Rom The Spaceknight: The First Secret Invasion

[WorstThingUS]

We know Bendis has a thing about digging up his favorite comics from the late 70's early 80's, but Rom The Spaceknight? Seriously? Granted, I actually had a subscription, but was a kid and didn't know any better. I mean, it was no Micronauts, whose first 12 issues of Michael Golden artwork still rocks (and how much fun was it to see Bug return in Annihilation: Conquest?).

For those of you who don't know, Rom was a Spaceknight, whose closest comparison to today would oddly be an Alpha Lantern. He came to Earth to fight the Dire Wraiths who---and you'll love this---were an race of "shape changers" who'd mounted a "secret invasion" of Earth. The kicker? Dire Wraiths were later revealed to cousins of the Skrulls.

[New Cap Fan]

Rom the Spaceknight would have been an EXCELLENT addition not only to Annihilation, but Secret Invasion as well. Imagine the potential storytelling with Rom's history of hunting down the Dire Wraiths/Skrulls! I used to read Rom as a kid as well.

[Rick Summers]

I thought Rom was somewhat interesting but never a favorite.

Hey is there a list somewhere of anyone and everyone that can shape shift?

[Tetsuo_man]

Marvel dosn't have the rights anymore so the idea is mute.

[Rick Summers]

Marvel dosn't have the rights anymore so the idea is mute.

You mean the idea is "moot" :)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moot

[Alpha Male]

I read Rom as a kid too. I liked how he crossed paths with other heroes like The Avengers, Alpha Flight, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, Spider Man, Namor and others. I wish Marvel would look into renewing the rights to Rom so they can publish an Essential Rom TPB.

[Tetsuo_man]

You mean the idea is "moot" :)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moot

d'oh! thank you for the correciton.

[CyberHubbs]

I always liked his design. And Rom is definitely a character that I could see upgraded for Annihilation. Just so long as he doesn't look like a walking, talking suit of medieval space armor.

Yeah, too bad Marvel no longer has the rights.

[psm]

Marvel doesn't have the rights anymore so the idea is moot.

True, they don't have the rights to Rom but they own all of the supporting characters around him, including the Dire Wraiths and SpaceKnights. You'll even notice a few spaceknights in Annihilation and Annihilation:Conquest.

[Beast]

There's a chance that he could show up again though. Since Hasbro owns the rights. And Hasbro and Marvel are on rather friendly terms, since Hasbro is putting out the Marvel toys right now.

[WorstThingUS]

Marvel dosn't have the rights anymore so the idea is mute.

Rom actually showed up with Brandy for Rick Jones's wedding, albeit in his human form.

[StoneGold]

Rom actually showed up with Brandy for Rick Jones's wedding, albeit in his human form.

Right, but the way it works, they can't have him in the armor, and they can only have the human version show up for like a panel.

[Brother Zag]

True, they don't have the rights to Rom but they own all of the supporting characters around him, including the Dire Wraiths and SpaceKnights. You'll even notice a few spaceknights in Annihilation and Annihilation:Conquest.

Yeah, the Spaceknights fight with Blastaar in Annihilation (although they got precious little page time). They were far more featured as an integral part of the set up for Annihilation: Conquest, in the Prologue, as the Ultroned Phalanx took over the Spacknights first (the circumstances of which were just revealed in A:C #5), and then the possessed Spaceknights tricked Peter Quill aka Starlord into allowing the Phalanx to infiltrate the Kree.

But again, no ROM. No licensing, no ROM.

[Rick Summers]

Right, but the way it works, they can't have him in the armor, and they can only have the human version show up for like a panel.

What if they took the same character and just gave him different armor and a new name?

[jim1175]

Right, but the way it works, they can't have him in the armor, and they can only have the human version show up for like a panel.

I'm sure that Marvel can reaquire the rights if they wanted to. And as your avatar depicts, Steve Ditko did a run on Rom (not sure, but possibly his last Marvel works).

