ROM at IDW Discussion Thread

[Jace]

^That's awesome, Jace! I had a feeling you'd go for one of those. I didn't know *both* versions of the variant in your top picture had some foil!

I found a copy of the Sal Buscema variant for $12 and it was worth every penny. Love that cover. Also got a regular & a blank sketch cover.

Yeah I bought the Buscema version too, cost me $15. I wish I had picked up the Pitarra b&W wraparound and the Sygar cover too, just so much to do at SDCC it slipped through the cracks

[Funcha]

I'm dying to get the Rom in flight foil cover but don't want to shell out the $200 a raw one is going for on eBay. Still very happy to have a 9.8 graded copy of the original Rom 1. Such an iconic cover.


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[grendeljd]

Gotta say, I really enjoyed ROM #1! Very cool that they included the zero issue here to read all-in-one go.

I thought the new Dire Wraiths were suitably, insidiously creepy - I love the look of their techno-organic weaponry, their use of human sacrifice in their transformations & the way they can corrupt nature. I wonder if the core of their power is sorcerous, or technical, or a hybrid of both? Are we going to see factions of Wraiths or are they a united species this time? The ominous manner in which they have infiltrated earth & are actually prepared for the possibility of ROM's arrival is very well conveyed.

The Spaceknight himself is also looking very sleek in a design that I think keeps all the best elements of the original (toaster head!) & leaves behind the worst (oven mitt hands). Really liked the way his weaponry seems to materialize in both a mechanical & temporal manner. Seems like a nod to the old concept of 'sub-space storage'. The only element I found to be a little awkward was the Analyser "eye" nodes when they deploy on top of his wrists - while I do like the look of the red discs, having to raise your arms & turn your wrists outward to scan doesn't have a very graceful or natural feel to it.

ROM's character feels quite authentic though - his slight detachment & immediate willingness to destroy the whole town of Coopers Mill while engaging the Wraiths in front of humans speaks to the toll his centuries battling this enemy have taken on him, & yet he additionally displays purity of heart in being aware that he is also there to save them. I really liked the line from the wraith about him being a relic, fighting wars of days gone by. That one line breathes so much sense of history into the tale.

[grendeljd]

Is anyone else around here reading ROM besides Jace & myself? I just read #2 (out this week) and I continue to be really impressed with this series so far. We see a lot more of the Dire Wraiths and just how deep their 'infestation' of earth is, and it was awesome! Incredibly cool character designs for a much wider variety of creepy, morphed Wraiths, hints of their own internal social structure... and potentially a greater threat than they were in the classic series.

[jeremycoe]

Is anyone else around here reading ROM besides Jace & myself? I just read #2 (out this week) and I continue to be really impressed with this series so far. We see a lot more of the Dire Wraiths and just how deep their 'infestation' of earth is, and it was awesome! Incredibly cool character designs for a much wider variety of creepy, morphed Wraiths, hints of their own internal social structure... and potentially a greater threat than they were in the classic series.

Honestly, I read the FCBD issue and wasn't impressed enough to continue on. I'm glad you are enjoying it, though.

[grendeljd]

Is anyone else around here reading ROM besides Jace & myself? I just read #2 (out this week) and I continue to be really impressed with this series so far. We see a lot more of the Dire Wraiths and just how deep their 'infestation' of earth is, and it was awesome! Incredibly cool character designs for a much wider variety of creepy, morphed Wraiths, hints of their own internal social structure... and potentially a greater threat than they were in the classic series.

Honestly, I read the FCBD issue and wasn't impressed enough to continue on. I'm glad you are enjoying it, though.

Dude, the zero issue was kinda weak. I didn't really get a good vibe from it, myself. The two regular issues are much better so far, and #1 even reprints the zero issue story at the beginning, which makes a nice meaty read altogether - the story flows well with the 'zero chapter' ahead of the main part.

[grendeljd]

There was a recent IDW Reddit AMA with regards to the Revolution mini-series & one shots that are officially lumping all the Hasbro IPs together, here's a summary article for anyone interested;

http://13thdimension.com/13-things-we-l ... eddit-ama/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[grendeljd]

I didn't pick up the first issue of the Revolution mini-series, but I did get the ROM one-shot. ROM #3 also came out this past week, I'll post some thoughts once I read them

[Burrito Boy]

No, I'm not reading ROM. I'd like to but buying food is more important than buying comics.

