Friday, November 26, 2010
Bill Mantlo finished tribute piece
Well here it is folks as promised. So the scenario you have here is the Dire Wraiths making a bee line for what they think will be refuge among the stars as they leave their watch-wraith servants to keep ROM occupied. It took me basically 48 hours to get this piece done which is an 8 1/2 X 11 water color with fine point colored markers. I want to thank all of you who both left comments and emailed me words of praise and encouragement while I was working on this. All that really remains now is for Floating World Comics http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/ to reply to my email inquiry a couple of days ago so we can take the next step to getting this into the auction and hopefully raise some money for Mantlo's family who no doubt are struggling with his medical care. If there is anybody out there who has any info. on Bill Mantlo's current condition please do share it with the rest of us by leaving a comment. Last I heard his condition wasn't that great and didn't seem to offer much hope for improvement. But perhaps unknown to most of us things have made a turn for the better since then. By the way if your curious what has been part of the auction in the past go to Spaceknight 2 in the blog roll. The first six to seven works from the top down have appeared in the last week and I can only assume are works for the up coming auction. To be honest I'm not sure what to make of most of the new stuff so far but again I'd certainly like to hear other people's thoughts rather you leave a comment here, on Spaceknight 2 or even with an email to me directly.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Bill Mantlo tribute piece - sketch
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69iSqCA7oMArB1srhlzBko5A6UTPGHi0m9OkYLhTpakqCpB1tog-vFXSWXIk2yI2UqhYAm6XICyxbdQUcVergsl7etuaARaC1wD3hVy-1LpxJZ6zAVKWFrWZ5ZTvmN9vtx9SBAvDPNo2v/s400/Watch-wraiths+vs+ROM.jpg)
Now over to Transformers II which was the
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwWexNEicyMx3bSXrxLuUCCL3W8l_bTUPDLcLmzS7AF0s3GgEoMv7clSiZ4wbm0oTf99Zy1mKJgXzofxn0so8RpWQw6lmDK2p7dXWl6wh9GpDvbO5bWAoFyxM1vllLsZ-UqTVklZTHcnQ/s400/Optimus+Prime+forest+fight.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak_SvePnFXM
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUvz6-um9iRdTt5ofnYCIx4MhAyJIOvFQ7At1Wx8Ija_hCvjltw5rJN3SKxSjByOI1mCCyQfJzPPqeTqoaMw39Hq5sajEMDTWeJL46SMAuYPq6Ibiu5dLUG690S1HVKaOpYdam4Wx258p/s400/Bill+Mantlo+tribute+peice+-+sketch+rev.jpg)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
ROM pin-up illustration by Glove Studios
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0XzV2oP8-ntaHz7kcEe77I2xwgpusZzVq3CbmXZCEgCS0iBggSvSi5UL6enU4q28EabINKre620miK4WjBdvOVQN8ZBAd2Ntkk1wEgVdVbh7xcJ0g-p-hdpFu2ad8nYrt9l4lr8J7Cbnw/s400/ROM+pin+up+by+glovestudios+on+Deviant+art.jpg)
It's been a while since I uploaded anything that wasn't Transformers, so I thought I'd upload a pin-up I did recently as sort of a commission for IDW Publishing's Editor-In-Chief Chris Ryall. Chris is a big fan of the 1980s character ROM who was a toy that was developed into a Marvel Comic. Unfortunately the rights to ROM are caught up in limbo (which is ironic if you are familiar with ROM fiction) so any future tales of the Galadorian Spaceknight are very much in doubt. However, I was able to at least have some fun with the character.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Amazing ROM rendering by Jeff Slemmons
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy20pxvaHLfKsDfPWbHMklQc-mdS6DFRUYp830Rv32zOoXwLjcWZd1AFf6-tBCB0WbZhS0r6VE4DPXlthXzr_gzbqT1YojxVb5w9FX9G-FJBUrjqzE_3jHSh8XuiNE35nKuVrJ71NJQ5yN/s400/ROM+by+Slemmons.jpg)
Jeff, if your out there I sure hope you don't mind me posting this but if you do don't hesitate to contact me and I'll remove it or add some more specific info about it if you want. I'm betting that there are a lot of ROM fans out there who haven't seen this yet and I'd like to make sure they have an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Like Will Smith said in the movie Hancock, "good job".
Monday, November 8, 2010
X-Man 31 extended review: Saving Jimmy Marks
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTna5vnLroinD-dxdyEAZ-drmYbskXvANpcVyN6-0kc_dY9tGiUOAgCRi8KbHpbuXqtCmOLl1Zr5pzEIy6msfG0JSUyspwNYPjm-SKVmvz2qjqFMqrMtiU3-YiyJ0Ywc3bWq9CoDRY0LBX/s400/X-Men+31+Hybrid+appearance.jpg)
Nathan indeed is related to Jean Grey and is also a powerful mutant with telepathic and telekinetic powers. Nathan is haunted by a series of nightmares in which he is trying to protect a young boy form the X-Men who are not at all acting as the heroes they are. One day Nate randomly comes across an article in the paper about an explosion at an orphanage in Clairiton West Virginia which happens to feature a photo of the boy from Nate's dreams and who also happens to be the sole survivor of the blast. Knowing for sure now that something is up Nate travels to Clairiton and learns from the authorities that the boy prior to being sent to the orphanage was found on an empty road in a traumatized state of mind with apparently no identification or memory of how he got there. So next, Nate travels to up state New York where the boy was sent for psychiatric treatment. Once he finds the boy Nate speculates that he must be some sort of mutant and proceeds to find out more by entering the boy's
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-NcqKWXBSs0boKonCatESUa8O2uaHatmewENpDQDKEiaaFj6Yri3q_MYmgKjEqlfxoTQisrcgTSZ7uc1AgVFacbpFZZpgQlxLkIkAaEAfQL5oRrPIm01Qknnt0ePje1H7DFLs9aOYHw0I/s400/X-Man+31+Mantlo+Buscema+tribute+2.jpg)
probing Jimmy's mind as it has made it possible for Hybrid to pull his psyche fully back together and once again Jimmy Marks is replaced in body and soul by the horror known as Hybrid. Hybrid shape shifts into his true self and attacks Nate who quickly finds himself on the defensive against Hybrid's telekinetic and psionic assaults. Nate puts a up a valiant fight but Hybrid eventually gets the upper hand. It looks like Nate is all but doomed when he takes a different strategy to fighting Hybrid by going back into his mind but this time to find the psyche of what remains of the Jimmy Marks's persona. After some probing he finds Jimmy deep within Hybrid's subconscious and makes contact with him. Nate then rescues Jimmy by absorbing his humanity. This has the effect of causing pain and disorientation to Hybrid while adding to Nate's Power
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8rycv85C7v78fc7aGSsJXonk1S3xVL4u852RMWh8BxOmX8lAOH8IKcFqg2hQ33ZPhTsMgLeas_p-krzC8zkgM786fvuxeMZ-vxaN5I7dTf2mG4DNPHzQEbpxmI89R8AaJqq88xTg6pOD/s400/Nate+Grey+vs.+Hybrid.jpg)
Something of interest in this issue also is that during the fight Hybrid mentions ROM by name which I thought Marvel was unable to do for legal reasons given the licensing issue with Parker Bros./Hasbro. I suppose it's possible the writers wanted to slip that one under the radar for the sake of making this tribute issue more authentic figuring it's hardly likely after all these years since ROM's regular series that Parker Bros./Hasbro is liable to go after Marvel for some minor infraction. For more clip art from this issue go to http://beholdthegeek.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
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