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Well you can all thank ROM curator Gary Martin Jr. for this weekend's blog posting. This letter page that Gary sent me is from a digital copy of "Rom the spacknight" issue 4. Gotta say I was pretty surprised IDW printed that one. Well I'll tell you this Mr. Ryall, I'll take the "knee high metal disco boots" over the anime style metal snow boots you came up with for your ROM in name only series. I think Ryalls reasoning for having ditched ROM's classic hardware was also bullshit. Prior to this letter being published I had several correspondences earlier this year with IDW by email in regards to my ROM re-design grievances. And each time their responses becameare more baffling I feel like we're really talking two different languages just as you see here with chris ryall's reply to my letter. I mean we might as well be a Clinton and Trump supporter debating political-ideological differences which as you can imagine would be as pointless as a tic tac toe game or a dog chasing it's own tail.
Have you seen the cover variants for that issue yet? Most of em look like shit, all these cover variants idw keep doing are the same thing over and over again do you think it would kill em to make a cover that's a reflection of the story inside the issue for a change? So now I have to deal with the dilemma of "to buy or not to buy" ROM in name only number 4. I vowed to never buy any of IDW's shit ever again after the shitty Micronauts #1 but I might have to make an exception for this issue given that it does have a letter from me giving me now a total of 4 different titles I've now had my letters published in.
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Also from Gary we've got some old school stuff. This here comes from a Comics Buyer's Guide special on HULK back issues complete with a price guide and brief review on all the issues it covered. The special also included an entry for Incredible Hulk 262 (dire wraith back story) but I'm just featuring the entry for 296 because this one has a been of interesting commentary. Gary also found some entries for X-Men 187 and 188 for an X-Men Comics Buyer's Guide Presents special. But the asshole who did those entry write ups was a real dick head with his smart ass remarks about how the dire wraiths were some kinda second rate villains and what not. I'm not posting his shit fuck him.
November 5 update: Buying a copy for the IDW Rom in name only series for me is a lot like casting a ballot in the 2016 presidential election. Most people don't want to do it but feel like they have to in order to keep the option they hate even more out of the Oval Office. In my case I don't want to give IDW any of my money but not having a copy of my letter might be a worse option then this one time only purchase. Figures my LCS (CRUSH COMICS) only had one of the shitty cover art variants in stock. Apparently the ROM in name only series is selling better then the shitty Micronauts reboot from IDW according to the owner of CRUSH.
November 6 update: This is why I like people who leave comments I basically had no idea the cover variant I picked up yesterday was done by
Al Milgrom and was a homage piece to
Iron Man 80. Although I think it worked much better on the Iron Man cover. And just for the record I'm not just beating up on Al I've also pooped on cover variants done by Sal Buscema and Michael Golden it just seems to me that these cover variants from IDW lately don't bring out the best in these iconic Marvel 80s artsists. Although I betcha if Milgrom had done this homage cover in the RTO (Rom the original) series it would have come out much better then this RINO crap (Rom in name only).
Interesting, I don't buy his answers though especially for the analyzer since they kept the old principle for the neutralizer to materialize on his hand.As for the boots they're a knights boots not some mountain climber they made them look now.
ReplyDeleteI noticed they're changing regular artist from the next issue, let's hope there's a change for the better in his look.
i've noticed that other artists who have done the interior art for other titles that have had ROM appearances have done a better job with this new look. but for me as long as ROM has that design regardless of who's drawing him i won't become a regular reader. i might just have to break down and buy the current issue because of my letter but that's it. i betcha anything my LCS will only have a copy of one that has a shitty cover variant.
DeleteI still think the Golden cover with Serpentyne was the best representation of ROM ever. I haven't picked up #4 yet so I can't comment on it. I still say they pretty much took the Onyx storyline and slapped "ROM" over it especially now that the wraiths 'infect' their victims. ROM himself doesn't seem to have the presence as RTO (ROM the Original) and there is more character development of the secondary figures than him. I also am not a big fan of all the 'variants' and now right off the bat mulitple cross-overs. It seems more a grab for fan-boy money than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI still say the Neutralizer looks like the unholy spawn of a Gillette razor and Psylocke's magenta energy butterfly. I also understand the concept of a readily available energy analyzer but you'd think that would be something more in line with the helmet than some Wonder Woman guantlet looking things. While I had no illusions that Ol' Toaster Head was going to re-emerge as we all remembered him from the 80's; this underwhelming incarnation, from design to art to story, is incredibly disappointing. I do not see R:2 surviving if they do not do something soon to fix some obvious issues.
come to think of it now that you mention ROM's head the way they have it now it vaguely resembles the helmet that nazi soldiers wore in WWII.