[grendeljd]

No, I'm not reading ROM. I'd like to but buying food is more important than buying comics.

Dude - clearly you're gonna have to stop handing out so many free tacos then, if it's cutting into your comics budget...

[Burrito Boy]

No, I'm not reading ROM. I'd like to but buying food is more important than buying comics.

Dude - clearly you're gonna have to stop handing out so many free tacos then, if it's cutting into your comics budget...

[grendeljd]

I didn't pick up the first issue of the Revolution mini-series, but I did get the ROM one-shot. ROM #3 also came out this past week, I'll post some thoughts once I read them

Alright, since I posted the above quote I did go pick up Revolution #1 as well to give it a shot. It was... passably entertaining but kinda meh for me. Painted the Joes as nearly mindless gun toting idiots as the main conflict of the issue played out like a more typical, generic-superhero-misunderstanding-leads-to-a-fight scenario. As in, no matter how much evidence was presented to the contrary, those Joes were gonna shoot those evil robots 'cause they're evil!! Not much substance there, even in the hands of John Barber it felt reeeeaallly forced. I kind of expected that though, to be honest.

Even ROMs appearance was predictable - he shows up and kills some people that he knows are wraiths but doesn't say a word of explanation to anyone, so naturally they assume he's another evil robot paired up with the transformers.

I did like the fact that it included much of the backstory of the Transformers from the existing established continuity of the IDW comics (and I assume the GIJoe backstory as well) - from earths perspective based on what has gone before, they've largely been under severe serious threat whenever any transformers have actually spent any significant time there. That alone does help add some depth to the Joe's reactions, but it was still a bit much.

[grendeljd]

Also, I thought the ROM Revolution one-shot was a bit meh. I enjoyed it, but the art was pretty rough. It was a bit of a cheesy story, largely because of the art style - it read like a comic from the 80's actually. Which isn't entirely a bad thing - I kind of appreciated that sensibility, but still felt like the art was a detraction overall.

ROM #3 was great though, I'm loving the main series so far! Fantastic art, has a great pace to establish the situation the world is in and it's nearly free and clear of any poor crossover story choices. GI Joe is woven into it, but it fits - everything to date makes sense in terms of story, motivation etc. The wraiths have deeply infiltrated that organization as well, and I'm liking how it's played out so far.

[Tony_H]

Midtown has a 40% online sale right now that includes the first 2 ROM issues (plus some Gen Zero and Faith 1 variants). I'll be picking my order up tomorrow. Just thought I'd drop word here in case anybody is on the fence about trying out the title.

[grendeljd]

I got two letters printed in issue #4! Two!!

[Tony_H]

I got two letters printed in issue #4! Two!!

Congrats, G! I haven't read #4 yet, but this has been a surprisingly good series so far.

[grendeljd]

I got two letters printed in issue #4! Two!!

Congrats, G! I haven't read #4 yet, but this has been a surprisingly good series so far.

Thanks! It's always a thrill to get a letter printed - Chris Ryall is a super nice dude, he responded to my letters via email before and talked a bit more than what he ended up saying in the column. I love how passionate he is about ROM!

#4 is another pretty solid issue, I really enjoyed it as the finale of this opening arc. And the last page has me salivating for next issue - two other spaceknights arrived on earth!.

I'll miss Messina on art duties for the next arc though, I really love his work on this book.

[Joshua]

I am buying Rom but am going to wait to have a few more issues to read it all. I had read the FCBD and first issue and while not digging the art, am really digging the story. I'm a long-time Rom fan and have a full run of the Marvel stuff and a page from the Power Man/Iron Fist issue Rom was in.

For what it is worth, Bill Mantlo's brother manages a great Bill Mantlo page on Facebook. It's great and he does a lot on there. From time to time, updates everyone on his Brother.

[grendeljd]

I am buying Rom but am going to wait to have a few more issues to read it all. I had read the FCBD and first issue and while not digging the art, am really digging the story. I'm a long-time Rom fan and have a full run of the Marvel stuff and a page from the Power Man/Iron Fist issue Rom was in.

