The ROM legacy Heroclix collection

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I've loved dioramas ever since I was a kid, and this one comes to us by Gary Martin Jr.who did a fine job on it. The top left silver figurine is Ikon with some gold color variants that are supposed to be some kind of standard spaceknight soldiers in the Heroclix universe. Along the bottom to the left we have Forge from The X-Men which I'm sure most of you ROM fans remember as having had a pivotal role as an ally to ROM in the final days of the Wraith War both in the pages of The X-Men as well as in ROM spaceknight. Moving to the right we've also got Turbo from The New Warriors although for nostalgia's sake I wish they had made that figure outfitted with the original Torpedo costume as opposed to the updated version as seen in the 2nd New Warriors series.
Moving on to the right we've got the bad guys starting with a standard female dire wraith along with the dire wraith queen Volx. Notice how Volx is made of the exact same mold but done in green. Last up in the top right corner we've got the worst of the worst when it comes to ROM's enemies. Arguably the best sculpt of the bunch that there is Hybrid. Spawned of a dire wraith father and human mother Hybrid was a mutant of sorts possessed of vast powers both mental and physical.

It also so happens that this past weekend I was at the latest San Jose Super Toy comic and collectibles show. I really like this con I've been to it a few times now over the past couple of years it's not as big as most other cons but it's not bad at all and for a measly $10 admission fee (plenty of free parking nearby to) you get quite a lot of bang for your buck as the saying goes. It was kinda cool to see a dealer decorate one of his comic boxes with ROM 18. Also, Sam Jones from the awesomely cheesy 1980 Flash Gordon movie and more recently from the Ted movies was there.

1989 Oakland CA Wonder Con convention program

October 7 Update: First off I wanted to say I'm disappointed to not see some words of appreciation for that ROM legacy Heroclix diorama which no doubt was a real labor of love for Gary. Ok moving on, here's a little retrospective when it comes to the local convention scene. I just found this in an old 1989 Oakland Wonder Con convention program I still had. Ofcourse I've sung the praises of Akin & Garvey's work on ROM numerous times here over the years but I hadn't realized until today that they had also done inks on the Micronauts (Vol. 2) as well. I don't know about the first ever Wonder Con in 87 but I know they were also guests at the one in 88. Looking back I wish I had made a point to see them while I was there but unfortunately back in the late 80s I was in a different head space. The names behind the comics I loved to read and collect were not that big of a deal to me as hard as that me be to believe in the here and now.

How they could have made ROM great again

Loston Wallace

This morning I came across this cover art for one of the myriads of cover variants. This particular one is one of the few examples of the endless interpretations of ROM that IDW likes to keeping putting out there. Apparently some sense of consistency with ROM's design when it comes to these cover variants is not much of a priority. However, it so happens that this particular interpretation represents what I think would have been a good or at least acceptable updated look for a 2016 ROM spaceknight series. We'll assume he doesn't have the over sized anime feet bell bottom look going on in here but that aside what you see here is a look I could have gotten into. I'm at such a loss to understand why this kind of look couldn't have been just as marketable for a new ROM series here in 2016 same as what IDW ultimately came up with not to mention it would have gone a long way to not alienating so many of the faithful such as myself. Especially if they had stuck with the original concepts for ROM's neutralizer, analyzer and translator barring some minor design updates. And to think IDW actually had something like this at first (zero issue cover) but continued to make more design changes until they ended up with what you now see when you actually open up the zero issue and ROM #1. It just blows me away that these concepts and final decisions for this new series were made by old school ROM fans. And now, some of my favorite moments in terms of art and writing from the one and only Greatest of the spaceknights.

Damn straight!

August 11 update

Custom dire wraith figure by Chris Motito

Here's a little something from the good ol days that turned up on deviant art if you want to see more with different angles go here http://custom777.deviantart.com/ I'm sure Chris will be happy to tell us more photos about his latest custom including what he used as the base figure and so on. Also, be on the look out for a recent Rainbow spaceknight custom figure when you're in Chris's art gallery.

IDW digging in their heels on their version of ROM

Two things I want to get to but first up here's a sketch I did earlier today as a way to further illustrate something closer to what I would have preferred as an updated ROM design. This is actually more what I thought a full view of ROM would look like based on the cover art for the zero issue when it was released on the internet late last year. As you can see this look has some obvious updates from the 80s version but at the same time doesn't deviate as far from the original as IDW's design. And best of all it's devoid of any Japanese anime influence and in general is less clunky looking. Basically, this is an updated design concept for 2016 that feels more like "ROM" to me.

