Hi everyone,
Today I'll be writing about the forty-third issue of Marvel's ROM: Spaceknight. On the cover, we see the familiar Spaceknight armor lying empty on the ground, as a man is transposed above it, declaring that he is finally ROM: Spaceman. The story was aptly named "Rom--Spaceman." The issue had a cover date of June 1983.
On the first page, we see ROM rejoicing after regaining his humanity in an apparent paradise in Russia. He reaches down to smell flowers, stops to marvel at birds, and sees his reflection in the water below him. He also sees what he believes to be a reflection of Brandy Clark, the human that he's loved since he first landed on Earth.
ROM decides to take a swim and emerges from the water feeling refreshed and invigorated. Unknown to our hero, he is being observed by Quasimodo, the being who granted his request to become human (in the last issue), and several Dire Wraiths. Quasimodo pointed to the remainder of ROM's humanity held in a stasis cube behind him. His alien companions demanded that their hated enemy suffer, and Quasimodo vowed to make that happen, but he would not have his allies around to witness it.
The wraiths were puzzled by this remark, until Quasimodo noted that it would they would likely deem him to be too dangerous one day, and try to remove him from the armor. He then summoned ROM's neutralizer from subspace and sent his companions to limbo. While Quasimodo gloated about his imperviousness to harm, two figures began to materialize behind him.
As ROM continued to walk, he thought about his plan to profess his love to Brandy, until he realized that his friend Steve Jackson also loved her. He also thought about the wraith war, which was far from over. He vowed to let other heroes take on that responsibility. ROM continued to marvel at the beauty of his surroundings until he noticed his new friends, whose bodies seemed to be decomposing in front of his very eyes. He ran to them, wondering what had happened. One man explained that Quasimodo lied, and that he could not prevent them from dying, but instead merely delayed their demises temporarily.
ROM ran from them in terror. He couldn't believe that what had happened to them would happen to him. However, when he looked into the water once more, he saw that his body was already beginning to erode. The Galadorian curled into a ball, unaware that Quasimodo was looking on and laughing at him in his Spaceknight armor. Quasimodo soon learned that he was not alone, as Doctor Dredd and Starshine announced their presence. Starshine obeyed Dredd's commands and immediately attacked the silver Spaceknight. Quasimodo heard Dredd say that he had merged Clark into the Starshine armor, and knew that he was not her intended target, and that the wraiths who could have explained the situation were in limbo after he banished them there.
Quasimodo used ROM's neutralizer to attack his foe, but was again weakened by Starshine's light eyes energy blasts. He fled the chamber and soared out of the cave, right past ROM. Seeing this, the Galadorian wondered if his remaining humanity was still intact. Starshine and Dredd ran past him, unaware that he was the one they were really after. ROM didn't need his armor to know that Dredd was a wraith, and lunged at him. Dredd realized that his opponent was the real ROM.
Meanwhile, Starshine pursued Quasimodo and continued to follow her orders to strip the silver Spaceknight of his life essence. She essentially did just that, as Quasimodo chose not to face further punishment and fled the suit of armor, which collapsed to the ground afterward. Seeing what she had accomplished, Clark was overwrought with grief. She returned to Dredd, only to find him locked in combat with what appeared to be a decomposing human. ROM defeated the wraith witch, who turned to dust as he passed away. The Galadorian then reached out to his beloved, who realized who he really was and rushed to his failing body.
This was another interesting issue. A classic tale of how good things often come with strings attached, or other similar kinds of consequences. It was good to see Quasimodo again in this two-party story and I think that Mantlo wrapped up both storylines nicely. This issue was also promoted in the Bullpen Bulletins column, and it was well worth reading just to see how ROM reacted to his second chance at becoming human.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the forty-fourth issue of Marvel's monthly ROM: Spaceknight title. In that issue, we'll find out what happened to ROM and Starshine. We'll also see appearances by a few characters that previously appeared in issues of the Incredible Hulk. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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