Rounding out 2012 with some nostalgic 80's style fan art by yours truly

Well folks, even though 2012 didn't hail the return of Rom to the Marvel Universe it's still been a pretty fun year for this blog. There's certainly been no shortage of cool stuff to post about thanks to the continued Rom spaceknight fandom still alive and screaming for more then 25 years after the 75 issue ( plus 4 annuals) series ended. A big thanks to all the contributors (especially Gary Martin Jr. & Lee Seitz)  out there who helped me keep things going here with new and hard to find material. What you're looking at here is just some quick digital art I whipped up with some pre-existing art work that fit pretty nicely together in order to honor the original series along with Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema. Hopefully I'll see you all in 2013.

Damn clever Rom/Robocop reference in HULK#344

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Well I gotta hand it to Gary Martin Jr. who once again has lived up to his official title as a Rom curator cause this one's a beauty! This one comes from Incredible HULK#344 (1988) written by Peter David. There's been stuff for years on the internet drawing analogies between ROM and Robocop I just never knew that comparison was also in an issue of the HULK too.

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As to the question of ROM liking Robocop had he seen it I think the story of what's left of a man's humanity trapped in a technological prison might have hit a bit too close to home while he was still a spaceknight. Just like with Murphy during those flash back scenes Rom's dilemma as a cyborg who yearned to be human was a reoccurring theme in his comic book series. But it's all good now of course so we'll send him and Brandy on Galador a Robocop (the 1st one!) DVD.

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I know you guys have seen this already but that clip art has me so stocked I feel like posting this again just because. Just in case you haven't seen them yet: Robocop rap video by DJ Mayhem featuring movie footage from the first one along with an awesome beat and lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUnMF7dV86k  Robocop rock video by Mental Deficiency that really does rock and written with clever lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghVxJJWENkw  And for a trip down memory lane here's a video of the original Robocop film music score: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7rjLQuW2nQ

Mars Attacks, but ROM and The Enterprise stand ready

A big thanks to Lee and Zhanmann for bringing this to my attention. I don't think we're any closer to seeing a ROM come back today anymore then we were 6 months or a year ago. But I gotta tell ya all this ROM return hype has certainly not been with out it's benefits. That being of course some really nice new kick ass fan art and you all know how much I love to post that stuff here. Thank the Gods of Galador no legalities can keep us from doing that at least. This latest piece comes from J.K. Woodward check out the step by step process of how he put this together: http://jkwoodwardart.blogspot.com/

Speaking of Rom and Star Trek this sequence from ROM #43 always reminded me of of Star Trek 4 when Spock mind melded with the whales up in Sausalito which happens to be less then an hour from where I live. After having helped the Submariner defeat a Dire Wraith plot against Atlantis Rom comes across a pod of whales en route to the surface and decides to use his universal translator to interpret their songs.

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As Rom flies off he laments the shitty situation whales are in on Earth with all the hunting. Back in the early and mid 80s the whole whales as an endangered species issue was much more in the public conscience. This is why I often draw analogies between ROM and Optimus Prime. Aside from being great warriors they both possessed this legendary respect for all living things. But Rom came first. He is the first and greatest of the spaceknights.

For you ROM curators my latest $1 box score

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So last night after I got off work I decided to hit a comic shop in Berkeley I haven't been to in a while. While foraging through the $1 bins I came across a copy of Contest of Champions #2 http://marvel.wikia.com/Contest_of_Champions_Vol_1_2
As I often do with 80s Marvel comics that I find in those bins I decided to thumb through it and woe and behold look what I found in the back under some manner of index pages of Marvel super heroes which runs on the last 2 pages of all three issues in this mini-series. Aside from having him listed I think it was pretty cool that ROM is among the relatively few characters that also got a head shot in addition to a listing.
What was also pretty cool is that this issue was co-writen and scripted by none other then, yep you guessed it Bill Mantlo. Also note worthy is that Space Glider (Arcturus Rann of the Micronauts) and The Torpedo also had a listings although unlike Rom who at least had a cameo in this mini-series they never appeared in it as far as I know. Although it certainly wasn't Mantlo who wrote Rom's listing he's described as "carrying a ray gun". . . huh? WTF?