The following is a copy and paste of the letter I fired off to IDW early this morning and their reply which came only a few hours later. I'm kinda thinking they're not gonna print my letter : )

I'm an old school ROM fan who had given up long ago on any hope of Marvel bringing back our favorite spaceknight by the time IDW Publishing had made it's ROM come back announcement last year. At the time I certainly thought a ROM revival by some fellow old school fans at IDW would be the next best thing, now I'm not so sure. I'll get straight to the point about what has disappointed me specifically with IDW's new direction. But first, in general the art work in the 13 page zero issue story was very flat, uninspiring and in some panels looked almost down right amateurish. 

I also think you guys went over board with ROM's armor redesign for 2016. The cover art of the zero issue suggested something that was less drastic and done in better taste then what appears to be the finalized version as seen in the interior art in which he looks too "clunky". There's even a ROM#1 cover variant that features him stepping from a fiery crater which like the zero issue cover art also reflects a redesign that looks closer to the original but with updates done in good taste. I also don't like the new design of the neutralizer it looks like some kind of bizarre kitchen appliance or a high tech back massager from an infomercial. The new concept for ROM's energy analyzer as being these HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey looking electronic red eyes on his wrists also doesn't work for me. I understand that the success of the new series won't depend alone on the fans who grew up with the original series but was it really necessary to so drastically change the character from a visual stand point in order for this new series to have broad readership appeal!?

 See, the changes to us don’t seem that drastic at all. Some changes were necessary or required but we tried to keep the spirit of the character as much as possible.

And if you miss the old Neutralizer, well… hope you stay tuned, at least til issue 2...

IDW Letters

letters@idwpublishing.com

May 15th Update

Why couldn't those assholes from IDW make ROM's armor design look like this when it came to the interior art!? Instead this is just for a full page promo ad for the series coming in July and for those of you who have seen Chris Ryall's twitter feed lately you'll see ROM #1 has more of the same shit from the crappy zero issue. And speaking of which for a more insightful review of the zero issue allow me direct you all to . . .
http://littlethingsincomics.blogspot.com/2016/05/iexpectedasmuch.html

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.

Sabra by Dann Phillips!

http://dannphillips.deviantart.com/

Mozel Tov! Every body raise your glass Dann and I just had a baby. But in this case the "baby" came in the form of an upload yesterday on deviant art. Now the baby thing is because I had been pestering Dann for some untold months about doing something with Sabra. The thing is I can always draw something myself (previous post) if I really want to see it but every artist brings some different to a character or scene based on their style and imagination and some times it's just nice to see another artist's interpretation for a change. I hope you all enjoy this it certainly made my weekend.
Nothing new on the ROM front I hadn't really planned on any more postings in the foreseeable future and I'm trying not to think about the new series because I'm burnt out on it already. But since I posted this new Sabra fan art today to give it some more exposure I might as well pass along some other fan art to you. Speaking of strong female characters created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema this is some of the best Starshine fan art out there although The Defenders cover concept doesn't make much sense to me but that aside this is pretty damn good . . .
http://michaeldooney.deviantart.com/art/Spaceknight-covers-595064323

And finally, here's a color version of that recent Acroyear vs ROM fan art piece which is over all really good although ROM's neutralizer still looks like shit. It really is the proverbial fly in the ointment as the saying goes . . .
http://mavspace.deviantart.com/art/Rom-Vs-Acroyer-591575790

March 14th update
Actually there's one more thing Ptor from The Sanctum Sanctorum gave me a heads up about a custom Torpedo that just recently sold on ebay. The seller also had this on deviant art where  he comes off as kind of an asshole but hey whatever.

SOLD

At first I was gonna update the previous posting to let any other would be interested parties know that the Onyx mini-series has been sold but then I decided to just replace the previous posting since a sale announcement posting serves no real entertainment or archival purpose. But to those of you who caught it as I said I would probably include some envelope art in the deal. Oh indeed it's such a better deal then what was being offered up at ebay and it happened with only the 2nd interested party here only the first inquirer  turned out to be a flake.

