ROM: SPACEKNIGHT Appreciation 2019

[MyriVerse]

I thought it was Hasbro that owned the character. And your link is not working.

Yeah, Hasbro owns the character. Paramount just has film rights. About a year ago, they announced Zak Penn as writer.

[Deathstroke]

I recently finished assembling a complete run of the series and now I get to go back and read it start to finish. I do remember buying the first issue of the newsstand when it came out.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

From Rom #31

Rom notices the resemblance of Mystique with Nightcrawler!

Awesome. I cannot wait until the entirety of ROM is collected either in a TPB format or as an omnibus.

IMO the entirety of ROM is worth the purchase for anyone.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

From Rom #32
Rom and Rogue fall in love!

In the first round of speed dating, Rom doesn't do so well, but what's this?

Yes, he's got it. One kiss and Rogue is smitten! Not only that, but she finds she likes decency and goodness!

There you have it, folks: Rom is so The Man!
That one kiss from him turned Rogue to the Light Side of the Force.
You've enjoyed Rogue as an X-Man for years. Now you know who made that possible!

Rom was a great series, near the end it unfortunately had bad writing and really bad art.
I have not checked out IDW's new Rom series though.

Nevertheless, reaching 75 issues is quite impressive!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #185 Sep 1984
"Public Enemy"
Government agent Henry Gyrich is having a meeting at the Pentagon where he is reporting on the mutant known as Rogue.

After explaining her powers, her previous criminal history and recent attack on SHIELD,

he tells those gathered that he has been authorized to use the neutralizer weapon invented by Forge to stop her.
When Raven Darkholm protests this move, wondering how Gyrich got a prototype when it hasn't even been tested,
she is shocked to hear that her co-worker Valerie Cooper supports this move
and no amount of protests will stop the action from being carried out.

At the X-Mansion, Storm interrupts Professor Xavier's session with Rachel Summers to inform him that Rogue has left.
The Professor leaves Rachel alone while he and Storm go downstairs to try and track Rogue using Cerebro.
Left to her own devices, Rachel decides to look around the Professor's office.
Finding a phone book that lists her father Cyclops living in Alaska, she decides to call and speak to him.
However, when she hears his voice and the voice of Madelyne Pryor in the background,
Rachel cannot bring herself to utter a single word and eventually Cyclops hangs up.

While back in Washington, Mystique returns to her room to find that Destiny is there waiting for her.
Irene warns that Rogue is in trouble, however Mystique wonders if allowing Gyrich
to neutralize her powers could be to the benefit of Rogue having a normal life.
When she asks Irene what the future has in store for Rogue, Destiny cannot see
into the immediate future as some temporal anomaly prevents her from doing so.
As Gyrich approaches where they are tracking Rogue,
Mystique contacts Forge and tells him that the government is using his prototype without testing it.
Forge is furious and flies after them in his private jet, while placing in a call to the president.

While in Caldecott Country, Mississippi, Rogue is spending time relaxing along the banks of the Mississippi River.
She is found by Storm who confronts her with the truth about the phantom memories she's been living of Carol Danvers.
When Rogue admits that she is struggling to find a way to control her powers and fears harming them,
Storm convinces her to willingly absorb some of her power.
Rogue is reluctant at first, but since Storm is willingly offering up her powers, Rogue tries it out.
The power absorption knocks Storm out, and Rogue is completely amazed by the abilities she has gained and how Storm sees the world.

After finding that mastering Storm's powers would take some work, Rogue is attacked by Gyrich and his men.
As Rogue attempts to avoid getting blasted by the neutralizer,
her weather controlling ability spirals out of control and a massive storm is created, threatening a nearby boat.
Storm, having revived, comes to Rogue’s aid to control the weather and pull the boat to calmer waters.
Gyrich takes this as an opportunity to get a clear shot on Rogue, however Storm shoves her out of the way.
Storm is struck by the weapon, causing her powers to flare out of control,
destroying the ship and knocking Rogue far away, before being neutralized.
Storm falls unconsciously to the water below where Forge, having arrived just in time to witness the event, dives in to her rescue.
He is furious at Gyrich for using his untested prototype and the fact that he hit an innocent woman.
He points out that Storm is a member of the X-Men and Gyrich's stupidity today
may have turned the X-Men from champions of humanity to their enemies.

Watching this from a mystical pool far away are the Dire Wraiths who have analyzed Forge's weapon
and find that it is similar to that which was used by ROM the Spaceknight.

