Marvel 80s Assemble

Here's my latest sketch card and as you may have guessed it's based on the events of issue 65 (1985).  But in terms of it's layout it's loosely based on based on the movie poster for Iron Man 3. No particular reason why I just always thought the movie poster was pretty cool even though the movie certainly was not the best of the three Iron Man films by a long shot. Speaking of art, the art in most of today's comics is really outstanding but I never the less feel very uninterested beyond their visual appeal. More style then substance as it were.

Continuing the theme from part of the last posting in terms of the half baked continuity of the original one and only ROM series. I'm back to talking about Avengers Academy after having ripped into Hickman's Imperial in the last posting. Avengers Academy from 2014 saw the return of Hybrid in a 3 issue story arc. Unfortunately, unlike the 1997 X-Man (Nate Grey) Hybrid return one shot story this one was not at all written well and ultimately ended up being a big disappointment. I've got several blog postings and a published letter to the editor from back then expressing my grievances. For the one or two of you over the course of the next decade who might actually be interested in seeing those they're just a key word search away but I'm not going to go into all that now I don't want this posting to be any more too long winded then it already is. But those Avengers Academy issues did have one little bright spot of genuine 80s nostalgia in the form a single panel featuring a flash back of ROM 65. It also acts like a preview of what that issue might have looked like with a different artist then Steve Ditko.

 

One of the other things I miss about the Marvel Comics of the 80s are those corner boxes on the front pages. Although like every one else at the time I liked them, while at the same time they were such a standard fixture on Marvel covers to the point where you almost stopped noticing them on a conscience level. But, like many other things in life you sometimes don't miss something or really begin to appreciate what you had until it's gone. This one here is what a version with Starshine (art by Kapandais Nikolause) might have looked like back in the day.

Fast forward to today, more specifically to the San Diego Comic Con a couple weeks ago. This is the front and back cover art variants for the Comic Con one shot Dread The Hall H which is a satirical anthology of the challenges, mishaps and the sub culture of the world of Comic Con. ROM has made some waves in the past year between the Legends figure, omnibus collection and other reprint publications. Not to mention the actual ROM cosplay that has been at the Comic Con in recent years so it's nice that they were able to get him into the mix on that cover art.

https://fanbasepress.com/press/event-coverage/item/57166-sdcc-2025-syzygys-dread-the-hall-h-takes-comic-con-by-storm-with-its-all-too-relatable-convention-horror-stories/ 

I seldom post things here that are from the horror genre but this mural I spotted a while back is never the less worth sharing. Like most of the other murals I feature on this blog this one is also in the San Francisco Bay Area although I can't recall which city exactly but I'm pretty sure it was in or around oakland. Anyways, I like this it looks like something you'd see as the cover art for some kind of horror magazine or comic.

 

September 17th Update: I just heard the sad news about Terence Stamp having passed away this weekend. Between Stamp and Gene Hackman that's two main actors from the original Superman films we've lost this year. Aside from playing General Zod, don't forget Terence Stamp also was in the movie Red Planet along with Val Kilmer who as you know we also lost this year.

I saw these at a Half Price Book store the other day. Talk about bringing back great 80s memories. Too bad they were in a locked glass case it would have been interesting to see how much the set with the Shogun Warriors was going for as well.

October 30th Update: This morning I was watching a video about the rise and fall of the New Universe project back in the mid to late 80s when this still image of Archie Goodwin appeared with him holding a copy of ROM 5. Would have been interesting to hear what he was saying at that very moment in time.

December 16th Update: We lost Gil Gerard with just about 2 weeks left in 2025. Saw the theatrical movie in theaters back in the day and I loved the TV series as re-runs for so many years. Great memories, rest in peace Buck.

ROM spaceknight 65 tribute sketch card and Sal Buscema in Comic Book Fever

After nearly a year delay the over sized hard cover COMIC BOOK FEVER from Twomorrows Publishing (Back Issue Magazine) finally came out. And thanks to Gary again who's already got his copy we now know about the ROM related stuff in it. It has me feeling kinda sentimental which in turn is bringing out my creative side after it's been on a bit reclusive in recent weeks. Aside from that doing something with ROM and Iron Man has been on the back burner for quite a while.

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Getting back to Comic Book Fever, it's compilation of the comic book industry from the mid 70s to the mid 80s and it includes a 3 page chapter devoted to ROM. One page is just a splash page with the doll with star field background but the other two pages are editorial and include some clip art from the original series. The information for the most part is redundant although it also has some new commentary from editor Joe Duffy about her experience with working on the original ROM spaceknight series.

Now ROM does turn up in other sections of the book and it was a chapter on Sal Buscema where I found the most interesting ROM related information. When it comes to the behind the scenes talk in regards to the original series the most interesting thing to me has always been what effected me the most as a fan and reader back in the day. And that is, Sal's departure from the series which gave way to a very low point in the art work on the in the series. The quote seen above seems to suggest that Bill Mantlo and Sal may have had some creative differences very early on in the series which ultimately came to a head a few years later. Just imagine if Sal had penciled ROM spaceknight 65 it would have made the wraith war conclusion so much more epic. You can preview some of what's inside of Comic Book Fever here . . .
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=95_94&products_id=1195

August 28 update: I noticed a copy of the 2nd issue for the IDW ROM in name only series and while I was browsing through it a certain familiar name got my attention. By April of this year my enthusiasm for this new series was buried under 50 feet of shit in a casket made out of utter dismay and disappointment. But I'm still going to post Gary's letter because it's his birthday today and he's also such an all around stand up guy. Happy Birthday Gary and welcome to the published letters club.

A blast from the past with a clip art re-panel

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Too bad that re-panel blog called it quits a while back I think this would have been a good entry. I realized over this past Memorial Day weekend that part of the art work in my last fan art piece might actually work pretty well as a re-panel for some clip art in issue 51 so I gave it a shot. I tell ya, when you do something like this you get a real appreciation for the talent and hard work that it takes to be a professional comic book artist. Even more so when you think of the best of the best like our pal Sal.

Nova & Turbo re-panel New Warriors 35

May 27th Update: This morning I felt like doing a quickie re-panel sketch with out the benefit of any pre-existing art work of mine as seen above. If you go back three postings you'll see a cool panel from New Warriors 35. Again it's a unique challenge to re-panel some clip art done by a pro. It's not likely you can do it better but if you can come up with something that's visually interesting then I think you've got something that you can proudly share.

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May 30th Update: Score! just found this Dire Wraith reference today in a copy of Avengers 251 that was in a discount back issue box for next to nothing. Finding this now is kinda ironic ever since having seen Avengers: Age of Ultron I've thought about doing a Vision ROM team up fan art piece.

I don't want this to vanish from the net after it sells on ebay

So as the posting title suggests I'm just throwing this custom Heroclix figurine up here because this is a really nice crafted work of art (especially when you consider how small it must be!) that should remain some where on the internet because quite frankly once it sells on ebay I don't know what will happen to the image in the long run. An articulate action figure would have been ideal to commemorate 35 years of ROM but I wish hasbro had at least done a small figurine like this just like those PVC ones you see in those plastic blister packages in stores sometimes.

I guess I might as well throw this new fan art up here too while I'm at it which I posted on deviant art a few days ago. ROM spaceknight 65, how much more awesome that epic issue would have been had it been penciled by ANY artist other then steve ditko working for Marvel at the time.