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As a whole I liked the issue as well. Of course it had plenty of action in it but in a way the antagonistic banter between the different nationalities was pretty amusing. Despite the arabian knight's misogynistic and anti-Semitic attitudes he and Sabra have to compete on the same team and by the end of the issue it sorta turns into this "Can't we all just get along" kinda theme.

Marvel House ad for ROM #72 Secret Wars II tie-in

I though this house ad might make for a nice follow up posting considering my discovery in the Secret Wars II Omnibus as described in the previous posting. So just as a quick reminder The Beyonder in Secret Wars II #4 became aware of the situation Brandy Clark, Rick Jones and Cindy Adams were in and made an appearance in Rom #72 accordingly which forever changed the lives of those 3 characters.  I had actually forgotten about this house ad until Gary Martin Jr. "A Rom curator" sent it to me a couple of weeks ago.

Did Marvel really reprint that ROM cameo!? Also, the Bill Mantlo Wall of Fame

So recently I was back in San Francisco at this one particular comic shop i like to visit when I'm in "The City". I made a couple interesting discoveries. First off, did you know that the Secret Wars II Omnibus (published last year) actually contains the ROM flash back cameo panel from Secret Wars II #4. As you can see not only does the panel contain his likeness (but not a good version of it though) but it also has his name. I'm guessing this one slipped by the editors who worked on compiling the Omnibus cause as you all know there's no way Marvel can even reprint Rom's likeness legally at the moment. That would be fun to call Marvel posing as an attorney for Hasbro who wants to talk to them about that Omnibus : )
Case and point on a nearby shelf I also came across a TPB for a collection of early 80s HULK issues written by Bill Mantlo and penciled by Sal Buscema. The TBP was titled "Regression" (published this year) and Incredible HULK#296 (guest starring Rom) was among the reprinted issues in it. However, unlike the other reprinted issues 296 had been cannibalized of all the panels that had Rom in them. Needless to say knowing how the story actually reads it was quite weird to see it that way it looked rather . . incomplete.

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I also went through the 3 for $1 boxes. I found a copy of Sectaurs #5 (1985) and I figured for the cost of some pocket change what the Hell why not. This short lived series (cancelled after only 8 issues) was based on an 80s toy line and was written by Bill Mantlo. I couldn't help but notice the issue had 24 pages of reading with a cover price of only 75 cents. Today, new comics go for $3 to $4 dollars and they usually have only 22 pages. And some times those new comics have one of those forward/introduction pages that's pretty much the same in every issue which means you're actually getting even less pages of actual reading. What a crock of shit and yet another compelling reason why I don't buy new comics anymore.
The Sectaurs title was not the crowning achievement of Mantlo's career. But then again he didn't exactly have much to work with considering the source material. After all it's not like we're talking about The Micronauts or the original Transformers mini-series. Now those were two great toy lines that brought out the some of the best in Mantlo.

And speaking of which for those of you who have never read that mini-series or haven't for a very long time you can check out a review on all 4 issues on the Comic's Cube blog. There's plenty of clip art featured in the review as well so enjoy your trip down memory lane: http://www.comicscube.com/2012/08/back-issue-ben-transformers-part-1.html

Just got a message on Facebook about an hour ago from Michael Mantlo who visited Bill yesterday and delivered some fan art to him I had sent.

Well this certainly turned out to be a bit of a long winded posting as you know I usually keep them somewhat brief. But as you can see a lot of things of interest this week have turned up. I hope posting this stuff from Bill Mantlo's hospital room will encourage others to do the same as I did.

Buy this new ROM fan art for me for my birthday

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Hat tip to Lee for bringing this to my attention. Crap, I turn 40 in a couple of hours anybody wanna buy this for me to make me feel better?. The current bid in only $20 bucks but as of tonight (10:00 P.M. Pacific Time) there's only about 18 hours left on this auction.  This is some really nice work it's reminiscent of Pat Broderick's pencils in Rom annual #1. But if you're going to make a play for this piece (prismacolor marker on bristol 11 X 14) don't wait too long. http://www.ebay.com/itm/271115082968

Marvel Bronze Age sketch cards of Bill Mantlo created characters

Kicking off Decemebr I'm featuring another Deviant Art find from some art that was just uploaded to DA a few days ago. The following is an excerpt from the artist's introduction info:

"The last of my sketch cards for Rittenhouse Archive's Marvel Bronze Age set. If you know me at all, then you probably know that Bill Mantlo's Rom: Spaceknight is one of my all-time favorite series. Now the lead is out of the question due to legal issues, but I was able to work in two of his classic villains in this set."