In order to guarantee their victory in taking over the Earth, the Wraiths have come to the decision that Forge must die.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by John Romita, Jr. and Dan Green.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #186 Oct 1984
"Lifedeath"
Storm has been taken to the Dallas, Texas home of mutant inventor Forge following an ordeal
where her powers have been stripped from her by a weapon of Forge's own invention.
Unaware of this fact, the former mutant has lost her will to live and has spent her time in Forge's company refusing to eat.
Forge's attempts to help her fail and he becomes frustrated and acts as though he gives up on her.
Watching a holographic display of the incident earlier when Henry Gyrich blasted her,
Forge is surprised when Storm comes out of the guest room and tells him that he was kind, but should have let her drown.
While at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, the Professor tries to track Storm
through Cerebro after he detected her pain caused by the neutralizer device.
However, he tells Nightcrawler that he cannot.
Whatever caused the pain has severed their psychic rapport, but he insists that she is still alive somewhere.

Storm, meanwhile, is spending time with Forge.
She learns that Rogue has escaped government capture and comes to terms with the fact that she no longer has powers.
She finds the holograms that make Forge's home seem to be suspended in mid air unnerving.
Later when Forge is swimming in his pool, Storm decides to join him and they race across the pool.
Storm gets to the other side first and is shocked to find that Forge is a cyborg,
as his artificial hand and leg have been left by the side of the pool.
When Forge comes out of the pool he shows her the scars down the side of his body
and tells her that his injuries were a result of his missions during the Vietnam War.
He explains to her that after the accident he too lost his will to live,
but with time and healing he learned to move on with his life.

In Caldecott County, Mississippi, Val Cooper and her colleague Philip are winding down after their mission.
Their search for Rogue being a dead end after Storm's depowering caused their mutant detector to short out.
When Phil goes to his car to drive home, he is attacked by a Dire Wraith who quickly kills him and takes his form.

The Wraith disguised as Phil then leads its fellow Wraiths to Val's hotel room. Gaining access through Val's trust in Phil,

the creatures attack her with the intent of replacing her with a Dire Wraith. Before they can, Rogue enters the room,

having tracked down Cooper to sort out her problems with the government.
Val learns from the Wraith disguised as Phil that they intend to take over the world.
Rogue kills one of the Wraiths and Val is forced to shoot the alien posing as her dead colleague in the head.
As Val flees, Rogue strikes the last Wraith with her bare fist absorbing some of its memories
and she is instantly, violently disgusted by the vile alien thoughts she has absorbed.
This is detected by the Professor in New York, who suffers a mild psychic backlash from trying to read the alien thoughts in Rogue's mind.
As Val tries to flee the scene, Rogue, under the influence of Dire Wraith's thoughts, attempts to "replace" Val,
however only succeeds in absorbing some of her memories with her mutant powers before she stops herself.
She ends up absorbing all the plans that the Department of Mutant Affairs have
been plotting and how their Neutralizer stripped Storm of her powers.
Horrified, Rogue flees the scene vowing to make the government pay if
Storm was badly hurt and leaves to reunite herself with her fellow X-Men.

While back at Forge's home, Storm prepares to have a supper with Forge and decides to try on a dress he had delivered for her.
When both become nervous over their emerging feelings, Storm changes into something more comfortable.
As they are eating, Storm hears a thunderstorm outside and Forge turns on the buildings holographic projector to show her.
She is upset by this and Forge turns it off. Storm then confides in him about her recent changes from a “weather goddess”
to a darker and adventure seeking personality and how this recent change has affected her as well.
The two share a kiss, finally letting their emotions come forward. Their supper is interrupted when the phone rings.
When Forge answers it he tells Storm that it's business and leaves to take the call in another room.
Storm decides to take this as a moment to call the X-Men on the other line and tell them that she is okay.
She accidentally picks up the line that Forge is on and overhears Henry Gyrich telling Forge about how Rogue has been sighted.
She overhears them talking about the Neutralizer and Storm learns that Forge was the one who invented it.

Storm screams and tries to flee the building. Hearing her, Forge tries to follow after her to explain.
Rushing through his home, the holographic projector switches to a simulation of the Vietnam conflict.
Storm is disorientated and cannot find her way around and in a panic calls out to her goddess to help her.
Just then a lightning bolt strikes the side of Forge's building blasting open a wall to the outside balcony.
Storm rushes out there where Forge finally confronts her.
He tries to explain to her that the Neutralizer was not meant to be used the way it was and that he was only doing his job.
She refuses to believe him, and when he tells her that he too is a mutant,
she is horrified that one of her own kind could create a device against mutants.
She lashes out at him, rejecting his offers to help and cure her.
She punches him in the face, knocking him down and tells him that he's sold out of his race
and that he lives in his tower alone and unaware of how his indifference effects those around him.
She leaves, telling him that while her feet may never leave the ground again, she will someday fly again.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by Barry Windsor-Smith and Terry Austin.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #187 Nov 1984
"Wraithkill!"
Storm is walking away from Forge's home following the revelation that he invented the neutralizer weapon that stole her powers.
As she flees, some Dire Wraiths who are seeking to destroy the weapon and its creator arrive at the huge tower
and get past security by posing as FBI agents until one of their kind replicates the security guard.

