to give a thanks to Dan from http://www.itsadansworld.net/ and Ptor from http://sanctumsanctorumcomix.blogspot.com/ for bringing this to my attention. Both of these gentlemen suggested this reprinting of the 2001 Spaceknights five issue mini-series may be a prelude of more ROM related things to come from Marvel. To be honest I find it hard to have any enthusiasm for this. This mini-series was a commercial failure back then (and with good reason) and since then Marvel has pretty much erased this continuity with the Annihilators story line. And in a way when I see stuff like this it makes me feel more frustrated over this whole ongoing licensing legal red tape bullshit . . .
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But when it comes to all the ROM related stuff outside of the Dire Wraiths since the character license was lost, Marvel has largely only sullied the legacy of the greatest of the spaceknights. The best examples is the before mentioned Starlin & Bastista mini-series and more recently The Annihilators and Hybrid's return in Avengers Academy. All of which by the way I have disregarded through the wonder known as krypto-revisionism (see 2/3/12 post). But all these failures still frustrate me because it's a constant reminder that there can be no doubt were it not for this legal issue ROM would still be a regular fixture in many of Marvel's cosmic story lines today.
Marvel's continued attempts to revive the ROM franchise with out ROM himself just goes to show how there are certainly those at Marvel right now who still think very highly of the work that Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema did. It also goes to show that they have at least some awareness of the enduring fan base out there too.
But in spite of all this Marvel still seems to think obtaining the rights somehow is still more trouble then it's worth. Marvel is a business so that's probably more a business decision then anything else. But please Marvel, moving forward here no more Manga inspired spaceknight armor or spaceknights that are easier to knock over then shopping mall security guards who are sleeping on the job.
Coming up next, ROM vs. ROBOCOP
Heh. I just had a really funny visual of a tin can spaceknight with his feet flailing in the air unable to upright himself after a bunch of punks knock him over outside the mall of America. Okay, maybe it's not all that funny, but you started it. And it'd make a funny satirical cartoon.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful shot at the top. I love the red line background. Very well done.
that's ok darlin that was fair game. hope there's been some let up from this heat over in your neck of the woods. i don't mean to make you feel bad but it's been low humidity sunny days and cool breezes over here. but then again we also get the through the roof real estate prices and psycho left winge fringe types over here too. just goes to show you it's always something. by the way might i invite you to take a gander over at It's a Dan's World blog there's some action over there you might wanna get in on.
DeleteOh yeah, the heat's gone down quite a bit. Running in the morning no longer immediately soaks my tank tops the minute I step out the door. Which is nice. And I'd trade lower taxes and less left wing psychos for it any day, although we have our fair share of those too. They're just less likely to camp out in the middle of the street. Thanks for the heads up on Dan's blog, btw. Sweet Robocop props!
DeleteWoah, they're re-releasing Spaceknights? That is surprising. Since it was a 5-issue series and they're re-publishing it as 3 issues, I wonder what they're going to pad the final issue with? At least, I assume they'd pad it to match the first two's page count. And I suppose it'd be too much to hope they'd fix some of the errors in it this time around.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find disappointing is that Disney could easily afford the rights to ROM and give it back to Marvel. I would love Essentials trades at least.
ReplyDeletehey there BigMike20X6. it always makes my day to see a first time commentator show up on this blog, welcome. yeah the whole thing is pretty disappointing. why they don't just try to obtain the rights i don't know but i do know based on feed back i got from some people at Marvel they won't publish ROM (as a spaceknight or human) himself with out the rights. i hope you'll revisit this blog i've got some more cool stuff coming up this weekend.
DeleteLee, whatever they come up with i'm sure it'll suck.
Disney could afford it - I hadt thought of that! If they could revive Tron!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Random, that top image is one of the best Ive seen.
Dang it, I forgot to ask. Where's that top-right image of the Dire Wraith montage from???
ReplyDeleteLee, i'm surprised at you! that's from the first page of ROM #47. by the way i borrowed some images from RSR for my next posting later today i'm sure you won't mind.
DeleteYou mean ROM #49. And I said top-RIGHT (not left). Thanks.
Deleteif you're talking about the fan art at the top of the posting i think you better dig back into your collection and look at the first page of #47. the dude made a duplicate and flipped it horizontally. it's a photoshop trick i've used before many times i recognize it when i see it.
Deleteas far as the Wraith montage goes that's a some cover art from an issue from the Fear It's Self series. there's a Dire Wraith working with Synn (the Red Skull's daughter). as far as i can tell no explanation has been offered how that came about.
Yeah, I'm not talking about the nice Rom art at the top, but the Dire Wraith montage (last image). HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME THERE WAS A DIRE WRAITH IN FEAR ITSELF??? Dammit, now I gotta go search down back issues of a series I had no interest in.
DeletePtor gave me a heads up several months ago over here about it. i was actually planning on blogging about it before but at the time i didn't feel like posting every time a Dire Wraith pops up in the Marvel Universe.
Deletei looked at some of the issues that included the Wraith character (name unknown). she doesn't play a huge part in it all really she seems to be basically a token Wraith presence. the coolest thing i saw having to do with her so far was when she tried to tongue spike Luke Cage. that didn't work out so well. i wouldn't let your self get caught up in trying to hunt all those down especially if you're not into the whole Fear It's Self story line. i think we'll be seeing a lot more Dire Wraiths in the Marvel Universe you'll up buying a lot of stuff you don't really want if you try to get all of it. and at this point there's no real ROM connection per se.
Rom # 47 huh I must admit I didn't recognize this montage of villians either. But I also agree that Disney could truly jump on this opertunity to add to there list of conquests. Amazing lists of Goods here brother! Can't wait for the Rom vs Robocop Ha!
ReplyDeletehey zhaanman i guess you were able to jump on somebody else's computer again huh? good to see you back here again.
Deleteon a general note to all of you don't count on Disney getting it right if they bought the rights to ROM. John Carter was the worst action adventure sci-fi film of the year and the biggest financial movie disaster since Water World. the president of Disney Movie Studios lost his job over this travesty of a movie.
I think this just goes to show the interest that is still out there for Rom & the Stellar Tin Cans. Even the people who are involved in creating the MU are still touching on aspects of the series. Most recently the Annihilators pretty much using everything BUT Rom and now a reprint of the Teenage Cyborg Samurai EMO's? To quote Nike....JUST DO IT!
ReplyDelete