Rom the Space Knight

Rom the Spaceknight
Rom's first appearance in Rom #1 December 1979.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics with permission from Parker Brothers
First appearance	Rom #1 December 1979.
Created by	Bing McCoy (toy design) Bill Mantlo (comic book version)
In-story information
Alter ego	Rom
Team affiliations	Spaceknights, X-Men (ally)
Abilities	Super-strength, stamina, extreme durability; flight. Wepaons/Aids: Universal Translator Analyzer Neutralizer

Rom the Spaceknight was a toy created by Bing McCoy and sold to Parker Brothers, who in cooperation with Marvel Comics also created a superhero that appeared in the Marvel Universe.

Creation

McCoy originally called the toy COBOL - after the programming language - which was later changed to "Rom" by Parker Brothers' executives. The toy set a precedent for Parker Brothers, which up until that time had only ever produced board games. Given that this was a new venture for the company and that electronic toys were still very new, a decision was made to produce the toy as cheaply as was possible. The final toy had very few points of articulation and also had the twin LED's that served as Rom's eyes changed from green to red, as the latter were much cheaper to produce. 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."

To help build interest in the toy, Parker Brothers teamed with Marvel Comics to create a tie-in comic book featuring the character. 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. 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. Parker Brothers subsequently abandoned the line and returned to manufacturing board games.

The Comic

Ironically, the comic outlasted the toy the title was created to support. It was written by Bill Mantlo and initially illustrated by artist Sal Buscema. The comic book series was successful enough to run for seventy-five issues over a six year period, and storylines from the Rom comic book spilled over into the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Fictional character biography

In the comic book version, Rom is far more than a simple cyborg. He was originally from a utopian society on a planet called Galador. At some point Galador is threatened by a fleet of ships manned by shape-changing aliens known as the 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.

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 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.

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 realise 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 his relationship with Steve was strained.

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. 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 armour occupied by the dark side of the Prime Director's psyche. 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.

At one stage, Rom's war against the Wraiths takes a turn for the worst - a new breed of Wraith appeared on Earth, and appeared to be far deadlier than the first variety. 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. Rom, however, manages to destroy them all with the aid of his super-powered allies.

File:Rom-47.jpg

The female Dire Wraiths arrive on Earth in Rom vol. 1, #47. Publisher Marvel Comics.

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 had been saved and hidden by Galactus. 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.

Lapsed Copyright and Other Appearances

Given that Marvel Comics no longer possesses the rights to Rom, the character may not make a reappearance in his armoured form. Marvel, however, has "cheated" to a degree on several occasions.

• 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.

• In the recent Captain Marvel series featuring Genis-Vell, Rick Jones was shown to own a toaster in the shape of Rom's helmet.

• 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 chestplate as a shield.

• In 2006, Marvel reprinted the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe as part of their Essentials line of trade paperbacks, including the Rom entries.

In addition, James Power is shown fixing a ROM doll owned by Katie Power.

Spaceknights miniseries

The story followed the adventures of Rom and Brandy's son Tristan (whose Spaceknight callsign is Liberator) and a new generation of Spaceknights on Galador. The series did not sell well and plans for another ongoing Rom title were abandoned. This may have been due to reader complaints that the series did not adhere to the continuity established in the first series. Also, writer Jim Starlin did not put much effort in scripting the story, as he admits himself on Rom Spaceknight Revisited: "I thought [Rom] was a pretty dumb character back in the seventies. I just took on the job of scripting the series so that I could pay for some parts for my boat."

Powers and Abilities

Rom’s armour provided him with superhuman strength; extreme durability; flight and the ability to warp through space via backpack rockets and to breathe any atmosphere, including space. The armour 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.

• The Analyser - 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.

The Rom toy in box. ROM is trademark and copyright Parker Brothers (brand of Hasbro) 1979.

External links

• Rom Spaceknight Revisited!
• http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/comics/Rom/
• ROM Spaceknight
• http://www.stonefoundationentertainment.com/rom.html