[StoneGold]

What if they took the same character and just gave him different armor and a new name?

New armor, new name, it's not really Rom then, is it?

[Inhumanoid]

We know Bendis has a thing about digging up his favorite comics from the late 70's early 80's, but Rom The Spaceknight? Seriously? Granted, I actually had a subscription, but was a kid and didn't know any better. I mean, it was no Micronauts, whose first 12 issues of Michael Golden artwork still rocks (and how much fun was it to see Bug return in Annihilation: Conquest?).

For those of you who don't know, Rom was a Spaceknight, whose closest comparison to today would oddly be an Alpha Lantern. He came to Earth to fight the Dire Wraiths who---and you'll love this---were an race of "shape changers" who'd mounted a "secret invasion" of Earth. The kicker? Dire Wraiths were later revealed to cousins of the Skrulls.

One more set of coat tails SI is riding on along with Halo, the Arrival, and practically every appearcance the Skrulls have ever made on earth.

[StoneGold]

One more set of coat tails SI is riding on along with Halo, the Arrival, and practically every appearcance the Skrulls have ever made on earth.

Frankly, your use of Halo and the Arrival don't say much about your pop culture history. Really, I can't even see how Halo fits into it, other than a tangential connection to alien invasions. Except the Covenant came in force, not through infiltration. Try Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. Or the Twilight Zone classic "Monsters on Maple St." Between those two - alien invaders in our midst, and alien invaders not in our midst, but making us think they are so we destroy ourselves - and you've got SI pretty much covered.

Although if homaging old SF movies is bad, hell, we'd never have had half the Marvel Universe to begin with. Probably more.

[Inhumanoid]

Really, I can't even see how Halo fits into it, other than a tangential connection to alien invasions.

Because Bendis has said the Skrulls want Earth for Religious reasons just like the Covenant. Two alien races, that want to conquer earth, for religous reasons.

Except the Covenant came in force, not through infiltration. Try Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. Or the Twilight Zone classic "Monsters on Maple St." Between those two - alien invaders in our midst, and alien invaders not in our midst, but making us think they are so we destroy ourselves - and you've got SI pretty much covered.

Eh, that's pretty much the Arrival in a nut shell. There are diffrences but you are pretty much splitting hairs from here on out.

Although if homaging old SF movies is bad, hell, we'd never have had half the Marvel Universe to begin with. Probably more.

I think you are exaggerating a bit there but only time will tell if SI will be homage or rip off.

For the record I'm fine with homage. But from what I've seen so far...I don't think it will be.

[Will.S]

Because Bendis has said the Skrulls want Earth for Religious reasons just like the Covenant. Two alien races, that want to conquer earth, for religous reasons.
Wasn't the religious aspect of the skrulls already established during the Walt Simonson run of FF?

[StoneGold]

Because Bendis has said the Skrulls want Earth for Religious reasons just like the Covenant. Two alien races, that want to conquer earth, for religous reasons.



Eh, that's pretty much the Arrival in a nut shell. There are diffrences but you are pretty much splitting hairs from here on out.



I think you are exaggerating a bit there but only time will tell if SI will be homage or rip off.

For the record I'm fine with homage. But from what I've seen so far...I don't think it will be.
This difference between homage and ripoff is if you want to like the project or not.

And really, if you're saying it's a Halo ripoff because of a detail in the attack plan, I'm not the one splitting hairs here. For that matter, you're not even correct about the Covenant. They're guided by religion, but there's no prophecy that says they're going to conquer the Earth. Just the opposite - they started the war because they thought humans were colonizing former Forerunner areas. It has nothing to do with Earth, everything to do with them seeing humanity as defilers of their religion.


As for the Arrival, if you're going to say someone is ripping off a full-on military alien invasion, you bring up War of the Worlds, not Independence Day.

