A reason to feel a bit more optimistic about IDWs ROM reboot

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From the pages of Comic Heroes Magazine issue 27. Allow me to bring your attention to the paragraph inside the red square. Perhaps there's some hope in regards to the questionable ROM redesign as seen in the Previews clip art that had everybody (myself included up in arms) up in arms. But again there's no way to know for sure until the series comes out so ultimately the jury's still out on this but in about two weeks from now (FCBD) we should be able to get into more serious deliberations.

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On the flip side the IDW Micronauts series has generated next to no controversy and as far as I know will be turning up on comic book shelves on new comic book day this upcoming Wednesday. I have every intention of making it to the store that day to get a copy of issue 1. For which I will most certainly update this blog posting with after I get done reading it so be on the look out for that. Years ago I came across a letter to the editor in an old issue of Marvel's Micronauts with a good question a reader had that Marvel had no answer for but gave a "no prize" recognition for. If a person traveled to a planet much larger then Earth they would be subject to some serious gravitational pull they wouldn't be used to. So how come visitors from The Microverse to Earth don't seem to be impacted by what most certainly would be for them the higher gravity? I think I'll throw that physics question at IDW in a letter and see if and how they respond to it since eventually even the rebooted Micronauts will find themselves on Earth.

My impersonation of Gary Martin Jr. A ROM curator

If there's any confusion about this photo spoof please refer to the comments section. I remember back in the 80s how they used to rope us into buying more new comics with countless references being made by characters with all those asterisks * referring to the footnote boxes with the see this issue or see that issue and as told in the blah blah and so on. Today's comics seem to do the same thing with all these goddamn cover variants and with these cover prices! Although to be honest I don't mind these cover prices as long as the product is what I'm looking for. I mean really what's $4 or even $5 a month for a new ROM series that turns out to be a pleasant surprise? Same goes for The Micronauts. But ofcourse I'm just speaking as someone who's interested in just following the main story for which I don't need to buy multiple covers or any publication that even makes a ROM reference. That can really add up as we can see. It kinda reminds me of popular cities with notorious tourist trap area and attractions.

The following April 28th update will just consist of a copy and paste of my latest letter to WTF Publishing.

When IDW released online all The Micronauts cover variants earlier this year I have to say I was very pleased with what I saw when it came to Acroyear and Baron Karza. For Acroyear, there had just been some minor design updates that I felt were done in good taste just like with ROM on the cover of his zero issue. And as for Baron Karza it pretty much looked like you guys just went with his classic look which I was cool with because like Darth Vader that look works just as well in 2016 as it did in the 80s. But it all became a different story once I read Micronauts #1.
With Acroyear you guys stayed consistent as far as character design goes with the interior art but what is up with Baron Karza!? Why did you guys find it necessary to change his head/helmet design like that? I also don't like the new look for Space Glider, as you did with Acroyear I would have much preferred a design that looks something closer to the original Mego figure. And especially that "tail" on this new Space Glider suite that has got to go! I know part of my negativity here has to do with my weariness from all the controversy earlier this year surrounding the first clear look at ROM spaceknight as seen on page 3 of the zero issue preview but all that aside I'm sorry guys this new series is not off to a great start in the opinion of this old school Micronauts fan. 

Transformers ROM team up and G.I.Joe ROM team up variant covers

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Well I would certainly like to hear from you all about this. Even I can't help but be at least a little bit excited about these even though we're not going to see any of it beyond the covers for at least another 3 to 4 months. ROM looks a lot more like he does on the cover art of the zero issue then he does in the interior art of that issue which as you all know I really hate so it makes me wonder what is ROM actually supposed to look like? Notice how on the fist bump Transformer 55 cover how ROM's armor design is more like the interior art of the FCBD day zero issue? Well at least he looks pretty cool on these other covers. By the way Micronauts 1 should be coming out next week but IDW hasn't had much in the way of any sort of sneak peaks beyond the endless cover variants ofcourse so who knows how that's gonna turn out. Looks like there's gonna be a lot to talk about on the weekend of FCBD not only will the ROM zero issue be released but that's also the weekend of Avengers Civil War which I plan to see. And by that time Micronauts 1 will have been out so there's that to. So what do you think folks are we going to be in for massive amounts of disappointment? A lot of great shit to look forward to or will it be a mixed bag on the first weekend of May? It seems IDW Publishing has become the contemporary Marvel 80s when it comes to toy based licensed properties.

April 20 Update:
Oh and just when you think you've seen it all with all these ROM cover variants I posted here it gets even more ridiculous . . .
http://ryallsfiles.tumblr.com/image/143093339268

Except for this one. This is pretty cool . . .
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/exclusive-idw-celebrates-roms-return-with-micronauts-variant-covers

Hey Gary, I feel sorry for you bro. As a ROM curator you're obliged to buy all these cover variants for your collection. And don't forget, the Comic Book Fever book from Tomorrows Publishing is coming out around the same time with it's section on ROM so that's gonna be almost $40 bucks out of your pocket in addition to all this IDW shit. I guess there goes your kid's college tuition, or maybe a second mortgage on the home is an option?
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=95_94&products_id=1195&zenid=ef7b3d584db968aae2d8f7382a40b381

Zack Howard

April 22nd Update: So I'm sure by now most of you all have figured out that all these ROM themed cover variants for other IDW titles aren't actual ROM guest appearances. The cover variants are strictly for promotional purpose only for now. The actual first issue of ROM ofcourse will have it's own series of cover variants which will result in Gary probably having to give up a kidney or lung in order to raise even more money. I think all the #1 cover variants suck including the one by Michael Golden and the one by Sal Buscema isn't all that impressive to me, but there is one exception. The one you see above you is pretty cool not just because it's drawn well but also because ROM looks most like what I expected him to based on the zero issue cover art. If this is what he would have looked like on the inside art I could be way more into this ROM reboot.

Bill Mantlo benefit art auction left overs in Portland

Shitty art work from past benefit auctions

Just got back from a weekend get away in Portland and paid a brief visit to Floating World Comics while I was there. They had some of these 11 X 17 glossy prints on a pretty thick paper stock of some of the art work from the past benefit auctions. Sadly none of them was of any of the good art that came out of those auctions. Most of the art work that came from those auctions were really amateurish and down right bizarre much of the time. Too bad, a high quality print of some of the better art work would have been a nice thing to take home with me. Those prints were only going for around $5 and there's no sales tax in Oregon.

So moving on to more satisfying matters. Just before I left for Portland I got a copy of Excalibur 121 in the mail which I bought on ebay. I think you can all guess why I wanted that issue and it came just in time to give me something to read on the plane even though Oakland to Portland is a fairly short flight. Some of the highlights is the opening sequence with the debriefing of Sabra by her superiors over a mission she under took with Excalibur.

When the story back tracks to the before mentioned mission we find out that Sabra doesn't play well with others here. Even when it came to fellow mutants she has a common heritage with (Kitty Pride ofcourse) things got of to a rough start. But toward the end of the mission Sabra gets a lesson in the value of team work which in turn may help explain her having been more of a team player (especially with Storm) in what would be the pages of future X-Men issues back then.

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