Rom (comics)
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| Rom the Spaceknight | ||||||||
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 Rom's first appearance in Rom #1 December 1979. |
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Rom the Spaceknight was a toy created by Bing McCoy [1] and sold to Parker Brothers, who in cooperation with Marvel Comics also created a superhero.
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[edit] Creation
McCoy originally called the toy COBOL - after the programming language - which was later changed to "Rom" by Parker Brothers' executives. The toy was something of a first for Parker Brothers, which up until that time had only ever produced board games. Given that this was a new venture for the company and that electronic toys were still very new, a decision was made to produce the toy as cheaply as was possible. The final toy had very few points of articulation and also had the twin LED's that served as Rom's eyes changed from green to red, as the latter were much cheaper to produce. [2] The toy was to also be supported by a tie-in comic book featuring the character published by Marvel Comics. The comic expanded on the simple premise that Rom was a cyborg and gave him an origin, personality, set of supporting characters, villains and one other vital ingredient - interaction with the rest of the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, the toy failed and only sold 200 - 300 thousand units in the US, with creator McCoy blaming the failure on poor packaging and marketing. [3] Parker Brothers subsequently abandoned the line and returned to manufacturing board games.
[edit] The Comic
The comic was published between 1979 and 1985, and ironically outlasted the toy the title was created to support. It was written by Bill Mantlo and initially illustrated by artist Sal Buscema. The comic was published from December 1979 until February 1986.
[edit] Fictional character biography
In the comic book version, Rom was far more than a simple cyborg. He was originally from a utopian society on a planet called Galador. At some point Galador was threatened by a fleet of ships manned by shape-changing aliens known as the Dire Wraiths. Galador's ruler, the Prime Director, called for volunteers to be transformed into cyborg warriors called 'Spaceknights', so they could defend the planet from the invaders. The volunteers were promised that their "humanity" (that is, the body parts that would be removed to accommodate the bionic armor) would be preserved and restored to them after the danger was over. Rom was the first to volunteer, and was transformed into a large, silver humanoid that at first glance appeared to be totally robotic. Rom was also given Galador's greatest weapon - the Neutralizer - which on one setting could banish the Wraiths into the dimension known as Limbo forever. Inspired by his example, a total of 1,000 Galadorians volunteered and were transformed into Spaceknights, each with his or her own unique armour, powers and code names.
The Spaceknights succeeded in stopping the Wraith invasion, although Rom decided to follow the remnants of the fleet back to their home planet - Wraithworld - which orbited a black sun. The Wraiths panicked, and after a futile counter-attack abandoned the planet and scattered throughout space. Rom now felt responsible for spreading the Wraiths’ evil across the universe, and swore he would not reclaim his humanity until all Dire Wraiths had been vanquished. His fellow Spaceknights, including comrades Starshine and Terminator, swore the same oath and left Galador.
[edit] Earthfall
Rom arrives on Earth 200 years later, and it is at this point that the Rom series begins. Landing near the fictional town of Clairton, in West Virginia, USA, Rom encounters a young woman named Brandy Clark. After seeing Rom deal with the Wraiths firsthand, Brandy comes to understand his mission and helps to hide Rom from prying eyes. This becomes necessary once Rom uses the Neutralizer in public, as witnesses only see a "killer robot" disintegrating innocents - they do not realise that Rom is in fact banishing Wraiths in human form. In time Brandy's boyfriend, Steve Jackson, also helped Rom in his mission, although when Brandy began to fall in love with the noble Rom his relationship with Steve was strained.
[edit] Foes
During his time on Earth, Rom fought and banished thousands of Wraiths. The increasingly desperate Wraiths also created new foes for Rom, such as the sorcerous Devil Dogs, robotic Watchwraiths and Firefall - a fusion of human and Spaceknight. Two of Rom's greatest foes were the aptly named Hybrid - the hideous result of a union between Wraith and human - and Mentus: a suit of Spaceknight armour occupied by the dark side of the Prime Director's psyche. Many other opponents were more traditional and hailed from the Marvel Universe proper, such as the Mad Thinker; the Space Phantom; Nightmare and even the herald of Galactus, Terrax.
At one stage, Rom's war against the Wraiths took a turn for the worst - a new breed of Wraith appeared on Earth, and appeared to be far deadlier than the first variety. It was later revealed that these were in fact female Wraiths, who relied on sorcery, as opposed to the weaker males who placed their faith in science. Unlike the males, the female Wraiths chose not to act in secrecy and openly attacked Clairton while Rom was away, killing everyone (including Steve Jackson and superhero ally the Torpedo) with exception of Brandy Clark. Rom, however, destroyed them all with the aid of his super-powered allies.