Nothing new to talk about or share here and I suspect their won't be until around FCBD. I've seen on twitter and facebook how people are just sucking up to IDW about the new series with the usual base compliments and "likes" it's like nobody dares post anything negative any where where Chris Ryall might see it. I know for a fact that most everybody is not happy with the new look for ROM rather you hate it or just think it needs some more work. I Also know many of you have been waiting for this for a long time so don't you owe it to your self to take a few minutes and let IDW know what's on your mind instead of just passively watching them  . . . do what it is they're doing like a deer in headlights? Well I certainly have, although I'm not holding my breath for IDW to ever print that letter.

letters@idwpublishing.com

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February 10th Update:  WRITING WORKS!!! I will have you all know that I just copied and pasted Joseph's comment with the facebook replies into an email and fired it off to IDW and got a pretty prompt response. Out of respect for confidentiality I won't make their response public but I can assure you all that IDW is aware of the public criticism of the new look for ROM but seem to be "bewildered" about it. The correspondence actually went on as I'm writing this update which is around 11 AM pacific time. They even refereed to the manga style armor of the Jim Starlin 2001 spaceknights mini-series as rationale for this new look for ROM. I even told em straight up just go with what you guys had on the cover and how we were all happy with that and the collective WTF through out the internet when we saw the inside pages. Folks, it's clear to me IDW just doesn't get it and we're going down the Star Wars pre-quel path here with George Lucas. At what point did it make good marketing sense in the field of creative arts to not listen to the fans? For fuck's sake if you care anything for The Greatest of the spaceknights and the legacy of Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema's creation email IDW now! Or hit em up on twitter and farcebook, it may be all for nothing but ask your self . . . what would ROM do?

Rom on roids cover variant by Michael Golden

Update February 13th: Thank you to Brian W. for bringing this to my attention today (see today's comments). It's nice to see an old school ROM cover artist back at it again although to be honest this isn't some of the best work from him I've ever seen especially if you compare it to the ROM covers he did in the 80s. All of which I love ofcourse but may favorite I think is issue 18 with ROM and The X-Men fighting Hybrid. Notice how the armor design here is more a reflection of the zero issue art cover as opposed to the interior? Don't know if that's what Rom's neutrilizer is gonna look like even though we don't get a really good look at it here. I hope IDW doesn't foul that up to and come up with something radically different looking not to mention that cool looking straight line stream of crimson energy that the neutrilizer discharged. If you're in the mood to see a some old school Mantlo/Golden era fan art check out what I found today over at deviant art . . .
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Rom-VS-Acroyer-587533905

Update February 14th: Now that's more the kind of ROM I want to see. I lifted this image off of the latest Hasbro cinematic multiverse online chatter this morning. I'm not gonna get into all that but I just really like this illustration ROM looks so fucken slick not all "beefed up" and clumsy looking like that Michael Golden variant. Like I said before the minor but noticeable changes IDW had for him at first were fine with me but they just went way too far.

2016 Let the 80s revival continue

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2015 certainly has ended on an interesting and in some cases a hopeful note. If you do a key word search for "Rom spaceknight Hasbro" on Google you will get close to a dozen articles all saying the same thing about future movie prospects for these properties: Micronauts, ROM, G.I.Joe, Transformers, M.A.S.K, Visionaries as well as rumors of a shared universe in IDW comics. Same goes for doing the same key word search on youtube. As I said in the previous posting It's just too early to get worked up over any of that especially the movie talk. By the way, did  you all know that a live action JEM and The Holograms movie (who was the genius that came up with that idea?)  came out earlier this year? I'm sure most of you know JEM was an 80s cartoon that IDW picked up and made into a comic series. Anyways, as I understand it that movie is still trying to recoup it's 5 million dollar budget.
The Micronauts art work seen above turns up a lot in reference to those articles and videos and I'd love to know who did it and why. Is it some promotional stuff from Hasbro or IDW or just some really cool fan art? I'm inclined to think the later since it contains Marionette and Bug which are marvel properties. I think I'd prefer space glider in his more traditional head gear but this is otherwise a way cool updated interpretation of The Micronauts and done by one Hell of an artist obviously. All this has me wondering if IDW will have anything for The Micronauts on Free Comic Book Day this year like they will for ROM. I sure hope so.

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January 7th Update: Here's a little something from Rom curator extraordinaire Gary Martin Jr. found in the pages of Tony Isabella's 1000 Comic Books You Must Read. This Isabella guy has good taste to get a better idea what else is in his book go here: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=19662600

And there's more from Gary brought to you from the pages of Mediascene magazine issue 37 (May-June 1979). Well as we know the joint marketing efforts for the toy by Marvel and Parker Brothers were in vain but for the comic series it's self was certainly another matter. A black n white image of ROM #1 went along with this blurb just so you know but how many times do I need to post that cover right it's not like we've never seen it before right?

ROM Jedi spaceknight. The Force is strong with this one! Yeah I just saw Star Wars

Fan art by J.K. Woodward

Perfect art work to go with this posting topic don't you think? In the back of my head I know I remember seeing some ROM wielding lightsaber fan art at one point and thankfully I was able to find it after doing a little digging. This concept isn't that crazy after all Jedi knights and spaceknights do have a lot in common.

