Something Dire This Way Comes

Last weekend I got this idea to do a spot light piece for the dire wraiths. I wanted to do something in particular that was as menacing and creepy as possible with out depicting any sort of out right gore. My fan art that includes the wraiths usually features them getting banished, dismembered, stabbed or blown up so I decided to do something a bit different this time. Ofcourse I could never do anything that would come even close to the days of Bill Mantlo's writing, Sal Buscema's pencils with Akin & Garvey inks. But I'm pretty happy with this sci-fi horror movie poster kinda look that resulted from my efforts.

 

 

It's been quite a while since we've seen ROM or any reference to him in any sort of publication. But at least in this month's issue of BACK ISSUE magazine 137 he gets a name drop in an article about Power Lords which was a short lived toy line that DC Comics made into a 3 issue mini-series. It's nice to see that ROM still gets some recognition today when it comes to published articles about comics from licensed properties of the 70s and 80s despite more then two decades of Marvel's poor attempts at continuity for the original series and ofcourse idw's atrocious reboot. All of which can be said for The Micronauts as well.

And speaking of invasions by evil and vile creatures, please stand with Ukraine.

 

Nichelle Nichols passes away at 89 but leaves a legacy for the ages

I had just completed putting this posting together prior to the sad news about Nichelle Nichols having passed away so for this posting I'm going to lead with her. I've been a Star Trek fan for pretty much all my life although my interest in Star Trek came on a bit more gradually and a bit later in my adolescence then in the case of Star Wars. I know that given the age of the original cast members that this sort of news shouldn't come as a huge surprise but it still feels like a punch bellow the waist.

Did you know that after season 1 of the original series that Nichols considered leaving the show despite Gene Roddenberry begging her to stay? Apparently it was Martin Luther King who ultimately convinced her to stay on the show. It can't be understated enough how much of a pioneer Nichelle Nichols has been in the history of America's civil rights movement with everything from the first interacial kiss on TV to her efforts for creating more diversity at NASA. She was 89, so when you think of all she achieved both professionally and personally you have to take into account what was going on in America in her life time as a black woman. A beautiful human being both inside and out, Nichelle Nichols leaves an amazing legacy for not just Star Trek fans but also for great achievements off screen to. 

 

 

 

Well the last posting featured fan made cover variant so why not one more to open up this posting to? This was originally a black n' white sketch card https://www.deviantart.com/nikoskap/art/Micronauts-sketch-card-922465755

But I felt it had potential to be something more so I colored it and added the other necessary embellishments to give it that Marvel 80s touch.

 

Here's my latest envelope fan art. This one has an 80s properties or what might be today a "Hasbroverse" kinda theme to it. I think the "Hasbroverse" concept works better as envelope fan art then it does as an actual story line we all remember what a train wreck that was with IDW.

No photoshop nonesense going on here. The Godzilla prop on top of that high rise and the full size Gundamn robot are both quite real. A friend of mine is on an extended stay in Japan right now and he's been sending me some fantastic photos in recent weeks. Some have to do with all things in Japan that are related to the comic book/sci-fi/fantasy genre. Of those, I wanted to share these two in particular because this stuff is awesome and you'll only find in Japan. Those must have been a Hell of a sight to see in person.

 

 Just on a whim today I decided to revisit a fan art piece that I did 11 years ago although it doesn't feel like it was that long ago. I was always happy with how Ikon came out from a figure composition stand point but I kinda lost my focus with the other elements in the sketch piece and as a result it never did look quite right to me plus it also felt like it was missing something to. you can see the original here romspaceknightart.blogspot.com

IKON was Marvel's attempt to fill the Greatest of The Spaceknights void. And at times there was some promising moments as we saw IKON team up with cosmic powerhouses like Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Quasar, Silver Surfer and Ronin. We even at one point got to see her lead a task force of classic spaceknights giving us a bit of the old Mantlo magic from the original series. But that was very short lived and Marvel true to form fucked it all up with her apparent untimely demise along with Galador. We would see a couple brief unexplained appearances not long after that and then that was it. Haven't seen her since 2014 so fuck you very much Marvel Comics. And don't think I forgot about you also IDW with your shitty ROM and Micronauts reboot fails you fucken suck also.

 

 

WELL SAID!

The Greatest of the Spaceknigts unleashed

Well just for starters I'm revisiting my ROM Spaceknight 16 cover variant (or re-cover) which is 10 years old now. It's always been one of my favorite fan art efforts.

But I also have some brand new kick ass Marvel 80s extravaganza fan art to showcase today thanks to my fellow artist in Greece (see link below). Here we have something of a mutliverse team-up cross over with G.I.Joe's Snake-Eyes and a number of Marvel superheroes. Now there's so many different story concepts that could work for what's going on in this scene but clearly these guys are getting ready to face some unseen menace. A menace that could be anything from Cobra, the Dire Wraiths, another russian invasion or for all we now the insurrectionist MAGA nut jobs from January 6th in Washington D.C. 

https://www.deviantart.com/nikoskap/gallery

June 25th Update:  I gotta tell ya, thanks to Disney Plus I've learned to love the Star Wars franchise again. Rogue 1 was clearly just a flash in the pan in what has other wise been an utterly miserable series of cinematic disasters for nearly 20 years now. I ended up liking the Kenobi series way more then I thought I would and the last two episodes just really hit it out of the park. Ofcourse I loved the Mandalorian from the very start and despite some of the belly aching from the fan base I think there was far more about The Book of Boba Fett to like then to dislike. Last night I was looking at Mandalorian fan art on deviant art and got the idea for this sketch card. I believe this is my first ever ROM Star Wars cross over fan art effort. It's about damn time!

