What Ever Happened to ROM: Spaceknight?

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What Ever Happened to ROM: Spaceknight?
By Dan Horn
Mar 22, 2010 - 11:58

ROM: Spaceknight #1

ROM: Spaceknight made his stellar debut in Marvel Comics’ ROM #1, released in December 1979. A Galadorian Spaceknight avowed to hunt down and banish to Limbo the aliens that destroyed his home, ROM won over the hearts of many comic book readers. In the capable hands of the superstar creative team of Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, the ROM series spanned an impressive seven year run with 75 issues and several annuals to its credit. ROM’s interactions with the characters of the Marvel U and his influence upon them could also be seen in other frontline titles like Mighty Avengers, Incredible Hulk, and Uncanny X-Men. His presence has been felt in cinema (Robocop), literature (The Toy Collector), television (Robot Chicken), and recent comic series (Spaceknights) as well.

Original Parker Bros' ad for ROM

But, before he was soaring through comic book panels and reducing shape-shifting Dire Wraiths to piles of space-dust with his trusty Neutralizer, ROM was a patented toy made by Parker Brothers. Already established as a board game maker, it was PB’s first attempt at dabbling in the action figure arena. In order to advertise the ROM toy to children, PB licensed the character to Marvel Comics. Unfortunately, the marketing ploy backfired, the toy was a flop, and the ROM license was never renewed by Marvel after the end of the series because of legal issues.

The titular heroes from Marvel's Spaceknights miniseries

The Galadorian saga has been reiterated a few times since the demise of the series, namely by Jim Starlin in 2000’s five-issue Spaceknights miniseries, but because of the miles red tape surrounding the character, ROM has only appeared (or rather, not “appeared” per se) as different incarnations of the character such as the ostensibly expired Artour. If you were to search for ROM on Marvel’s website, you’d be redirected to a link that reads, “Please don’t create a bio for this character. It is not Marvel property.” But if you search “Spaceknight,” you’ll see a long list of related characters and articles, testimony to ROM’s impact on the Marvel U.

X-Men battle Dire Wraiths

So, will there ever be a rebirth for the cyborg from Galador? A few loose ends lead one to think that it wouldn’t be hard to believe another manifestation of ROM could be in the works over at the House of Ideas. In the Spaceknights miniseries, it was revealed that ROM had two sons with his Earthling romantic interest Brandy Clark. And in 2006, as part of Marvel’s Essentials republications, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe was reprinted, featuring ROM. With the rejuvenation of Marvel’s intergalactic heroes like Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy, it seems like now would be the perfect time to resurrect the character, whether his silver armor be manned by one of his sons or by Artour himself.