This is taken from the Bill Mantlo A Life Time in Comics booklet that was sold some years ago to raise money for Mantlo's medical care. I was never able to get a hold of a copy unfortunately but thanks to Gary Martin Jr. I now have this important page from the book that covers some of Mantlo's thoughts on his work for the Rom spaceknight series during his career. May favorite part is Bill talking about letters from readers talking about how they've started picking up the X-Men title as a result of their guest appearance in issues 17 and 18.
Also from Gary Martin Jr. is this Q and A about page Rom spaceknight from Sal Buscema's biographical over sized book The Fast and Furious Artist.
Helpful viewing tip: I'm sure almost all of you know this by now but just in case after you left click on the image then right click on it and scroll select "view image". Once you get the magnifying glass with the + in it you should be able to get an even better close up of the text.