But let's get on with what I really wanted to talk about . . . STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS! Let me start off by saying thank god is wasn't The Farce Reawakens as in another prequel quality film. I don't know if it was that The Force was with Abrams or that it was George Lucas having nothing to do with the production. Or perhaps it was some kind of combination there of but either way we finally got a pretty good Star Wars movie even though it took 32 fucken years. It wasn't sufficient to simply get something that was better then the prequels that would have been too easy of a project. It didn't have to be as epic as the original trilogy it just had to a solid sequel to the original trilogy and have at least a little bit of that old school SW magic. And ofcourse, no major fucks ups although it having some little things to nit pick at was pretty much unavoidable.
Well I'd say this movie pulled it off for the most part. At this point we can regard the prequels as nothing more then George Lucas's private project of his interpretation of the back story to the original trilogy. I mean many of the basics such as events like The Clones Wars is established history ofcourse but specific shit like jar jar binks might as well just be some obscure character that briefly appeared in one of the countless comic book spin offs over the years. And speaking of comics, it's the same as I've been saying about all the ROM related shit marvel has pumped out in the last 5 years it just never happened as far as I'm concerned. Same goes for the 2001 Spaceknight mini-series. So, who else out there The Force Awakens? Likes, dislikes or general opinions about the movie I'd like to hear from you.

Quickie sketch by yours truly

So the other matter I'd like to discuss here is the latest ROM related rumors swirling around the internet. In particular about a possible movie project for which I've received links to by several people already. Keep in mind ROM movie rumors have been around for many years now and they've proven to be as substantive as the rumors about ROM's return to marvel which we've had no shortage of over the years as well. And even when the director of The Guardians of The Galaxy talks about how he would like to include ROM in a future movie it doesn't make it any less fan boy wishful thinking then when some anonymous person says the same in an article. I mean is it possible it might happen someday as it did for The Transformers or G.I.Joe? Sure, but it could just as easily not ever happen and I'm not gonna get all sprung on something so very speculative at this time. The ROM Zero Issue in May next year and the series to follow are all coming that's for sure the rumors are long over so that's where the focus of my excitement is. Aside from that there's also talk about how ROM, The Transformers, G.I.Joe, M.A.S.K and perhaps even The Micronauts may inhabit the same IDW Universe. That's probably more plausible to me then a future ROM movie. If that is the case the cross over story line potential would be huge and would need to be handled by some very talented writers in order to do the characters justice. But even that stuff is probably a ways off if it happens, right now I just want to see a good ROM comic book series and hopefully the same for The Microanuts.

P.S. Venom spaceknight has nothing to do with actual spaceknights or ROM himself. It's just a title marvel added to Venom now that he's gone cosmic. So stop getting all worked up it's more of much to do about nothing from the assholes who are running marvel comics these days.

By Dann Phillips

Dec. 22 Update
It seems I'm not the only one who's been recently inspired to do some fan art with the IDW version of ROM.

The Inside Scoop

Previews Comic Shop catalog January 2016 issue 328 

Something interesting I came across last night. No time for a fancy posting just a quick copy and paste . . .

Rom the Space Knight #0 will feature an introductory 10-page story of Rom’s arrival on Earth, an incident that sets up an ongoing Rom series launching in July 2016.
“Many people have only heard of Rom but that’s it,” continued Ryall. “And those that do know of his past iteration might have some preconceived notion of what this series will be. And while we can promise that the DNA of the character as established with the original toy remains intact, there will be surprises galore as people experience a new universe built entirely around Rom and company.”
As an added bonus, the issue will contain additional content including character sketches, creator interviews and a glimpse of things to come. This debut represents a major launch for IDW and Hasbro next year, and this special first story will be free throughout the universe next May!

The only thing missing from the ROM 2016 zero issue cover

There are so many different things that would have been great to insert into those dialogue bubbles it almost boggles the human mind (examples: Always bet on silver! Wassup bitches!? or just simply wwwassssssup! and so on). Big thanks to Gary Martin Jr. for bringing to my attention a very cool article (Dec.10) by Trent Hunsaker about what will hopefully be a triumphant return for ROM next year. And I'm not just saying that because Trent made it clear in his article that he's something of a fan of this blog (which makes you a ROM fan who's most certainly not a dick) but he does offer some insight as to what we might expect and reasons to be optimistic about the new series. I would especially recommend this article for those of you who are feeling a little more on the pessimistic side about ROM's non marvel return.
I just want to correct you on a couple little things Trent the IDW announcement for the new series (along with a new Micronauts series) came out back in July. And also, thus far "Venom spaceknight" has shown no indication of having any sort of ROM related continuity to it. The expression "what's in a name" totally applies here the spaceknight title seems to pertain to venom as a cosmic adventurer as opposed to Galadorian spaceknights. So now that we got all that out of the way let's get to the article . . .
http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/59400/rom-returns/