It really amazes me all the Rom related fan art that still keeps turning up. And bare in mind I just feature the stuff here that I find which I like the most. To see more sketch card art work from his gallery go here: http://seanrm.deviantart.com/gallery/

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

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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.

My latest back issue finds from this weekend

I just picked up some back issues at my local comic shop today. First up is the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (deluxe edition 1986) #15 which I picked up for $3. That issue had the complete index of alien races from the Marvel Universe including Galadorians, Dire Wraith, Thurvrians and Clavians. What makes those four races unique in the Marvel Universe is that their first appearances were in the Rom spaceknight series. Clip art of the entries for the Galadorians and The Dire Wraith (female variety) have been on the internet for years now as seen here at Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2009/03/roms-aliens.html and here: http://heroalliance.blogspot.com/2010/12/dire-wraiths.html (male variety from OHOTMU Vol.1)

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I'm sure most of you remember the Thuvrians from the back story in Rom spaceknight #19. That back story should have been title "The Terminator". The Thuvrians also had an entry in the Official Marvel Universe Handbook #10 (Vol.1) alien races index back in 1983 but I'm happy to see that Marvel had updated the art work for the 1986 deluxe version.

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Then there's the Clavians who were the featured alien race in Rom spaceknight #71. To the best of my knowledge neither alien race ever appeared in the Marvel Universe again. Which surprises me that they made it into this alien index where as with Galadorians and the Dire Wraith it was expected.

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On a side note here the ALL-NEW OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE A TO Z #5 (2006) features a full page character bio for Hybrid. Even at a back issue price of $4 I probably would have still picked it up and posted it here had the featured art work not been reprinted clip art.

November 3rd update: I can't believe I'm just noticing this now. The Hibers from Rom#67 were also among the alien races profiles in this Marvel Universe issue.

And for just a $1 I found Marvel Fanfare #19 (1984) which featured from cover to cover Cloak n. Dagger written by none other then boisterous Bill Mantlo. I haven't read the issue yet because I'm saving it for next week. I'm being transferred temporarily to another ship where I will have to live 24/7 for an entire week. Yeah, so I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of down time on my off hours. Already as you can see the art work is pretty damn good so we know that much.

The Rom fan art just floating around you probably didn't know about

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 For those of you who have been following this blog for a while now you know I don't like much the majority of the fan art that was created for the Bill Mantlo benefit auction. And it seems like the least best stuff has gotten the most saturation on the internet over the years. The best example of that is the Sal Buscema at the top left there on the wall at Floating World Comics. As I posted before I know none of you had seen it before I featured it here earlier this year: http://romspaceknightart.blogspot.com/2012/06/end-of-june-rom-fan-art-sightings-sal.html

The bottom left piece has been around a lot and I think it's pretty good even though I felt Rom's head needed a bit more work. But I don't like the piece next to it at all and that one turns up a lot too all the time on the net. The top middle one gets points for over all style and design but I would have really liked to have seen Rom drawn better. But the top right one is pretty sweet yet when have you ever seen it before?

Then there's the bottom right piece which I've seen a million times now on the internet as just a black n' white line drawing. I wouldn't have even known it existed as a color version were it not for this wall art I did a screen shot of. I like it so much better in color especially when it comes to the details like on the Wonder Bread which is pretty much iconic packaging art these days. I can't even remember the last time I saw that in recent years at the grocery store but I sure remember it from back in the day.

Here's something I've been sitting on for quite a while now. Over the years ROM cover art has had the benefit of some really great talent like Michael Golden and Mike Zeck. But arguably non have been quite as stylish as the covers done by Bill Sienkiewicz. This particular piece is something of a mixed bag for me of likes and dislikes. Any of you out there got an opinion about it?

