Rom
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Rom the Spaceknight was a toy created by Bing McCoy and sold to Parker Brothers, eventually becoming a character that appeared in a self-titled comic book series. This series was published by Marvel Comics and was set in Marvel's shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe. The comic book character Rom first appeared in Rom #1 (1979) and was created by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom. Interview, McCoy, Bing, Rom Spaceknight Revisited fan site. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
* Rom Spaceknight Revisited fan site. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
Contents |
Publication history
The Toy
The toy's creator Bing McCoy originally called the toy COBOL (after the programming language), which was later changed to "Rom" aka Read-Only Memory) by Parker Brothers' executives. The toy set a precedent for the game publishing company, which up until that time had only ever produced board games. As this was a new venture for the company and that electronic toys were still very new, a decision was made to produce the figure as cheaply as possible. As a result, the final product had very few points of articulation, and twin red LEDs served as Rom's eyes instead of the originally envisioned green, which were more expensive to produce.Interview, McCoy, Bing, Rom Spaceknight Revisited fan site. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
Not long after its debut, Rom appeared in the corner box of the cover of Time magazine's December 10, 1979 issue. It was also featured in the interior article, "Those Beeping, Thinking Toys", which decried Rom's lack of articulation and predicted it would "end up among the dust balls under the playroom sofa."Skow, John, "Those Thinking, Bleeping Toys", Time magazine, December 10, 1979. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
ROM was licensed to Palitoy in the UK to extend the "Space Adventurer" line of Action Man, appearing in their 1980 catalog. To build interest in the toy, Parker Brothers licensed the character to Marvel Comics which created a comic book featuring Rom. 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.
The Comic
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.Interview, McCoy, Bing, Rom Spaceknight Revisited fan site. Retrieved on 2007-03-25. Parker Brothers subsequently abandoned the line and returned to manufacturing board games.
The comic book outlasted the toy which it was created to support. The comic was written by Bill Mantlo and initially illustrated by artist Sal Buscema. The series lasted for 75 issues over a seven year period, with Rom's regular encounters with mainstream heroes and villains firmly establishing him as part of Marvel continuity. Rom #1-#75, Annual #1-#4 (December 1979 - February 1986).
character biography
In the comic book, Rom is more than a simple cyborg being originally from a utopian society on a planet called Galador. The series details Rom's defeat of an invading alien race known as Dire Wraiths, and the continuation of their battle on Earth and other planets. Rom vol. 1, #1 - 75 + Annual #1 - 4
Some years before Rom's arrival on Earth, Galador is threatened by a fleet of ships manned by shape-changing aliens known as Dire Wraiths. Galador's ruler, the Prime Director, calls for volunteers to be transformed into cyborg warriors called 'Spaceknights', so that they can defend the planet from the invaders. The volunteers are 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.Rom vol. 1.
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 vol. 1, Annual #2 (1983). 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.Rom vol. 1, #1.
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 realize that Rom is in fact banishing Wraiths in human form. In time Brandy's boyfriend, Steve Jackson, also helps Rom in his mission, although when Brandy began to fall in love with the noble Rom her relationship with Steve was strained.Rom vol. 1.
During his time on Earth, Rom fights and banishes thousands of Wraiths. The increasingly desperate Wraiths also create new foes for Rom, such as the sorcerous Devil Dogs, robotic Watchwraiths and Firefall - a fusion of human and Spaceknight.Rom vol. 1, #4, #6, & #16. Two of Rom's greatest foes are the aptly named Hybrid; the hideous result of a union between Wraith and human, and Mentus; a suit of Spaceknight armor occupied by the dark side of the Prime Director's psyche.Rom vol. 1, #17-#18, #25, & #31-#32. Many other opponents were more traditional and hailed from the Marvel Universe proper, such as the Mad Thinker, the Space Phantom, and even the herald of Galactus, Terrax.Rom vol. 1, #14, #19, & #26.
At one stage, Rom's war against the Wraiths takes a turn for the worse - a new breed of Wraith appeared on Earth, and appeared to be far deadlier than the first variety.Rom vol. 1, #47 It is later revealed that these are in fact female Wraiths, who rely 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 attack Clairton while Rom is away, killing everyone (including Steve Jackson and superhero ally the Torpedo) with exception of Brandy Clark. Furthermore, they also make the strategic blunder of openly attacking SHIELD's headquarters, the Helicarrier which removes all doubts of the Earth authorities of the existence and threat of the Dire Wraiths. Rom, however, manages to destroy them all with the aid of his super-powered allies and members of the U.S. military.Rom vol. 1.
Endgame
Rom leaves Earth soon after the battle and returns 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 persisted within the entombed body of Terminator. 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.Rom vol. 1, #72-#75.
Powers and abilities
Rom’s armor provided him with superhuman strength; extreme durability; flight and the ability to travel through outer space via backpack rockets and to breathe in any atmosphere, including space. The armor 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.Rom vol. 1, #18
- The Analyzer - 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.
Other versions
As Marvel Comics no longer possesses the licensing rights to Rom, the character may not appear in his armored form. However, Marvel has found ways to work around this dilemma.
- 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.Hulk vol. 1, #418.
- In the recent Captain Marvel series featuring Genis-Vell, Rick Jones was shown to own a toaster in the shape of Rom's helmet.Captain Marvel vol. 4, #1-#25.
- 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 chest-plate as a shield. He was referred to only as a "spaceknight."Earth X #0-#12 (1999 - 2000).
- In 2006, Marvel reprinted the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe as part of their Essentials line of trade paperbacks, including the Rom entries.