Hearing the racket, Storm turns and is attacked by a Dire Wraith that comes out of the huge downpour.
Storm rushes back to Forge's office tower where she finds a gun among the
scattered remains of the security guard and tries to use it to defend herself.
Despite the shooting lessons that Wolverine previous had given her,
it’s Forge's old friend Nazé who manages to kill the alien sorcerer with a shotgun.
Nazé explains who he is and he and Storm attempt to contact Forge about the danger coming from above.

This is too late because when Forge answers the phone, the Dire Wraiths enter his penthouse
and use their mystical powers to create Deathwings to protect the building.
Without power in the building, Storm and Nazé are forced to climb the elevator shaft where they are attacked by a Hellhound.
It attacks Storm, but Nazé manages to shoot it dead. They are next attacked by another Wraith,
whose mystical bolt breaks one of the elevator cables. As it madly springs upwards,
Storm gets her foot caught on it and finds herself being pulled up to a potentially painful death.
She manages to pull herself free and uses the cable to bring her up to
the level where Forge lives, leaving Nazé to traverse the other floors alone.

Storm exits onto the roof top patio to find that the Wraith's have cast a spell to turn the rain storm into a blizzard.
Unable to resist the cold, Storm is forced back when she is attacked by another Hellhound and Wraith.
As she locks them back outside, she is struck by a powerful mystical mental
backlash caused, unknown to her, by Nazé being replaced by a Dire Wraith.
This backlash is felt by Forge who has fled deeper into his home and activated the automated defenses.

Storm catches up to Forge and the two face off against the Wraiths together.
When one of the Wraiths attempt to trick Forge by casting an illusion spell to make it look like Storm,
and Storm look like a Dire Wraith, Forge taps in his long neglected mystical talent to learn the truth and destroys the Wraith.
They are reunited by "Nazé" who congratulates Forge for embracing his heritage once more.
Just then, Rogue and Colossus smash through the roof and join up with Forge, Storm
and the faux Nazé in mounting a counter attack on the Wraiths in Forge's home.
As Storm, Colossus, and Rogue fight off the horde of Wraiths, Deathwings
and Hellhounds, Forge rushes off to find some kind of distraction.

Left to his own devices, the Wraith-Nazé goes to the Eagle's Nest inner sanctum and begins preparing a spell of evil intent.
As the X-Men continue to fight against the Wraiths, Forge provides ample distraction by having his home's

holographic simulator create virtual constructs of the Spaceknights ROM and Starshine, striking fear in the Wraiths.
This allows the X-Men to easily wipe out the rest of the Dire Wraiths.
However, before they can consider the battle over they are suddenly attacked by

a manifestation of Shadowbeings that have been summoned by the Wraiths.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by John Romita, Jr. and Dan Green.

[Ken Ashcroft]

Pleasantly surprised to see that they kept Rom’s entry in the Official Handbook of The Marvel Universe Omnibus that was out this week. I thought that Marvel weren’t allowed to reprint any appearances or references of him but there he was along with all the technical info pages detailing his armour and hardware exactly as they appeared originally in the first Handbook edition from the 1980s.

[DigiCom]

Pleasantly surprised to see that they kept Rom’s entry in the Official Handbook of The Marvel Universe Omnibus that was out this week. I thought that Marvel weren’t allowed to reprint any appearances or references of him but there he was along with all the technical info pages detailing his armour and hardware exactly as they appeared originally in the first Handbook edition from the 1980s.

As I understand it, Marvel owns the copyright to the stories & concepts and art they created in the comic. But without the trademarks, they can't REPRINT any of them.

[Deathstroke]

As I understand it, Marvel owns the copyright to the stories & concepts and art they created in the comic. But without the trademarks, they can't REPRINT any of them.

They really need to figure out a way to reprint the series. I think they are missing out on a great opportunity as it was one of my favorite series when it was being published.

[Midnight_v]

Id forgotten what a big deal he was in the marvel universe. Wow. The last time I saw that armor the intellegencia had awoken an Ultron. What a gyp.

[Zero Hunter]

It was that encounter with Rom that made Rogue leave Mystique and go to Xavier for help in the first place. Without meeting Rom Rogue might never have decided to turn over a new leaf and join the X-Men.

[K7P5V]

It was that encounter with Rom that made Rogue leave Mystique and go to Xavier for help in the first place. Without meeting Rom Rogue might never have decided to turn over a new leaf and join the X-Men.

Very profound, Zero Hunter. All the more reason for Marvel to collect this hidden treasure.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #188 Dec 1984
"Legacy of the Lost!"
Following their supposed victory against the Dire Wraiths, the X-Men and Forge find
themselves besieged by a manifestation of Shadowbeings that threaten to swallow them up.
As they struggle to free themselves from being assimilated, Storm uses the gun that
Forge gave her to shoot off his mechanical leg so he can get away and find some help.

