ROM at IDW Discussion Thread

[ironherc]

#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...

I'm hunting down the ROM issues right now, I just need issues 2 and 3 which my shop already made a special order. Will take about 2 weeks though
But i will pick up issue 6 today just so i can be caught up when they arrive.

[grendeljd]

I read #6 over the weekend - really enjoyed the issue!


*SPOILERS*


The two other Spaceknights who showed up briefly in previous issues finally get a full issue story and it was a good one. Lots of cool little backstory tidbits hints at. Loved the differences between them & ROM, both in their attitude toward the Wraith infestation on Earth, and their armor/weapon designs. Can't wait to read more about them

[grendeljd]

Giant sized ROM annual 2017 out this week!

Pretty good origin story in this one - there's some revelations about how ROM became a Spaceknight that is quite different from the old series, and while I like it I think it also undermines the character a little bit - having the armor come from some kind of organic ore that accidentally bonds to him takes an element of good character development away from him, in that it eliminates the idea that he chose to sacrifice himself to undergo the process to become a Spaceknight. I think there's plenty of room to build that aspect of his character up anyway by exploring the fact that he still went on to battle the wraiths for a couple of centuries afterwards though.

[grendeljd]

If anyone is thinking about checking out ROM on the cheap, comixology has 50% off sale on IDW digital comics until Feb. 24th - you just have to apply the code IDW to your purchase before finalizing your order.

Here's a link to the page with everything available: IDW ROM on Comixology

Most of the ROM issues are already marked down to $1.99 per issue, so you could probably get #1-6 & the annual for around $10 right now!

[ironherc]

If anyone is thinking about checking out ROM on the cheap, comixology has 50% off sale on IDW digital comics until Feb. 24th - you just have to apply the code IDW to your purchase before finalizing your order.

Here's a link to the page with everything available: IDW ROM on Comixology

Most of the ROM issues are already marked down to $1.99 per issue, so you could probably get #1-6 & the annual for around $10 right now!

awww too late i got the annual which hurt my wallet. Never bought a comic so expensive before.
So yes, I finally caught up, issue 2-3 never arrived so i got the trade paperback which also had the revolution one shot so i got to read that as well.

Now my opinions about this series? I love it.

1-4 is a good introduction to ROM and i loved the art. The spirit of the book is still there even if it's a bit darker and rom kills (which makes more sense). The dire wraiths are a plague which makes them even more fearsome.


The one shot was meh but it introduces a human/dire wraith hybrid powered by that mineral the whole revolution thing was about so we will see how this goes with that, the art was not so good compared to the solid one we've been getting.

5-6
Introducing new spaceknights which i have a single problem. They all look like ROM, i remember that the knights all had their own unique designs but i guess that's cause marvel and stuff so they are more uniform now. I like how they look though and how they can be from different races.

Annual
A nice origin but god! did i wish it was just 5 dollars cause it's price is too darn high.
Now I'm mixed up about the stone giving the armor. I like it cause it's limited and it could easily create new knights on earth and that would be so cool, the bad part was the whole sacrifice thing that was so important in the original series, it was more of an accident for ROM here. But i think the good is bigger than the bad so I guess it's fine.

[Cyberstrike]

Sorry but this isn't relevant to this thread and I realize that I shouldn't posted it here.

[grendeljd]

So yes, I finally caught up, issue 2-3 never arrived so i got the trade paperback which also had the revolution one shot so i got to read that as well.

Now my opinions about this series? I love it.

1-4 is a good introduction to ROM and i loved the art. The spirit of the book is still there even if it's a bit darker and rom kills (which makes more sense). The dire wraiths are a plague which makes them even more fearsome.

Glad you're still all-in on the book & all caught up, man! I agree with you - the tone is darker than the original, but that works really well for this series so far. Love Messina's art on that first arc, glad he's coming back for more beyond the annual. He has great detail without over-rendering anything, and I really love the gesture in the tech and especially in the human faces he draws.

I also think this run honours the spirit of the original for the most part. I'll come back to that point in a bit...

The one shot was meh but it introduces a human/dire wraith hybrid powered by that mineral the whole revolution thing was about so we will see how this goes with that, the art was not so good compared to the solid one we've been getting.