Also, this is why I love people who leave comments on this blog like nikoskap in the previous posting. The cover artist has this art work (uncolored) on deviant art and he actually responds to comments so here's your chance to let him know what you think about it  . . .
http://spacefriend-krunk.deviantart.com/art/Rom-0-Cover-for-FCBD-577222062

By artist Andrea Shock left click to enlarge

Dec. 13th Update: Look what Gary found just in time for me to post while Hanukkah is still going on. How many of you out there remember that mid to late 80s TV show Small Wonder about the android girl care taker known as V.I.C.I?

ROM and Micronauts 2016 unofficial house ad

July 18th Update:
And from the artist (Ron Joseph) who gave us the ROM vs The Herculoids sketch pages here's his latest fan art. Spaceknights are awesome but after looking at this one from Ron I doubt I have the "right stuff" to become one even if genocidal monsters like the dire wraiths or ISIS (actually those jihadi fuckers are trying to) were looking to take over Earth . . .
http://ronjoseph-artist.deviantart.com/art/ROM-the-man-the-machine-547243354

July 21st Update:
Can't believe after all these years I've had this blog and with all The Micronauts stuff I've posted that I never bothered to feature this retro art work of mine. But I guess I might as well now with what's coming next year. This is an 11 X 17 water color painting I did back in the mid 90s of the Micronauts Aliens line of action figures. I'd love to see IDW make good use of them.

 

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July 24th Update:
Just happened to have come across this custom figure of Stardust. Talk about a custom figure that visually looks just like the way the character was drawn in the comic book issues they appeared in! If your memory is a bit hazy Stardust was a villain written for and first appearing in ROM Annual #1 (front story) with a brief and much later appearance in the pages of Quasar see link below for a quick recap . . .
http://romspaceknightart.blogspot.com/2012/10/quasar-4-with-rom-spaceknight-tribute.html

Easter eggs and the debunking of Marvel's latest retarded ROMless ventures

So here we have a panel containing some Easter eggs from the 1998 Fantastic Four X-Men crossover annual which I'd never heard of until Gary Martin Jr. "a Rom curator" (thanks Gary) sent this my way. Just to be clear the Easter eggs were placed in this panel just for shits n' giggles it makes no sense from a story stand point that ROM's neutralizer and anal-yzer would be in this store room on Earth years after the events of the ROM spaceknight comic book series.

Most of you have heard of this Venom spaceknight crap by now. Even if there's any sort of ROM related continuity to it which I doubt, I assure you it'll be as irrelevant as the brief Hybrid appearance or that "Disavowed of Galadoria" (renegade spaceknights from Nova 15 vol. 5) crap from last year. It's much to do about nothing as I'm sure will be the rumors about a new spaceknight mini-series (see previous posting). I hate to be Mr. Doom and Gloom here folks but the decision makers at both marvel and hasbro thus far have shown no real interest in ever resolving the insufferable rights issue which means cool fan art and some uncovered treasures from the past are mostly all we're ever going to have to look forward to. However . . .

Can you find the ROM Easter Egg on this cover?

On some what of a high note we do have something coming from a publisher that has not been one to shy away from printing ROM's image in the last year or so (legal issues be damned!). As if October wasn't a long enough wait as it is the release date for this has now been pushed back to December (sigh). Anyways, I would urge you all to take a few moments to read the synopsis of this book and why ROM fans and in general fans of Marvel Comics from the mid 70s to mid 80s should look forward to it.
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=133&products_id=1195&zenid=df6urmb7iptt78l6qbbidkrq82

July 10th Update:
For those of you getting all excited about the alleged IDW Publishing advert for ROM & The Micronauts in 2016 you might want to take a cold shower for now. There's some things you need to consider first. See the opening remarks in the comments section.

July 13th Update:
Believe me folks the irony of this news from IDW coming on the heels of this posting about a gloomy forecast for ROM return prospects is not at all lost on me : ) But now that we know it's not a hoax I have 2 words for IDW . . "good luck" . . to be followed up with 3 words . . "don't fuck up". Although it appears I may have been a bit too harsh with Hasbro over the last year about they're efforts to facilitate his return in comics I still think their ROM heromugg doll blows. As for marvel, fuck you and your no ROM having supposed upcoming spaceknight mini-series no one gives a shit about that any more then they do about your lame ass Venom spaceNOT garbage. On this blog marvel is a Persian messenger and I'm the King of Sparta.