For what it is worth, Bill Mantlo's brother manages a great Bill Mantlo page on Facebook. It's great and he does a lot on there. From time to time, updates everyone on his Brother.

Too bad you're not into the art on the first arc, I think it was really good - especially the way he draws tech, and human faces.

That's really cool that you have a piece of original art from the marvel era. I'm still working on a full set, I'm missing two issues & one annual, but I was reading ROM back in the day (discovered it a little after it had been canceled). I also have a Marvel Two-In-One issue with ROM & The Thing in it that was a fun comic (I think it's MTIO, could be a Marvel Team Up issue).

I'll have to look up that Bill Mantlo FB page...

[grendeljd]

Meant to comment on issue 5 last month when it came out.

Very cool to see two new Spaceknights show up - I really liked their character designs. It would appear as though this version of Spaceknights spans other races and not just Elonians (re: Galadorians originally). I'm digging that idea so far.

I'm kind of glad all that crossover stuff is done with for now, while I liked the way they had written Wraiths infiltrating in the GI Joe organization, I felt that the rest of the Revolution crossover was a bit hammy & clumsy.

[ironherc]

Is anyone else around here reading ROM besides Jace & myself? I just read #2 (out this week) and I continue to be really impressed with this series so far. We see a lot more of the Dire Wraiths and just how deep their 'infestation' of earth is, and it was awesome! Incredibly cool character designs for a much wider variety of creepy, morphed Wraiths, hints of their own internal social structure... and potentially a greater threat than they were in the classic series.

I just got my hands on issue 1 since i finally found a store that actually sells it, I will read it today since it's my day off and got to catch up on reading my comics. I'm glad the owner is a fan of all 80s so all the Hasbro shared universe are there. I never read the original myself but I learned about it on Linkara's Romtrospective and I'm glad we are getting a new series without any fear of license troubles. The concepts of the series are pretty darn awesome and worth of everyone's time despite Roms dorky design which has now upgraded in this series and looks great. Read Issue 0 so i can't wait to catch up.
Also even if overall the two are different, Rom always reminded me a bit of X-O Manowar, as they are 2 space operas involving armored warriors fighting a race of aliens infiltrating earth, are alien to the planet earth, been part of a bigger universe among other vague examples.
Also question, is the revolution one shot worth it and essential to the main series?

here's the vids, they are a good watch:
http://atopthefourthwall.com/romtrospec ... ight-1-40/

http://atopthefourthwall.com/romtrospec ... ght-41-75/

[Tony_H]

Rom always reminded me a bit of X-O Manowar, as they are 2 space operas involving armored warriors fighting a race of aliens infiltrating earth, are alien to the planet earth, been part of a bigger universe among other vague examples...Also question, is the revolution one shot worth it and essential to the main series?

The old & new X-O reminds me of the old & new Rom, too. That Revolution 1-shot isn't as good as any of the Rom issues, but if you don't read it, you'll miss the introduction of a villain (at least I think he'll end up being a villain) who'll reappear in the spaceknight book. I'd say go ahead & at least read the online version.

[grendeljd]

Rom always reminded me a bit of X-O Manowar, as they are 2 space operas involving armored warriors fighting a race of aliens infiltrating earth, are alien to the planet earth, been part of a bigger universe among other vague examples...Also question, is the revolution one shot worth it and essential to the main series?

The old & new X-O reminds me of the old & new Rom, too. That Revolution 1-shot isn't as good as any of the Rom issues, but if you don't read it, you'll miss the introduction of a villain (at least I think he'll end up being a villain) who'll reappear in the spaceknight book. I'd say go ahead & at least read the online version.

I agree with Tony_H - it's probably not essential to read, and I also didn't think it wasn't as good as any of the regular ROM issues to date, but the character introduced in it will probably be back. Worth checking out if you can get it cheaply somewhere.

[ironherc]

I will look for it cheaper then. For now I'll just try and catch up to the regular series. Finished issue 1 and can't wait for more.

[grendeljd]

#6 is out today, anyone pick it up yet? I'm curious if there is a picture of some ROM chocolate bars in the letters column or not...