Yeah, it was easily the weakest issue of ROM so far, that art didn't help matters much but it wasn't a great story either. I did really like that it had a very retro-feel to it - I got a vibe from it like it could have been published in 1986 instead of 2016 and would have fit right in back then.

5-6
Introducing new spaceknights which i have a single problem. They all look like ROM, i remember that the knights all had their own unique designs but i guess that's cause marvel and stuff so they are more uniform now. I like how they look though and how they can be from different races.

I definitely miss seeing a Starshine or a Terminator Spaceknight in this series very much - but I really like the concept of the Spaceknights being aliens of various species for this series. Great idea. And I also really dig the personalities & designs of these first two other characters so far. Really, the only similarity here is that they're all close shades of silver in colour, but otherwise each design look is as distinct so far (to me) as any of the originals were - the only major differentiation for the originals was contrasting colours which does more easily stand out. So far, I'm okay with there not being a Spaceknight for every colour of the rainbow.

Annual
A nice origin but god! did i wish it was just 5 dollars cause it's price is too darn high.
Now I'm mixed up about the stone giving the armor. I like it cause it's limited and it could easily create new knights on earth and that would be so cool, the bad part was the whole sacrifice thing that was so important in the original series, it was more of an accident for ROM here. But i think the good is bigger than the bad so I guess it's fine.

Price is definitely steep - but it didn't stop me from getting a copy of both covers (love the variant painted cover by JK Woodward as a nod to an old HULK magazine painted cover!). I'm not sure how long this ride is going to last, so I'm happy to enjoy it as much as possible while the title is still around (I do not buy every single variant of each issue, but I'll grab the odd extra one at cover price if I really dig the art).

I enjoyed the story well enough, but I agree with you (and posted previously about the same point), the lack of choice in the transformation to a Spaceknight does take something away from it. I'm hopeful the story will make up for that in other ways, it's been very good so far overall in my opinion.

[ironherc]

^when i said that they look like ROM, mostly comes from the eyes and the helmet that resemble a bit like him. I miss the other colors but it really doesn't bother me. I like how they look and they could add extra colors with future knights.

Another thing i forgot to mention about the new arc is how everyone by the end of revolution (haven't read it, waiting for deluxe edition) doesn't really trust him enough even if they let him go and do his thing (one transformer claimed that they don't kill which i wanna call *SQUEE* cause they are in a war with the freaking decepticons right? did i miss something?) and the fact that two joes want to go after him is pretty interesting, they are allowing ROM to be on his adventures while letting a few D list characters from the shared universe be part of his book, just like classic ROM which i like a lot.

Another thing about the annual i forgot to mention which i liked a lot was how he fully embraced what he is now. When he merged with the metal he looked a bit like his classic version (with the hands without the 5 fingers and such) till he embraced it fully and changed to how he looks now. A nice addition which makes me think that he was always determined to fight the dire wraiths even if he was forced into the armor.

(I also wanted that classic hulk style cover, but my store didn't have it which sucks)

[grendeljd]

Sorry but this isn't relevant to this thread and I realize that I shouldn't posted it here.

No worries - if this was your post about the IDW annuals format & pricing, I wil say that the ROM annual was a full 40 pages of story plus some pin-ups & previews of upcoming covers at the back.

When I consider that Marvel comics are only 20 pages at $3.99 these days, the $7.99 price tag for 40 pages of story here actually isn't as unreasonable as it first sounds. I would of course prefer the book to be $5.99 or even $6.99, but it's not as bad as I had thought.

Amd it was the full regular creative team from the first story arc too. Kudos for not having a weak fill-in artist on the book.

[BugsySig]

First Rom/Transformers hybrid character coming: http://www.cbr.com/exclusive-transforme ... &view=list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[grendeljd]

First Rom/Transformers hybrid character coming: http://www.cbr.com/exclusive-transforme ... &view=list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting...

They have seeded an element into the origin of ROM that makes this idea plausible, and the creative team on the book looks solid.

