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It's so disheartening to see what has ultimately become of the legacy today of the original ROM spaceknight series. Take the term spaceknight for example. It seems like any cosmic crusader can claim that title these days from Venom to some no names in the Guardians of the Galaxy series or even by some "disavowed of Galadoria" chumps getting their asses kicked by the fake Nova Sam Alexander. As far as I'm concerned this ROM in name only "the" spaceknight is just the latest illegitimate incarnation the only difference is it comes from IDW publishing instead of Marvel.
But all that being said this posting is for the purpose of soliciting feed back from those of you who decided to buy the first issue and have read it. Did it suck? Was it surprisingly good (highly doubtful)? Not great but better then you expected? And of course I want to know the why behind your opinion. Personally I've seen enough between the zero issue and the previews pages from issue #1 not to mention my correspondences with whoever handles the letters at IDW to know this supposed ROM reboot is not for me but I still want to hear from you.
Ya know I really gotta wonder when a review of #1 is done by someone who claims that ROM has nostalgic value from his child hood but writes stuff like this "His design is a bit updated, leaving the beloved mitten hands behind but
ROM’s Analyzer and Neutralizer weapons make a triumphant return". A "triumphant" return, really? It gets even better as he goes on to say "Well, this version from IDW is definitely pulling all the right nostalgia strings for me". This guy might remember seeing some ROM comics on the shelf back in his child hood and maybe he browsed through some but anything more then that I just find hard to believe
http://www.firstcomicsnews.com/?p=227609
I agree with you. This is the not the mitten handed Spaceknight I know and love.
ReplyDeletehey Cal long time no see i'm glad to see you're still keeping up with all things ROM related. i actually could have gotten used to ROM now having fingers and i was still pretty enthusiastic about the new series after the zero issue cover art was released. but that all changed once i got a look at what he's really gonna look like when the interior art started to show up on the internet. i've hated everything i've seen from IDW since then that has to do with their misguided version of ROM and here we are today. this is an epic ROM reboot fail from where i'm standing.
DeleteJust finished reading issue #1, and I'm squarely in the opposite camp and I've been a ROM fan since I first read the Marvel stuff growing up. Cover art was fantastic, interior art mostly just okay, with a few panels that were really good. They need to work on the top of the head, it get what they're trying to do, but it comes off awkward, particularly at certain angles. Story wise, it felt like ROM, his stilted speech especially. I had my doubts about ROM without the Marvel universe, but the issue wrapped up pretty neatly, with different folks stepping up to take S.H.I.E.L.D.'s place with the government reaction to ROM's arrival. So yeah, I liked it, can't wait for more, but to each their own.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. To me no matter how good the story might be I can't get passed the way Rom looks but I appreciate the detailed feed back never the less.
DeleteOK, here's my take. It wasn't horrible but I had already set my expectations low so my level of disappointment wasn't as bad as it could have been. I'm really not a fan of the artwork which also doesn't help. When they do closeups on the equipment its like they are trying to make it appear as though it grows out of the armor (think nanites) but the views just leave you wondering what it is you are actually seeing. Then there's the "Butterflizer". in Rom the Original (RtO) the Neutralizer was a hefty imposing piece of equipment that could command your attention the moment it materialized from subspace. This...THING looks like Psylocke's magenta mental energy mated with a Schick razor. Certainly not imposing. Then there's Rom's head. 'nuff said.
ReplyDeleteThe Dire Wraiths do seem to be more of a threat than the RtO (until the females took over) and unfortunately they seem to be more interesting at this point than the title character. As for the supporting cast, none of them will make you forget Brandy Clark and Steve Jackson. There also seems to be a concerted effort of "inclusiveness" and "PC" involved in the creation of the secondary characters. Its NOT a BAD thing, it just seems like an overt attempt to appeal to everyone yet alienate the very base that was supposed to be the reason Rom was brought back. That is probably just my take on it as that is an issue that just bugs me.
There was also a nice little tribute nugget where one scene takes place in "Mantlo Park". But the whole "Solstar Order" just doesn't feel right. It was never in RtO and I really don't think it should be in this one. There is also a blurb by a Wraith where it talks about Rom fighting an "old war" and this is "new" which seemed like a jab at the fans that wanted a version closer to RtO.
There also seems to be a dedicated attempt to make tie-ins as I believe we see some G.I. Joe taking what was SHIELDS place. In some ways it seemed like they tried too hard to throw in a lot of gratuitous fanboyish stuff that was too much too soon.
