Hi everyone,
Today I'll be writing about the fortieth issue of Marvel's monthly title, ROM: Spaceknight. The cover of this issue shows the titular character bound by strange pink tendrils, as a Pied Piper leads children around him. The story was called "Piper of Peril!" The issue had a cover date of March 1983.
The tale begins with a coven of wraiths. Several Dire Wraiths are wearing robes and chanting, while other unclothed wraiths stand around watching. The wraith witches are rejoicing at the fact that the black sun of their dreaded dark nebula will soon be in alignment with Earth. Several wraiths mock the witches, noting that their sorcery has failed recently, where wraith science might have succeeded. The witches remained undaunted by the recounting of those incidents (from previous issues), stating that those missteps were because Earth champions assisted ROM. This time, the witches were confident that they would control the planet's children.
Meanwhile, the silver Spaceknight was busy soaring through the air after his latest adventure, marveling at how powerful the wraith sorcery he had encountered recently was. As he flew, the Galadorian remembered days back on his home planet, before the wraith war began and his beloved Ray-Na was one of its casualties. His thoughts then wandered to his growing love for the Earthling Brandy Clark and the realization that he could never be human again. That last thought drove ROM to crash headfirst into a stone wall. He surprised himself by surviving the crash, but his woes were soon forgotten as he peered into the nearby town.
There, the Spaceknight saw a gaily attired being making music with his pipe, as several children followed him. Knowing that wraiths had recently used Earth children in their latest schemes, ROM assumed that this was another one of their evil plots and followed their trail. The musician eventually stopped and continued to play his flute on top of a hill. As he did so, his summoner song brought forth a small star, one that continued to increase in size exponentially as he played, until the star revealed a glimpse into another world.
That world was the dreaded Dark Nebula, home to the Dire Wraiths. The flutist continued to goad the entranced children toward the portal entrance to that planet until ROM intervened. He had been watching from afar and stood in front of the portal. The Galadorian was determined not to lose any more of Earth's children.
Back in Clairton, West Virginia, Steve Jackson was held in place by a mystic bolt from Doctor Dredd. Steve was unable to prevent his girlfriend, Brandy Clark, from being merged into the cyborg armor that previously belonged to the deceased Spaceknight Starshine. Dredd explained to Jackson how Starshine had transferred her light essence to Clark before departing the mortal coil and how Clark was determined to become a Spaceknight so that she could be closer to her love, ROM. The Torpedo broke through a nearby window and used the analyzer power that the silver Spaceknight gave him to ascertain that Dredd was indeed a Dire Wraith. However, even though he bested the wraith in combat, by the time their scuffle was over, the Torpedo was struck from behind by the light eyes of Starshine, whose armor was now inhibited by Jackson's fiancée.
At the same time, ROM was using his own energy analyzer to learn that the musician who had entranced children was also a Dire Wraith. He used the mystic powers of his musical instrument to bring forth eldritch energies to ensnare his accursed enemy. The Galadorian knew that the bonds would not hold him for long, and that they were employed to delay him from preventing the shadowed Dweller on the Threshold's arrival on Earth. ROM finally broke free, just as the strange beast from the Dark Nebula appeared in the portal's open doorway. The silver Spaceknight's neutralizer sang its song of banishment to limbo for the wraith musician, and ROM flew straight toward the new invader. His momentum carried both of them into the dark dimension, just before the portal closed. Back on Earth, the hypnotized children awoke from their trance, as if nothing had just happened.
This was another of the first issues of this title that I ever read. The Steve Leiahola-drawn cover enticed me, and it was a rather enjoyable story. It wasn't the first time that a human was placed in Galadorian Spaceknight armor (former criminal turned hero Archie Stryker previously inhabited the Firefall armor), but it was the one that lasted the longest and was the most notable during this title's 75-issue run. Sal Buscema's artwork was well embellished by Akin and Garvey as usual.
That's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the forty-first issue of Marvel's ROM: Spaceknight. In that issue, we'll learn what happened during ROM's battle with the Dweller on the Threshold. He'll also interact with other established Marvel characters, including one that was mentioned early in this title's run. We'll also find out where Brandy's loyalties lie, now that she has the powers and Spaceknight armor that once belonged to ROM's former fellow Galadorian Spaceknight Starshine. Until then, have a great week, and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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