I've been catching up on reading a lot of the IDW Transformers books this year, particularly the two titles written by Barber & Roberts, and they have been quite excellent. I'd be a tad more excited for this crossover story if it was Roberts instead of Barber co-writing with Gage, but I think it's very cool that this mini-series will be drawn by Alex Milne - that guy's incredibly detailed work in More Than Meets The Eye is very inspiring stuff to me.

[grendeljd]

For those who may be interested, This years edition (vol. 47) of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is going to have an alt cover edition featuring ROM!! I shall be getting one for sure

https://www.previewsworld.com/Article/1 ... l-PREVIEWS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[grendeljd]

[ironherc]

That's a very cool cover

Also we are getting a crossover with transformers. ROM V.S Transformers: Shinning Armor
It's going to tell the story in the past of a cybetronian space knight

[grendeljd]

That's a very cool cover

Also we are getting a crossover with transformers. ROM V.S Transformers: Shinning Armor
It's going to tell the story in the past of a cybetronian space knight

Looks interesting, ironherc! Should be a fun read.

I just stumbled across this image of an upcoming Hasbro Universe sourcebook, and was a little concerned about the fact that there is no ROM included on the cover image;




Hope its not a bad sign for the comic

[ironherc]

nah don't worry, here's a variant of it

[grendeljd]

[ironherc]

okay I'm worried now. Seems like they might be cancelling ROM in issue 14 D:



“Long Roads to Ruin” finale! Is this the last issue of Rom? Yes… and no! First Strike is upon us and out of that momentous event, a new Rom will arise! But before that, the fate of the Knights of the Solstar Order!"

[grendeljd]

^ Sounds like it's going the same publishing route as the average Valiant title these days. Short continuous runs followed by mini-series in continuity. Hopefully it'll stay actively publsished, I'm still enjoying the story very much.

[ironherc]

Maybe i just wanted to have Rom run as long as it did back in the day. But i guess as long as he's around, it will be fine.

[Cyberstrike]

There is something about the upcoming First Strike crossover rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's the way it's being marketed (it sounds like it's everybody vs. The Transformers) or maybe I'm not just getting too old for this crap.

[ironherc]

^yeah, it seems it could cause a wide relaunch for some of the hasbro titles. MASK is clearly ending and Micronauts if I'm not wrong ended and is continuing with some mini series. So I really hope ROM comes out with a series from all this. Though i do hate that just relaunching for the sake of relaunching like Marvel is very annoying.

[Cyberstrike]

^yeah, it seems it could cause a wide relaunch for some of the hasbro titles. MASK is clearly ending and Micronauts if I'm not wrong ended and is continuing with some mini series. So I really hope ROM comes out with a series from all this. Though i do hate that just relaunching for the sake of relaunching like Marvel is very annoying.

To be honest IDW does that a LOT, the longest running series that I know about that was started at IDW that is still going is their TMNT which is at #70 and after that was Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and Transformers: Robots In Disguise each lasting 56 issues (not counting annuals and specials). The only other series is G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero which IDW restarted at #155.5 and is still going with #243 coming out in August.

But yeah IDW does a lot of reboots hell if they had given The Transformers an on-going series at the start instead of a bunch of mini-series, one-shots, and a maxi-series, The Death of Optimus Prime one-shot was originally going be The Transformers #125. They rebooted the IDW created G.I. Joe Universe so many times that after a while no matter cared about it and it's gotten to the point where some Joe fans would have been happier if IDW had just done a final maxi-series to tie up lose ends and let that universe die, instead of it being shoved into Hasbro Universe where it's now by default THE only G.I. Joe series that actually matters. ROM, M.A.S.K., and The Micronauts have been out of the spotlight for a long time that for some fans the name Rom is not a heroic Spaceknight, it's Quark's silly brother on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Mask is that 90s comedy superhero movie starring Jim Carey.

[ironherc]

^so it wasn't just me confused on how the gi joe continuity works huh.

so they are doing the short series and relaunch thing. ROM will return alongside the micronauts. which to be honest im not sure about this since I don't read micronauts. is it any good? (the red guy looks cool though)

[grendeljd]

They're combining ROM & Micronauts into one series? Ugggh...