Hi everyone,
I'm taking some time today to write about Marvel's 6th issue of ROM: Spaceknight. The cover drawn by Marvel artist/writer/editor Al Milgrom features the titular character under attack by "Hell Hounds of the Black Nebula!" The issue had a cover date of May 1980.
The story titled "Dog Day Afternoon!" begins with ROM leaving the back of his friend Steve Jackson's truck in front of the small automotive garage that Jackson owns and operates. He and his girlfriend Brandy Clark brought their Spaceknight friend to a place where the trio thought they would be at least safe from Dire Wraiths, ROM's mortal enemies who had infiltrated our planet.Clark still seems a bit shellshocked after seeing people she once knew fade into ash, even though ROM reminded her that those individuals were actually wraiths in disguise that he had banished to limbo. Jackson departs momentarily before returning with sandwiches and coffee from a nearby convenience store, not knowing if the Spaceknight even eats or drinks. ROM reveals that his suit instead consumes energy, and reaches up for an overhead lightbulb to refill his circuits' energy supply. ROM is shocked to learn that humans must pay for energy after hearing how expensive his energy replenishment efforts would be to his friend in the long term.
Jackson offers to drive Clark to her job, as ROM turns on his armor's rest mode. While the suit recharges and makes necessary repairs, his mind drifts back to his love, Ray-Na, back on Galador. On the way to his car, Jackson and Clark stop to talk with Clairton police officer Arte, who asks the couple if they've seen anything suspicious or odd recently, like he has. ROM's friends quickly say no, but wonder briefly how safe their silver savior will be in the garage.
Back at the top-secret Project Pegasus base in Washington, D.C., a research department led by Dire Wraiths in human disguises starts to analyze the failed Stryker in the Firefall Spaceknight armor. Stryker screams out in pain, knowing that he is still bonded to the alien armor. Agent Rachel Sweet pierces the armor with a strange device that pumps a sedative into Stryker's blood system, causing their test subject to instantly fall asleep.
Sweet and SHIELD agent Kraller then depart for a board meeting with other wraiths, including their leader, the Most High One. Even though we don't see their leader's face, readers can tell by his ominous appearance that he is not pleased with his underlings' failure. He reaches out a blue hand and emits twin beams from his eyes that hypnotize Kraller. The faux government agent walks slowly toward his own demise, a shadowy Deathwing that devours the wraith in a matter of moments.
The wraith leader then announces that their group will no longer have any association with Earth's Supreme Headquarters for Strategic Intelligence and Law Enforcement. Instead, Dr. Sweet will coordinate their efforts. Her face starts to clench after having witnessed the ultimate penalty for disappointing their leader.
Not far from Jackson's garage, a pair of what used to be Doberman Pinschers search for ROM. The animals have been tainted by wraith magic to serve as their telepathic tracking scouts. After they begin to howl, the collars around the dogs' necks start to glow, and they transform into hooded alien entities that can phase through solid objects, like the trees in the forest they had just been searching.
The former dogs glide in the air until they find ROM's location. Thankfully, the Spaceknight is alerted to their presence before they begin to phase into the wall behind him. However, just as he summons his neutralizer from subspace, one of the hellhounds disrupts his circuits by trying to phase through the silver armor. ROM learns how wraith magic and science have twisted man's faithful companions into evil emissaries for their cause.
A short battle ensues, one that forces ROM to drop his neutralizer after being attacked once more. The hellhounds place an invisible force sphere around the weapon that the Spaceknight can't break open, no matter how hard he tries. They roar and use their magic abilities to send tires and even a car hoisted up on a lift in the garage down on their opponent.
ROM fights off these attacks and eventually charges at one of his foes. The duo smashes through the back of one of the garage walls, just as Jackson witnesses the altercation, having just returned from dropping Clark off at her workplace. Even as he battles, ROM warns Steve about the hounds from the Dark Nebula. One of the aliens springs toward Jackson, who sprays it with gas from a nearby pump and flicks his lighter, and hurls it at his opponent, setting his assailant ablaze and howling in pain.
At the same time, ROM continues to wrestle with his own foe. Finally having unentangled himself from the power cords that they were both tied together in before crashing through the wall, the Spaceknight ends the skirmish by lifting and tossing the hellhound (who still had part of the cable twisted around its body) into an open vat of water, electrocuting the beast and ending its tortured life.
ROM pauses for a moment to rest on a soda machine before telling Jackson that his armor absorbed more electrical current than it could hold, and he then crashed to the ground, seemingly unconscious or even dead. Jackson is left there stunned, not knowing what to do next.
I really enjoyed this issue. I felt that it introduced a new element and was the first of many such wraith deviations that writer Bill Mantlo would devise. The only complaint I had was that we never get to see the Most High One's face, and that character actually fades into obscurity after significant events that happen later on in the comic's run. It was still a great story full of action and suspense. The letters page even has a nice bio of "our pal," artist Sal Buscema, following the profile on Mantlo in issue #5.
Next time, I'll write about the seventh issue of ROM: Spaceknight, where we learn if he will recover and what happened to his neutralizer, which was seemingly forgotten after being encased in an impenetrable force sphere by the pair of hellhounds. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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