DeleteYou got the Al Milgrom cover of issue #4 which is an homage to this cover he did for iron man https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/65/0c/77/650c778bab8323876858c0944f17624f.jpg
ReplyDeletethanks for the heads up on that! ya know there was something vaguely familiar about this cover but i couldn't place it until your comment. so are you the same Anonymous person i've been talking to in the most recent postings or are you a different Anonymous person?
DeleteHa, I haven't commented in a while, but I'm the anonymous that was hoping you would still give the new ROM a shot, but I can tell you're not going to do that. I still check in from time to time.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you still check in from time to time although I'm kinda sorry to keep disappointing you. Went ahead and read issue 4 and was pretty unimpressed. Then of course there was ryall's bullshit response to my letter. Still can't stand the way "Rom" looks so fucken clunky with the big snow boots and mullet shaped chrome dome. Yeah, still fucken hating on this book.
Delete"...Snow boots and mullet shaped crime dome" I hear you there.
DeleteMany of us old school ROM fans loved the character because of his nobility and self sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteIn the new series this is not the case, here he is merciless, brutal and blood thirsty, even going so far as being willing to sacrifice another reality to accomplish his singular goal of defeating the Dire Wraiths.
This drastic change in his character will drive away many a fan who loved the original.
Mr Ryal indicated he was a fan of ROM and would maintain the integrity of the character, not turn him into something tottaly opposite of who he was at the core.
I would say I hate this aspect of the story way more than I dislike his new design.
To be fair, Rom seems to be learning something from Optimus Prime. The inner conflict that Rom is experiencing makes him more interesting.
Deletein response to ROM's Freind's last sentence i'm pretty much the opposite. the redesign is such a visual eye sore to me that i can't really get into the story enough to really critique it. now throw in the annoying gimmick that is the endless cover variants per issue. most of which that have shitty art and have nothing to do with the story inside and you've got a recipe for a shitty series i'm not interested in reading or spending my money on.
Deleteas most people know i hated steve ditko's penciling on the original ROM series but i managed to see the story play out to it's conclusion because at least in that case there had been a few years of a foundation of great writing and great art. but in the case of IDW i hated what i saw right away as soon as we got our first real look at Rom in the interior are of the zero issue. totally feel like i got punked by IDW with the zero issue cover art which i was pretty cool with.
When I read that letter I knew it was you. LOL
DeleteSal and Bill were the magic combo that brought ROM to life for me. ROM was the only character that I became emotionally invested in and that speaks to the storytelling skills of the writer and artist. So when Steve Ditko took over the penciling, it was jarring to say the least. The inkers and colorists made it a bit more tolerable though.
DeleteI think Bill Mantlo was forced to end the story quickly and thus the weak ending.
I have to admit that Roms conflict does make him more interesting in that the reader wonders why he is like the way he is. There are so many questions like why is he alone when Spaceknights travel in pairs? What happened to his partner? What happened to him that made him so brutal and detached? And does the Solstar Order even know where he is?
ReplyDeleteAlmost everyone who comes in contact with him notices he is driven by his singular goal almost to the point of madness. Is he going crazy from the centuries long war?
I think he is fighting for personal revenge than to save Earth from the Dire Wraiths. He just is not fully conscious of it yet.
With the two new Spaceknights arrival, we many get some of these questions answered.
Well hey, if you're gonna' steal/homage, then do it from the best. Sweet, sweet, Kyrbyesque cover, that IM#80.
ReplyDeleteOk, so we all know how you feel about the new look, but what about the story inside for #5?
#4 actually. The story didn't do much for me. But like I was saying in a previous comment I hate the way Rom looks so much it's hard for me to even give the story close enough attention for a real critique.
DeleteAh, gotcha.
ReplyDeleteI saw this david and had a good chuckle it got printed.
ReplyDelete