Today, Marvel Comics is releasing an omnibus we never thought would come to exist, so I’m releasing a guide I never thought I’d ever make exclusively for Pledgeonaut Patrons of Crushing Krisis. It’s a guide to a toy that became a comic that defined the toy (which was a bit of a flop, as it turns out), but is now back thanks to our collective nostalgia. That’s right, it’s a Guide to ROM, Spaceknight – including his reading order at both Marvel Comics and IDW Publishing!
Okay, I know what you’re thinking (unless you are exactly in the Gen X age range to have specific existing nostalgia for this comic book). You’re thinking: “Really, Krisis? A whole guide just for a comic book about a toy? Is this really necessary?”
In a word: YES.
In several more words: ROM is perhaps the most-shining example of Marvel’s 1970s and 1980s licensed character comics, which involved a bevy of Marvel’s best creators breathing life into media properties and toy lines in the form of a richly-built world and dynamic supporting casts.
Of course, Marvel’s Star Wars continuity is well-known and well-loved. And, Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe is rightfully lauded for its incredible tight coordination with the continuity of the toy line (for which he wrote all of the packaging copy). However, ROM by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, & Steve Ditko is remarkable for expanding a single failed toy launch into a heroic, dramatic, and occasionally tragic seven-year comic run that crossed over with the likes of the X-Men, the Avengers, Incredible Hulk, Power Man & Iron Fist, and more!
Except… Marvel was never allowed to reprint any of the issues… UNTIL TODAY, the day of the release of the first of three ROMNIBUS volumes collecting Rom’s complete 1979 series as well as the handful of guest appearances that Marvel has always been forbidden to reprint.
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