In 1979, the character ROM, SPACEKNIGHT was introduced. It was a toy tie-in comic (something Marvel got heavily into at the time), and despite the toy failing rather quickly, it was excellent. No, seriously, it was a fun super-hero story, it was a reversal of the standard alien invasion cliche of the time, it was a meditation on the meaning of sacrifice, the essence of humanity, and the disconnect between war veterans and the peaceful society that requires soldiers to defend their way of life.
And it will probably never be reprinted, because Marvel doesn't hold the rights to the character. Oh, they hold the rights to the villains, the supporting characters, everyone else, but not the title character. Despite this, he's shown up a few times in "stealth cameo" form, never mentioned by name, and usually out of the sleek, iconic bodyshell he's normally depicted in, and there was a (rather disappointing) sequel to his series in the . . . last ten years or something. But it was, as I said, rather disappointing. Anyway, Parker Bros. supposedly still holds the rights, and the rights to his likeness (hence "stealth cameos"), and for whatever reason, they've never allowed Marvel to have 'em back (maybe the licensing fees are just too high? I don't know.) which is frustrating because the comic outlasted the toy by like 5 years, and PB haven't done a thing with ROM since their toy failed. It'd be different if they were trying to revive the toy, or something, but nope. They do nada.
Anyway, for a toy tie-in, of a
failed toy, need I remind you, ROM SPACEKNIGHT lasted 75 issues, 4 annuals, several cameos (both stealth and non) and in the memories of fans all over. Here he comes.
(6 images and a cover under the cut)
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