As Forge calls out to Nazé, he is unaware that his tribe's shaman has been replaced by
a Dire Wraith who now is casting an evil spell in the inner sanctum of Forge's penthouse.
The Wraith-Nazé calls for a mystical being to aid the Dire Wraiths and offers the entire Earth in exchange.
This powerful nether being scans "Nazé's" body and learns the truth and mystically

strikes him down dead, finding that killing this pretender suits his purposes better.

Meanwhile, just above the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, Amanda Sefton is working her job as
an airplane stewardess when suddenly Nightcrawler appears and teleports her away onto the Blackbird.
He explains to her the X-Men's dilemma that the X-Men need her aid.
They quickly teleport into Forge's Eagles Nest and Amanda goes to work.
With one mystical blast she frees the X-Men but fails to destroy the Shadowbeings.
Rogue transforms into a Dire Wraith due to her mutant absorbing powers and battles with Colossus.
Just then, Colossus's sister Magik appears and uses her Soul Sword to change Rogue back to normal
while Amanda unleashes her full power to mystically snare the Shadowbeings so
that Illyana can destroy them with her Soul Sword. However, they prove too powerful.
Realizing that a Wraith must still be alive, Storm remembers the one
she locked up on the roof. Forge and Nightcrawler teleport there

and Forge finds and terminates the last Wraith, ending the threat of the Shadowbeings inside.

With the X-Men recovering from the battle, Forge goes looking for Nazé and finds what he believes to be his old friend’s unconscious body.
Storm enters the room and tells him that the X-Men are leaving. Forge tries to stop her but she threatens to shoot him.
She tells him that he should not worry, as they will meet again. However she tells him he might regret it, and she leaves.

Meanwhile, out in deep sea near the Bermuda Triangle, Lee Forester's fish
crew is at work when they spot a man in the water being attacked by sharks.
Lee manages to fend the creatures off with a rifle and pull the man aboard the ship.
Getting a better look at the man she saved, she is shocked to see that it is Magneto.
The master of magnetism remembers her from their previous encounter and tells her that he is indebted to her.

While at the X-Mansion, Storm and the other X-Men have returned to the mansion from Dallas.
Storm is coming out of the pool after a swim and is met by Nightcrawler.
Kurt comes to tell her that the Professor has called a meeting for the X-Men.
Storm tells Kurt that since she is no longer a mutant she doesn't feel like she is part of the X-Men and declines to join.
However Kurt manages to convince her to join.

As the X-Men are having their meeting, outside Rachel, Illyana and Sunspot try to listen in to what's going on.
The Professor detects their presence and tells his young students to go to bed.
Rachel declines to accompany the younger students and decides to stay up a while longer.
Inside the Professor's study, the X-Men vent their frustrations over the United States government being responsible for stripping
Storm of her powers and discuss what they should do about the coming Mutant Control Act that is being pushed through Congress.

Nightcrawler airs his frustrations about the current state of human and mutant affairs
and points out that anti-mutant sentiments were the reason Jean Grey died.
Hearing this from outside, Rachel lashes out telepathically, not willing to
believe that her mother had died years before she was born in the future.
The Professor manages to calm her down and Rachel explains the
story about her past, which may or may not be the X-Men's future.
She explains how when she was a young girl, anti-mutant forces gunned down most of
the students and blew up the mansion and that she witnessed Charles Xavier being shot herself.
How as an adult she was locked in a concentration camp for mutants and how the X-Men tried to save their future
while Kate Pryde was sent back in time to prevent their future from happening and how all the X-Men had died.

This vision from the future shocks all of the X-Men and the Professor is the most visibly shaken of them all.
Rachel explains that when the X-Men failed to stop the Sentinels in her time she
attempted to travel back in time, but found herself in a past that she does not remember.
She pleads to Nightcrawler not to give up their struggle and to continue to fight for human mutant peace.
Nightcrawler takes this to heart and agrees to keep on fighting.

At a New York shipping yard, a man named Jaime Rodriguez is hard at work hauling
crates of fish when one crate accidentally falls to the ground and breaks open.
Examining the spilled fish he notices that one of them has a strange golden amulet stuffed inside it.
Removing it, Rodriquez marvels at how much money he could get selling it when the amulet
suddenly speaks, telling him that if he dons the amulet he will have the power to rule the world.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by John Romita, Jr. and Dan Green.

[Hypestyle]

considering Hasbro has the toy rights to a lot of Marvel stuff, I'm wondering why a deal hasn't been struck already for reprints. It needs to happen, even digitally. (and it would have been great if Marvel/Cadence would have simply bought the Rom brand while it was dead).