[Monty_Cristo]

DISCLAIMER: i'm not out to bash fans of the character. the comments below just reflect my personal taste.

i always found Rom kind of boring. and his armor was bland as h*ll. all he did was hunt down Dire Wraiths. and he had no facial expressions. what's so cool about that? why not just use that mission to build up one of the lesser used heroes laying about? i bet Noh-Var could put a dent in the Wraith population if he salvaged some of Rom's tech. and he wouldn't just use a laser beam.

[Secret Identity]

If any of you guys read The-isb.com, Chris Sims did a tribute week to ol' Rom last summer. Ch-Ch-Ch-Check it out (http://www.the-isb.com/?p=117)

[StoneGold]

DISCLAIMER: i'm not out to bash fans of the character. the comments below just reflect my personal taste.

i always found Rom kind of boring. and his armor was bland as h*ll. all he did was hunt down Dire Wraiths. and he had no facial expressions. what's so cool about that? why not just use that mission to build up one of the lesser used heroes laying about?

Because Rom was a marketing deal to promote what was then a high-end toy.

[Inhumanoid]

This difference between homage and ripoff is if you want to like the project or not.

No, the diffrence is homage is similiar but diffrent enough that it's not a rip off.

And really, if you're saying it's a Halo ripoff because of a detail in the attack plan, I'm not the one splitting hairs here.

No, I'm not going to say that. I never did. I said it's because of the religious aspect that it's riding halo's coatails.


For that matter, you're not even correct about the Covenant. They're guided by religion, but there's no prophecy that says they're going to conquer the Earth. Just the opposite - they started the war because they thought humans were colonizing former Forerunner areas. It has nothing to do with Earth, everything to do with them seeing humanity as defilers of their religion.


As for the Arrival, if you're going to say someone is ripping off a full-on military alien invasion, you bring up War of the Worlds, not Independence Day.

You are putting putting alot of words in my mouth and making alot of calls that aren't yours to make.

1) I never said SI was a rip off of any one thing. I said it was riding the coat tails of many diffrent things. A list you've added to with Invasion of the body Snatchers and War of the Worlds so thanks.

2) Why are you so adamant about which examples I should use? The idea isn't to list examples based on which is the best movie but to give an example of the kind of movie I'm talking about. And, regardless of which one you like more, Arrival and Body Snatchers are in the same genre of movies so my point is made.

3) I never used a military invasion of the earth as a bases for anything.

Oh yeah, and your right about Halo but my point still stands that for Religious reasons they attacked earth. Well, not so much religious reasons as just wanting power but religion is the excuse they used.

[Charles RB]

I did think "is that a Dire Wraith?" in the EW preview pages where the Skrulls are talking to a religious female Skrull in a cloak.

[Rick Summers]

New armor, new name, it's not really Rom then, is it?

Kind of makes me think of Phylla.
New costume, new codename but not really Quasar is she? LOL :evilsmile

[Will.S]

New armor, new name, it's not really Rom then, is it?
I think they should just give up on ROM and just use Liberator.

[stingerman]

Kind of makes me think of Phylla.
New costume, new codename but not really Quasar is she? LOL :evilsmile

Nope, not by a long shot my friend! ;)

[Cash Lone]

DISCLAIMER: i'm not out to bash fans of the character. the comments below just reflect my personal taste.

i always found Rom kind of boring. and his armor was bland as h*ll. all he did was hunt down Dire Wraiths. and he had no facial expressions. what's so cool about that? why not just use that mission to build up one of the lesser used heroes laying about? i bet Noh-Var could put a dent in the Wraith population if he salvaged some of Rom's tech. and he wouldn't just use a laser beam.

As a youngin' I read every issue of Rom up till the Skrull Invasion issue and the new Dire Wraiths took over. Rom's nobility was key to his personality - I liked that he was based on a concept of a Knight. Back then, I thought all the spaceknights were interesting design wise.

Credit should be given to Sal Buscema for giving Rom expression - not through face, but gestures and poses. Iron man and other heroes wear full face masks and they get by fine.

