X-Men vs The Dire Wraiths tribute art

This is a commission art piece done by artist Peter Nguyen based on X-Men issue #188 which was the climatic ending of a 5 issue story arc (184,185, 186, 187, 188 all by John Romita Jr. and Chris Claremont) covering the assassination attempt on Forge by the dire wraiths. Ofcourse that broader story line of Forge's involvement in the Wraith War would continue in the pages of ROM. No ROM spaceknight collection is truly complete with out these important X-Men tie-in issues.

Just noticed this in the latest Incredible Hulk trade paper back (Future Imperfect) just published last month. The TPB includes the Rick Jones wedding issue and I was happy to see the panels with ROM were not left out but that didn't come as much of a surprise given that ROM was not in his cyborg armor. Although even that may have been an over site given that Marvel these days isn't even willing to have ROM in any new stories as even human and being referred to in some other way then the name "ROM". And I would know because I've suggested it to them only to have that idea flatly rejected back in 2011 and again 2012. But Marvel definitely made an over site in the back pages featuring reprinted clip art in black and white which has a panel with some skrulls impersonating superheroes that Rick Jones has been a side kick to over the years. Quick, somebody go tell Hasbro (just kidding like they'd care). Well Gary (a very dedicated ROM curator), even though you already have all the individual ROM related Hulk issues it looks like you're gonna have to open up your wallet yet again and add this TPB to your collection.

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February 14th Update: Started this sketch in the morning and finished it after I got home from work tonight. Just found my self in the mood to draw Storm today.

Those "critters" from X-Men 187-188

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Alright it's back to the wonderful 80s today! And this time I'm hoping I found a Rom related reference that even Gary Martin Jr. or Lee Sietz don't know about yet. So this morning I found an issue of New Mutants #24 in a 3 for $1 box while I was in S.F. when I noticed these panels that make an obvious reference to the Dire Wraiths. If you recall Uncanny X-Men 187-188 was part of the story arc involving an attempted assassination of Forge by the dire wraiths which was in part prevented by the timely arrival of The X-Men and Magik (Illyana Rasputin).
The pages of the X-Men wasn't the only time Magik would find herself battling those sorceress "critters". In Rom Annual #3 she helped Rom fend off some dire wraiths and escape from Limbo after having been sent there by Hybrid. After their return from Limbo they fought Hybrid together and along with the assistance of Brandy Clark defeated Hybrid's ugly ass  . . .
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2009/07/spaceknight-saturdays-many-happy.html

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So here's some fan art (unknown artist) I've appropriated from Gary's stash for this posting. To me this is an example of some art work that was so close to being great. I like the setting the artist put Rom in it certainly plays with your imagination. I like the detail on the armor and I also like the off center slightly over head point of view that's harder to pull off well then you think trust me on that. But there's a couple details when it comes to figure composition that don't quite settle with me. Rom's forehead is a bit too high and his arms are overly robust and long. So what do you think?

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8/19 Update: So I got an email earlier today from Gary Martin Jr. "A Rom curator" with some photos he took of some Guardians of The Galaxy HeroClix play sets he ordered online in order to obtain the Rom related figurines. So here we have the Ikon spaceknight figurine and of course you've seen the Dire Wraith one already. Just so you know there's a Dire Wraith Queen Volx figurine which is just a green colored version of the Dire Wraith sculpt and there's also 2 spaceknight warrior figurines that are gold colored and basically a version of the Ikon sculpt. You may have noticed in the bottom left hand corner of the information card a ROM #1 appearance mention for Ikon I assure you that's either some sort of misprint or somebody's idea of what would sound cool for gaming purposes or what not. I'm trying to keep this posting from getting any more long winded then it kinda is already and I don't think there's anyone here who plays HeroClix any ways so if you have any more questions I'm sure Gary will be happy to answer any questions you might have in the comments section.