Rom return hype inspired fan art

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I just found this on Deviant Art toward the end of the weekend. Apparently the artist had caught wind of the recent Rom return hype and put this together as a result. Ya know it's that whole inspiration thing. However, I'm of the opinion all this hype is much to do about nothing and I sure hope when that sinks in with Rom fans who are artist nobody goes cutting their ears off. Regardless of the hype turning into anything or not this illustration turned out pretty good so I'm featuring it here accordingly, good job callmepo.

On a side note here I just wanted to mention my latest discount back issue score. Last week in S.F. I found G.I.Joe #2, 26 and 27in a 3 for $1 box. I used to have #1 so it was nice to be able to read #2 finally after all these years and it was quite good. It's probably been about 20 years since I last read 26 & 27 (first origin story of Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow) but I think it was an even a better read for me now then it was to me back then. Great stuff, a damn shame the movie sucked ass.

New found Rom easter eggs, house ads and more cool stuff

I want to thank Rom curator Gary Martin Jr. for all the tedious and time consuming leg work he did to uncover these little gems of 80s nostalgia. This comes from the first page of Marvel No Prize #1 published in 1983. I can't imagine you'll have much trouble finding the Easter Egg here.  Next up from Gary we have . . .

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 Not including the Parker Brothers full page ad did you know that there were between 7-8 Rom house ad varieties published during the 1980s? However out of all the ones I have seen this one here is the only one I am aware of that didn't feature Rom himself in it. This Micromails page reminded me of something I keep forgetting for some reason I'm always assuming Rom and The Micronauts came out pretty much the same time. Not so, Micronauts #1 debuted January 1979 where as Rom #1 came along in December that year. In a day and age where new comics give me little to look forward to finding stuff like this is more priceless then any gimmick in a Master Card commercial.

Here's something else I also got from Gary a while back but have been holding on to. But I figured this posting is a good a time as any to share this with you all. What you see here is a panel from issue #1 from the Mephisto vs. Fantastic Four mini series published in 1987. The narrating here is by Mephisto himself and he's making a direct reference to Fantastic Four #277 which as many of you know had a very direct Wraith War cross over story line. As the World Merge came closer to completion Dire Wraith sorcery increased in strength which in turn Mephisto was able to draw upon. But the banishing of Wraith World by Rom's neutralizer turned the tide of war against both the Dire Wraiths and Mephisto's battle with the FF.

More Rom return hype or just a homage cameo?

Well here's the latest folks. I'll direct you to the Comics Alliance posting and let you draw your own conclusions about if this article is worth the paper it's printed on  . . so to speak.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/11/20/parting-spaceknight-shot-rom-returns-age-of-ultron-preview-art/

AMAZING ROM 3D RENDERINGS by John Bungers

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 A big thanks to Lee Seitz for giving me a heads up about this which he found on Twitter. There's more to see just go to this guy's 3D Rom blog posting and be sure to let him know how much you love it: http://johnbungerssketchbook.blogspot.com/2012/11/rom-proactive-continuity.html?showComment=1353208895779#c4255237451394423391

Nov. 7th Hasbro filed for a new trademark to ROM

Nov.17th Update: This is now the second time I've re-written this introduction for this posting. it's looking more and more like this is nothing but hype over nothing. The news is as follows which I found at Comics Alliance:

On my wish list of things I want to see in comics, the return of ROM is pretty close to the top, but due to a notoriously complicated licensing deal, the Greatest of the Spaceknights has been trapped in publication limbo for the past two decades. Now, however, it looks like there might be some progress: On November 7, Hasbro filed for a new trademark for ROM.

And unlike many of their other properties, ROM is a lot more likely to be heading back to comics than he is with toys.

I've covered this before on CA, but unlike other Hasbro properties like G.I. Joe and Transformers, ROM was never all that successful as a toy. Despite the allure of light-up eyes and "strange electronic sounds," ROM was a flop as an action figure. It was only when Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema brought ROM to comics that he was really successful, running for 75 issues.

The problem -- from a trademark standpoint, at least -- is that Mantlo dropped ROM directly into the Marvel Universe. Since the character was a blank slate with vague descriptions of "sending evil creatures to the Shadow Zone," everything that made ROM distinctive to fans, from the planet Galador to the Dire Wraiths to his relationship with Brandy Clark, is tied into the larger Marvel Universe and is still owned by the House of Ideas today.

It's certainly conceivable that Hasbro could be angling to bring ROM back to toys, but the real heart of the character is currently in those comics that nobody can reprint. Even if ROM joined his fellow properties at IDW, he wouldn't be able to bring those distinctive elements with him. Dire Wraiths are, after all, just Skrulls with witchity powers, and ROM even hung out with Rick Jones for five years. You don't get more Marvel Universe than that. Then again, there's nothing saying that they couldn't license him back to Marvel. You'd have to think it'd make both companies more money than the zero dollars that ROM's bringing in while he languishes in the unprintable shadow zone.