All in all I think its worth giving it a few shots to see where they decide to take it and how they develop the characters. It is NOT RtO, nor will I ever expect it to be. Hopefully we will have something along the lines of AbramsTrek, where it is entertaining yet not really the vision of the original.
Well I wasn't a fan of the direction Abrams took Star Treck into but I understand what you're saying. Thanks for the detailed feedback I'm sure I'll read the first issue myself someday. Probably around the time I find a copy in a dollar box.
DeleteI'm not a fan of the Abramsverse either. It is entertaining, but NOT Trek. That was also my feel of NuROM. To be honest, and I know I keep going back to it, that Onyx mini really didn't help.
Deleteto me the only thing that was good about those movies was the casting they played younger versions of the main characters brilliantly. i especially loved Karl Urban as Dr. Doctor McCoy he was also awesome in Dredd he is such an underrated actor. really sad about that freak accident in regards to the actor who played Checkov so much potential cut short. i got an email this morning from the owner of my LCS telling me he still has some copies of ROM #1 i just told him not to bother saving any for me since the zero issue sucked so bad.
DeleteFinished the ROM #1 by IDW. The art is very very uneven: some panels are okey-ish other are purely garbage. The Dire Wraith design sucks although it borrows heavily from their latest non-foggy form which is not my favorite. I have to say the art is waaaaay bellow what Sal Buscema offered and even sometime worst than Ditko's run. The art really threw me off from the get go. The writers try however to tell a (good) story but they obviously don't have Bill Mantlo's storytelling skills. The few secondary characters introduced here bring hope that this can get somewhere descent if given time. I tried a second reading acting as if I didn't know anything of the previous ROM comics but unfortunately the feeling that this is a rushed work stays the same. Overall I give it 4 outta 10. Let's make it a 3 because ROM new design sucks major balls. Peace.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jam mastap that was not only thorough but also entertaining as well. I didn't buy it but I did have a look at the issue and over all I would at least say the art improved noticeably from that zero issue. However, I agree with most everything else you said it's hard for me to comprehend any old school ROM fan being into this IDW just made too many changes was it too much to ask for at least Rom's a hardware to be summoned from sub space?
DeleteMine arrived via the post today and first thing I didnt care for at the start was the whole issue 0 reprinted as a epilogue. The art varies in panel to panel nothing close to our pal. The story is pretty solid though.ROM acts like ROm for the most part. The ending wad a Palmer from John Carpenters The Thing "you got be fucking kidding me" momment. That is my favorite movie ever but this is about issue 1 ROM. The IDW joined universe is wasting no time on that front here including the Revolution preview. Oddly I prefer its art vs issue 1 ROM. The best part of the issue was the letter page by Chris. He explains a few things like why they reprinted issue 0 her.Apparently its hard to come by?hun? He also mentions how many thought they would not be able to do him justice. His love of rom and where its going. Seems earthfall last from 1 to 4 then issue 5 is post revolution. I must add I did enjoy the part where ROM wipes out everybody(they already took us over) and a PTSD girl as witness. He pulls no punches doing what must be done. Its like the "massace "already happened before he even arrived. Even without the marvel backstory he still feels like ROM and thats the biggest praise I can give.
ReplyDeleteHey Joseph it's funny you said that about the zero issue there was a pretty big stack on a counter at a comic shop I was at just over a week ago. Obviously they were free for the taking. Thanks for your feed I browsed through a copy this weekend but I didn't buy it ofcourse it just deosnt feel like Rom to me.
DeleteI feel really bad for Gary with how many prints of those same pages he will have. I honsetly set my exceptions very low. The art to the revolution was SO much better. Come on do a spaceknight a solid with that man . ROM behaved as ROM though. He didnt explain shit killing tons of human looking aliens. The tree was bizzare as if saying the wraiths can now copy plants
DeleteI hear ya! I've tried suggesting to Gary he be a curator of classic Rom only and not this redundant cover variant bullshit from IDW. He's gonna put himself in the whore house.... I'm sorry I meant to say poor house. I can't even fathom giving IDW any where near that kind of money for that RINO I don't even want to buy s single issue. It's like with new comics from marvel and DC it's become a matter of principle.
DeleteYou have my eternal sympathies Shlomo, you truly do regarding this brother:(
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a blog for ROM fans who weren't dicks? I expected the... older generation who weren't in diapers like me when the original ROM was on the stands to get antsy, but the older generation of comics readers never fails to live down to my expectations with their gatekeeping and clinging to their youths, never letting anyone else have one. *sighs*
ReplyDelete