July 7th Update:  Just did this Uncanny X-Men 222 homage cover art Wraith War sketch card on the fly last night. Getting home from work at a reasonable hour does wonders for the imagination. This dire wraith is going to be in for some serious disappointment if it tries to tongue spike Wolverine's adamantium laced skull.

Not too long after I posted my new sketch card today I found out the sad news about James Caan passing away at 82. I sure wish the media would mention some of his other movies that I really liked such as Rollerball, Alien Nation and Eraser. I enjoyed the Alien Nation TV series as well along with at least the first made for TV spin off movie. I think actors Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint did a pretty good job of reproducing the chemistry of Caan and Patinkin.

The Marvel Team Up issue you never saw coming

It's been a long time since any brand new ROM related fan art has come along that I thought was pretty good outside of the collaborative efforts of myself and my Greek friend  https://www.deviantart.com/nikoskap. This fan art piece by Lou Russo is essentially what the opening page might look like in some sort of Marvel Team-Up issue with ROM, Spider-Man and The Micronauts going up against the combined evil of Baron Karza and The Dire Wraiths. A really creative piece with some obvious Marvel 80s nostalgia. ROM could use a bit of tweaking from a figure composition stand point but still overall this is some nice fan art. Wish something like this would come along more often then just a couple times a year.

https://brainstomping.com/2017/03/08/rom-el-mas-grande-de-los-caballeros-del-espacio-y-bill-rayos-beta-separados-al-nacer/

 

                

June15th Update: Revisiting some random fan art of my own from over the years that I recently realized I hadn't never posted on this blog for reasons unknown. 

Neal Adams, the passing of a titan 1941-2022

With William Hurt's reoccurring role as General "Thunderbolt" Ross, this is now the second time this year someone who made their mark on the comic book genre industry has passed away. In honor of Neal Adams legacy in all aspects (as an artist and advocate for artist rights) of the comic book industry I'm posting this mind blowing splash page of Armor 2 from Continuity Comics that Adams penciled. This scene definitely gives new meaning to the splash in splash page. His art work is really timeless. You could take anything he did like on Batman or in The X-Men of the late 70s and it'll hold up to anything in contemporary comic book art. Unlike Ditko, Adams would have made a great replacement for Sal Buscema on the ROM Spaceknight series. On an interesting side note I just learned that Neal Adams was Jewish although as far as I can tell Adams is the family name he was born with.

And speaking of all things ROM, here's the latest envelope fan art for my friend and artistic collaborator in Greece. Turns out aside from our mutual love of science fiction and comics we're also on the same page politically on most things so bonus points to the 4 or 5 people who will see this posting and get the significance of ROM and company attacking the military forces that this tank belongs to. 

It's been quite a while since I've had something to post outside of fan art so today is a pleasant change of pace. This is no doubt one of the most obscure ROM Easter eggs I've ever come across. This panel is from issue 11 of the mid to late 80s comic book series X-Thieves published by COMICS Interview Publications. From what I've seen of it online it's a rather quirky and all around bizarre story line that probably is best enjoyed if the reader doesn't expend too much time and energy trying to make sense of it. I don't think it's any coincidence that right next to the ROM mask is another one of a toaster oven.

 May 7th Update: It's down right creepy how the death of yet another legendary artist from the comic book industry (George Perez ofcourse) should not only happen basically a week after Neal Adams passing but also on this year's Free Comic Book Day. As an artist, pretty much all the words of praise I gave to Adams also applies to Perez. His work was timeless in it's quality and appeal. Rest In Peace George.

June 5th Update: I just got back from a weekend in Sacramento California and I saw this Thanos mural in the downtown area so I was like...."yeah I need to do one more update to this posting". It's a real pleasure to post some little known sci-fi or comic book based public art once in a while. I have no idea who did this all I can tell you is that upon a closer look I could see this was painted on two separate horizontal pieces of plywood like boards.

Revisiting some great fan art

Ron Joseph

 

Rich Wentworth

 Andrew Cosson

Jeff Slemmons

Digital artist unknown

Nothing new really in terms of fan art or anything else ROM related that's interesting in recent weeks so I decided to post some good fan art that's been around for a while on other social media sites. Their is however one piece out there that's turned up in recent weeks that's at least worth having a look at. It's not on the same level as the stuff I'm featuring in this posting but like I said it's at least worth having a look at Rom Serpentyne by c-lee-b on DeviantArt

April 12th Update: Looks like I may have spoken a bit too soon about nothing new that was ROM related worth looking at. Here's a treat for anyone looking at this posting who may be watching the Disney Plus Moon Knight series or otherwise a Moon Knight fan. Also, here's a really cool animated Moon Knight Gif by the same artist . . https://www.deviantart.com/nikoskap/art/Moon-Knight-849786336
 

April 17th Update: And we even have something new for Micronauts fans out there. This is the latest from Chris Batista. A great concept and an all around solid piece of art and nostalgia. 

 

Captain Ukraine

This is one of those rare occasions where I'm doing a post here that's not at all ROM related because obviously I have some pretty strong feelings about putin's (tyrant, megalomaniac, war criminal, KGB scum, fool . . .etc.)  idiotic and horrific invasion of Ukraine. When it comes to war time quotes for the history books I'm pretty sure "russian warship go fuck your self" is now among them.

Electronic billboard with US-Ukraine solidarity display off of highway 580 between Castro Valley and Dublin in The San Francisco Bay Area.

 

San Francisco

March 19th Update: I wanted to make a mention about some other sad news from last weekend. William Hurt's passing last week is now the 3rd actor (Stan Lee & Chadwick Boseman) from the MCU that has passed away. And it happened only a week short of what would have been his 72nd birthday no less. Ofcourse Hurt had a successful career in films spanning decades and he was excellent as Thunderbolt Ross starting with the Edward Norton HULK film and later in the Avengers.