And just to add another wrinkle to the mix, rumor swirling around that Disney -- Marvel's parent company since 2009 -- is looking to follow up their $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm by buying Hasbro, too. If they do, then one of the many results of billions of dollars being spent by gigantic mass media conglomerates will be that ROM and the Marvel Universe will once again be back under the same roof. Of course, that rumor has been officially denied, but you never know.

Of course, the whole thing could just be routine bookkeeping to make sure that a potentially valuable trademark doesn't lapse. Either way, anything that brings us one step closer to finally getting one of my favorite comics (plus Power Man & Iron Fist #73) reprinted is worth keeping an eye on.

My apologies to Rick Hansen and Omega Agent 1 who already left comments under the previous posting expressing their jubilation. Omega Agent 1 left this link from another news story about the ROM trademark Hasbro filing: http://that-figures.blogspot.com/2012/11/news-rom-spaceknight-to-return.html

Hybrid from the OHOTMU and some good news from Rockaway New York

By Brian Ahern left click to enlarge

Hybrido (Espanol), don't you just love the way that rolls off the tongue? Just say it with me . . ."Hybrido". So anyways if you remember a couple postings back I said I wasn't going to get the OHOTMU issue featuring the Hybrid bio page. Well as you can see here I had a change of heart. For years now the entries for ROM, The Torpedo and the Spaceknights of Galador from various editions of OHOTMU have been all over the internet. So I thought maybe it was time for the OHOTMU Hybrid profile to takes it's place on the internet too. Having been published in 2006 I'm delighted to see that his history ends right after his encounter with Nate Grey in X-Man #31 which was a great story and far superior to the shit that Marvel came up with this year in Avenger Academy. Just one more reasons why I just stick to back issue bins when I buy comics these days.

Just got this message from Michael Mantlo this morning on Facebook:

Michael Mantlo

3:59am Nov 10

I only heard from them on Thursday, as their phones have been out since Sandy hit. The facility came through unscathed, and more importantly, Bill is fine! There was no evacuation, and no loss of power, so life went on pretty much as usual. Thanks for the concern, and for continuing to keep Bill in your thoughts. I am heading up there today, and will gladly convery your best wishes to him for his birthday!

New ROM 1980s cosplay photo found and more!

I must say I'm continuously surprised with how much ROM related stuff there still is out there. I've been on a real role lately just when I think I've seen it all something new turns up rather it be some new fan art, something in a back issue bin or a vintage photo like this.And as a follow up to the Marvel Hype Box I added in the last posting I also came across this posting from the very same blog. It seems Mantlo's work on ROM and The Micronauts served him well as the writer for the original Transformers mini-series which I loved back in the day along with the toys. Here's an excerpt of the 1984 Marvel Age #17 article but for the full story go to the link below: http://starlogged.blogspot.com/2012/03/transformers-arrive-in-marvel-age.html

Up next from the pages of the All New Official Marvel Universe Handbook . . . HYBRID!

Worlds Collide Magazine 1982 Bill Mantlo interview

Well folks, no knew news from the East Coast as far as the Mantlo family goes as of yet but I shall remain vigilant on the matter. I just tried calling the nursing home and all I get is a busy signal. So as we wait for what hopefully will be some good news allow me to share my latest find from Mantlo's amazing career. If this posting looks a little different then how it did earlier today in regards to the featured article the 2nd and 3rd comments will explain it all. To see the blog spot posting where I found this article at go here: http://starlogged.blogspot.com/2012/10/1982-bill-mantlo-interview-in-worlds.html?showComment=1352186568782#c2907470384417847627 

A special thanks to Bruce who runs the Los admiradores de Bill Mantlo site (see first link in blog role) and to the Evil King Microcranios. EKM who loves all things robots also has some love for the greatest of the spaceknights as you will see here in his latest blog posting: http://pleasesavemerobots.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-robotastic-palmconocalypse.html I found this nice little Marvel Hype Box tid bit in ROM #57 that I thought you might enjoy.

I'm going to leave the excerpts of my favorite parts of the Q n A article with Mantlo here as you see below. The Bill Mantlo interview aside this blog in general is pretty cool. It features lots of great comic book and TV/movie sci-fi retro stuff from the 80. Guaranteed to bring back some fond memories. 

Just a quick heads up! I've been spending part of my day roaming through the blog I found this article at to see what else I could find and my patience and persistence finally paid off! I'll post what I found in the next day or two.

The Mantlo family and hurricane Sandy

After inquiring to Michael Mantlo on Facebook how he and Bill are doing in the face of hurricane Sandy I received this message only a few moments ago this Sunday morning.

"Have had no contact with them since the storm hit. Phone lines were still down yesterday, and I don't know if power has been restored yet. I will update everyone as soon as I learn something new."

Accordingly I will update this posting as more news comes my way from Michael. Along with all the other people effected by Sandy please keep Bill Mantlo and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers. As you all know they've been through quite a bit already even before Sandy hit.