[edit] Allies
Luke Cage; Iron Fist; the Fantastic Four; the Sub-Mariner; Dr. Strange; Forge and the Torpedo were among Rom's allies on Earth. The Spaceknight Starshine would also eventually join Rom on Earth, falling in love with Rom and eventually dying in battle to save him. Once the female Wraiths made the strategic blunder of breaking their cover and openly attacking the Helicarrier of S.H.I.E.L.D., the nations of Earth united and placed their forces at Rom's disposal. The Wraiths then launched a major offensive - a spell was cast on Earth's Sun that used its gravitational pull to draw Wraithworld across space and to superimpose itself on the Earth. This would boost the Wraiths' abilities as Wraithworld was the source of their power. The Wraiths then attacked New York City en masse, but were halted by an alliance of the city's superheroes. Rom, with help from the inventor Forge, created a satellite that could boost the power of the Neutralizer to the point whereby it could banish all Wraiths present on Earth. There was, however, an inherent risk - the Neutraliser would also permanently cancel the powers of all superhumans on Earth. Rom instead chose to direct the Neutraliser's effects on Wraithworld itself, banishing it to Limbo. This rendered the female Wraiths powerless, and they were also subsequently banished to Limbo. The Wraiths were finally defeated, and Rom was now free of his oath.
[edit] Endgame
Rom left Earth soon after the battle and returned to Galador. Unknown to Rom, however, Brandy had accidentally met the entity called the Beyonder, and asked him to transport her to Galador. The Beyonder complied and Brandy found herself on Galador, now occupied by a new group of cyborgs that had been created in the absence of the original Spaceknights. The new Spaceknights had been corrupted by their power, and feeling superior to normal Galadorians, massacred the entire race. In an act of sheer spite the new Spaceknights also destroyed the frozen remains of the originals. Rom arrived too late and could only save Brandy. Enraged, Rom summoned the original Spaceknights and together they destroyed the traitors. Rom then made a surprising discovery - his original humanity had been saved and hidden by Galactus. Reclaiming it, Rom became human again and finally admitted his love for Brandy. The two chose to remain on Galador, while the other Spaceknights, their humanity now lost, set out to explore the universe.
[edit] Lapsed Copyright and Other Appearances
Given that Marvel no longer possesses the rights to Rom, the character may not make a reappearance in his armoured form. In September 2006, Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort was asked about the future of Rom and replied that "We don’t own the rights to the toy. We’ve tried, but things haven’t quite fallen into place yet."[1].
Marvel, however, has "cheated" it to a degree on several occasions.
During the wedding of Rick Jones to Marlo Chandler, Rom and Brandy returned to Earth as guests at the ceremony, and Rom greeted the Hulk with a friendly handshake.
In the recent Captain Marvel series featuring Genis-Vell, Rick Jones was shown to own a toaster in the shape of Rom's helmet.
In the alternate world of Earth X, Rom had ironically been banished to Limbo and was battling against the very Dire Wraiths he had sent there. Rom was seen in human form wielding his Neutralizer and using his chestplate as a shield.
Marvel has recently (January 2006) reprinted the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in the Essentials line of trade paperbacks, and features the original Rom entries.
[edit] Spaceknights Miniseries
Published in 2000, Marvel launched a 5 part miniseries. The story followed the adventures of Rom and Brandy's son Tristan (whose Spaceknight nom de guerre was Liberator) and a new generation of Spaceknights on Galador. The series did not sell well and plans for another ongoing Rom title were abandoned. This may have been due to reader complaints that the series did not adhere to the continuity established in the first series. Also, writer Jim Starlin did not put much effort in scripting the story, as he admits himself on Rom Spaceknight Revisited: "I thought [Rom] was a pretty dumb character back in the seventies. I just took on the job of scripting the series so that I could pay for some parts for my boat."
[edit] Powers and Abilities
Rom’s armour provided him with superhuman strength; near-invulnerbility; flight and the ability to warp through space via backpack rockets and to breathe any atmosphere, including space. The armour also stored a "Solar Charge" that could be used as a weapon and could also drain power sources by mere contact. It also gave him the ability to summon three pieces of equipment stored in “subspace”:
- The Neutralizer - In addition to banishing Dire Wraiths to Limbo by opening a dimensional portal, this handheld weapon could fire energy beams and neutralize various forms of energy. This device was designed so that only Rom would be able to discharge it. The mutant Wolverine once tried to use the weapon and received a numbing blast of energy feedback.
- The Analyser - Allowed Rom to see shape-changed Dire Wraiths in their true form and could assess the energy and potential of any object/entity. It could also be used on an item which represented a world, such as a globe, and would display lights corresponding to Dire Wraith infestations at that point on the planet. Unfortunately, the device resembles a handgun, and Dire Wraith imposters have taken advantage of this fact to fool others into thinking that Rom is attacking them.
- The Universal Translator - Allowed Rom to instantly learn the language of any creature, irrespective of their origin. This device was also used to scan and store printed information from an encyclopedia in Rom's memory banks for future use.
[edit] Trivia
- Rom the Spaceknight was in a scene in an episode of the Cartoon Network show Robot Chicken as part of their Adult Swim block. The episode is entitled "Metal Militia" and features a segment where Rom does battle against a man with a giant magnet.
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Rom #1 - 75, Volume 1(December, 1979 - February, 1986)
- Rom Annual #1 - 4( 1982 - 1985)
- SpaceKnights #1 - 5 (2000)
- Power Man & Iron Fist #73, Volume 1 (September 1981)
- The Incredible Hulk #296, Volume 1 (June 1984)
- Avengers #244 - 245, Volume 1 (July-August 1984)
- Fantastic Four #277, Volume 1 (April 1985)
