Hi everyone,
Today, I'll be writing about Marvel's thirty-first issue of ROM: Spaceknight. The cover features the silver Spaceknight surrounded by members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: to the left are Mystique and Avalanche, while Pyro and Rogue are on the right. In front of him stand the Blob and Destiny. The story was called "west virginia REEL." The issue had a cover date of June 1982.
The tale begins at the old Marks farm in Clairton, West Virginia, where the superhero known as the Torpedo sees something materializing out of thin air. Right in front of Brock Jones is none other than Hybrid, a horrific, evil child who was born to a human mother and Dire Wraith father. Torpedo's rocket punch is ineffectual against the being who was once known as Jimmy Marks, whose single swipe knocks the hero into a snow drift and sends him careening into part of what's left of his old family home.
Torpedo (aka Brock Jones) grabs a nearby pitchfork and tosses it at his opponent, not knowing that the farm implement was the same weapon that Hybrid used to slay his father with. Hybrid was able to easily suspend the pitchfork in mid-air with a single thought. Amazed, Torpedo asked his foe to identify himself. The former Jimmy Marks stated that he was Hybrid, and that he would be the death of the hero.
Meanwhile, the Blob, Avalanche, Destiny, and Pyro remained in custody. It was being carted off to jail in an escape-proof vehicle designed by genius inventor Tony Stark (aka Iron Man). However, the winter weather proved to be a challenge for the men driving it. Several guards enlisted the aid of other prisoners to help keep the road clear. Just as it seemed like the vehicle would drive over several men who had slipped in front of it, ROM arrived to stop the truck, not knowing that the transport could detach from the wheel base and fly off.
The silver Spaceknight and the human prisoners around him were surprised by what had just happened. Several guards, thinking that ROM was aiding in an attempted prisoner escape, fired at him, but their bullets just bounced off the cyborg armor. One of the prisoners misled the Galadorian into believing that they were slave labor. Hearing that, he broke their chains and flew off toward Windust Prison, where the transport was also headed. The prisoners left behind on the ground gleefully took off as fast and far away from the guards as possible.
It wasn't long before ROM made his way to the prison facility. Guards in one of the watchtowers shone their spotlight on the intruder, who made his presence known by crushing the nearby steel gate. ROM intended to free the other slaves that he thought were in the prison. At the same time, the evil mutants were being led to their holding cells. The warden was discussing the impending imprisonment with Dr. Kellogg, who was soon revealed to be the evil mutant Rogue, who had abducted the real doctor and left her tied up in her office. Rogue quickly turned off the control device so that her companions could be free.
The warden revealed herself to be Mystique, leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The shapeshifter and her associates overpowered the guards and were planning their next move when alarms went off. The Blob looked out the window and found the reason for the alarm was the silver Spaceknight, who was still advancing toward the prison entrance, even as guards continued to shoot at him with every step he took.
Soon, the mutants made their way to the entrance to confront the Spaceknight. ROM countered both the Blob and Pyro, whose living flame reminded the Galadorian of the same power that his fellow Spaceknight Karas (aka Firefall) had possessed. ROM was eventually able to use his neutralizer's ray to snuff out Pyro's flames. He then used his energy analyzer and learned that his foes were mutants, not unlike the X-Men (whom ROM battled in issues 17 and 18).
Rogue flew at the Spaceknight while Mystique, Destiny, and Avalanche (who was still recovering after a recent battle with the Incredible Hulk) went toward the transport, planning to use it to escape. Even with two broken arms suffered from his skirmish with the Hulk, Avalanche was still able to generate enough concussive force to shatter the ground beneath Pyro and the Blob before collapsing. Pyro fell on top of Rogue, and the Blob was knocked into a wall with one punch from the silver Spaceknight.
Destiny informed Mystique that the real warden had been discovered and set free. Her leader decided it was probably best to cut their losses, and Rogue flew the two of them away, leaving their male teammates behind. As ROM saw the trio leave, he noticed Mystique's similarity to the X-Man Nightcrawler. Just then, the real warden, flanked by guards, approached the Spaceknight. He wanted to know why the Galadorian was trying to break into the prison.
ROM explained how the prisoners he met earlier had claimed they were slaves. The warden explained that those men were actually dangerous criminals. He did not hold ROM's actions or misunderstanding against him, but expected him to set things right, which the Spaceknight took off to do, as he soared after the female mutants.
Seeking shelter from the winter storm, Rogue set Destiny and Mystique down in front of an abandoned house. Even though the dwelling appeared from the outside to be vacant, the evil mutants soon learned how wrong they were in that assumption. Rogue used a portion of the power that she purloined from Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers, in Avengers Annual #10) to smash through the front door. Inside, waiting for the ladies on the staircase was none other than Hybrid himself.
This was another fun issue, brilliantly illustrated by Sal Buscema and Joe Sinnott. Hybrid was a worthy adversary who remained in the Marvel Universe for several years after Marvel lost the licensing rights to ROM. I'd read the Hulk and Avengers issues that I mentioned earlier, and was looking forward to their battle with the silver Spaceknight in this series.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the thirty-second issue of Marvel Comics' ROM: Spaceknight. The battle with Hybrid continues, and the outcome will change one of the evil mutants' outlooks. We'll also learn what happened to the Torpedo after he faced Hybrid. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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