When I first heard of Secret Invasion I did think - "didnt marvel do this already? it was called it Rom".

Final note: When Rom met the X-men, Power Man/Iron Fist and later Shang Chi - those issues were great.

[PamGrierOverdrive]

Rom #17 guest starring the X-Men is the first comic I can remember reading, and I recall bringing it to Kindergarten for show and tell. I eventually collected every issue as I'm a huge fan of old school Marvel, particularly when they'd create a toy tie-in and then take it to the next level so that it was memorable long after the toy had disappeared. Hasbro doesn't seem to be interested in doing much with Rom so if everybody was smart, they'd work out a deal to let Marvel use the character. I'm sure the payout to Hasbro wouldn't be astronomical on Marvel's part, and Hasbro would have a new toy property to exploit.

[StoneGold]

Rom #17 guest starring the X-Men is the first comic I can remember reading, and I recall bringing it to Kindergarten for show and tell. I eventually collected every issue as I'm a huge fan of old school Marvel, particularly when they'd create a toy tie-in and then take it to the next level so that it was memorable long after the toy had disappeared. Hasbro doesn't seem to be interested in doing much with Rom so if everybody was smart, they'd work out a deal to let Marvel use the character. I'm sure the payout to Hasbro wouldn't be astronomical on Marvel's part, and Hasbro would have a new toy property to exploit.

It'd take some major overhauling to get Rom to the point where kids would want to buy a toy.

[PamGrierOverdrive]

If I'm not mistaken, I recall seeing a Sasquatch figure on the shelves as part of Marvel's figure line. If anybody thought an orange furball would sell, I don't see why they'd doubt a silver armored spaceknight with a badass laser gun wouldn't sell.

[Eumenides]

We know Bendis has a thing about digging up his favorite comics from the late 70's early 80's, but Rom The Spaceknight? Seriously?

Hm, I believe Bendis got his inspiration from The Skrull/Kree War event. This plodding, badly-drawn (except for the Neal Adams Ant-Man part), worse-written, inconclusive (so what happens to Hawkeye at the end?) 'event' has been held in high esteem by a lot of Marvel writers working today. Bendis nicked the 'Avengers: Disassembled' title straight from it; the story was about a politician turning public opinion against superheroes (Civil War), and now we have Secret Invasion, a rehash of almost every Skrull story ever told (Roger Stern must have been the only person ever to write a decent Skrull story where their shape-shifting powers aren't used to conquer Earth).

If Rom had been Bendis' inspiration, I'd at least give him high marks for stealing from good comics. That series at least had one good thing going for it: a conclusion. Rom arrived, killed the Dire Wraiths and left (after 70+ issues)

On the other hand, one could also argue Bendis is stealing from DC's Millennium :rolleyes:

[Blueferret]

Didn't Marvel basically kill off Rom in the spaceknights mini-series from a few years ago?

[WorstThingUS]

Hm, I believe Bendis got his inspiration from The Skrull/Kree War event. This plodding, badly-drawn (except for the Neal Adams Ant-Man part), worse-written, inconclusive (so what happens to Hawkeye at the end?) 'event' has been held in high esteem by a lot of Marvel writers working today. Bendis nicked the 'Avengers: Disassembled' title straight from it; the story was about a politician turning public opinion against superheroes (Civil War), and now we have Secret Invasion, a rehash of almost every Skrull story ever told (Roger Stern must have been the only person ever to write a decent Skrull story where their shape-shifting powers aren't used to conquer Earth).

If Rom had been Bendis' inspiration, I'd at least give him high marks for stealing from good comics. That series at least had one good thing going for it: a conclusion. Rom arrived, killed the Dire Wraiths and left (after 70+ issues)

On the other hand, one could also argue Bendis is stealing from DC's Millennium :rolleyes:

Ugh. Totally forgot about that one. And with good reason.