Bill Mantlo's hospital room wall space

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I'm going to postpone the posting I originally had scheduled next. This screen shot image is from Michael Mantlo's facebook photo album. As some of you may remember Michael sent me a friend request last year in December. It's kinda hard to see but to the right there are the covers for issues of Cloak n' Dagger and Alpha Flight as seen here in a previous posting of mine: http://romspaceknightart.blogspot.com/2012/08/bill-mantlos-guest-star-appearance-in.html There is also a really nice photo on Michael's Facebook album of Bill at the hospital with a very happy expression on his face. If Michael gives me the ok I'll update this posting with it so you might want to check back here later this week. And yeah Rick the address on the letter I sent is correct I double checked with Michael before I dropped it in the mail.

Update: Well I'm glad to say Michael was all to happy to have me post this photo (which is from just 2 weeks ago) of his wife visiting with his brother. The following was part of Michael's FB message response to me " . . my lovely wife has an uncanny ability to get bill to smile (and me, too...lol), and anytime he's smiling, it's a good day in the Mantlo universe!" I also came across this early photo of Bill from a family portrait I really liked so I'm happy to share that one too with all his fans here.

A little something for Bill Mantlo and some envelope fan art

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I recently found myself with some spare time on my hands thanks to the sand blasting and paint work being done on "my ship". That kinda work on such a large vessel is pretty much the equivalent of your home getting bombed with pest control poison for about two days straight. So I'll interrupt my hiatus to share with you all  what I did recently. On a whim I decided to turn some of my past fan art into 4 x 7 photo prints which I like to do sometimes because of the difference between digital photo processing and inkjet print outs. I was pretty happy with the results so I thought it might make for a nice surprise for Bill Mantlo. Sometimes it's those little things that makes a big difference to people ya know? As you can see here I did some letter art that started off as some doodling. I dropped it off at the post office Saturday morning since I had to go there anyways to pick up the Jack of Hearts mini-series I ordered on ebay last weekend.

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What a great opportunity for Bill Mantlo to include a Rom #12 cameo flash back here on this page of issue #1 of the mini series I really wonder why he didn't. Some of you may recognize the bottom left dialogue box making a direct reference to the Marvel Team up issue in the previous posting. I forgot to mention in that posting that I really liked the sub story line of Peter Parker struggling with his decision to drop out of college I'm sure many of you out there (like me at one time) can relate.
So onward here, I finished reading the mini series this morning. I liked the first issue the most because like that Marvel Team Up issue we saw a lot of character development for Jack Hart and Marcy Kane. By the end of the second issue I wasn't so sure I liked where the story was going but I thought the end of the mini-series concluded fairly well.

On hiatus

Rom spaceknight sketch sheets by Manny Clark

Rom has such a simply designed head piece but that still doesn't mean that there isn't a right way and a wrong way to draw a serious and well done rendering of him. Often it has mostly to do with the "eyes". If you fuck up his eyes it tends to ruin the rest of his "face".This guy gets it. His style here is similar to that of legendary Rom artist Sal Buscema but it's just different enough to tell the two styles apart. Here's an example of how not to draw Rom's head: http://ohotmuredux.blogspot.com/search?q=rom
I think this one could have been a great piece if Rom's head and eyes had been done better:  http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=934995&GSub=64920

And if you haven't read it already Marvel Team Up #134 (1983) which  was written by Bill Mantlo can be read in it's entirety online here: http://mailittoteamup.blogspot.com/2012/08/marvel-team-up-from-to-z-marvel-team-up_21.html
Highly recommended reading!
And with that I bid you all farewell for a while. I started a new job as a crew member a couple of weeks ago for an oil recovery vessel the San Francisco Bay. It's a temporary gig (till mid Dec.) but if all goes well it will lead to more long term assignments. So far it's going well and I'm learning a lot but the hours are taking some getting used to. I'm working 10 hour days and some weekends. Just last week I worked 58 hours. I'm just too burnt out for blogging right now and things have been pretty quiet here lately anyways so this is probably a good stopping point for now.