Hi everyone,
Today, I'll be writing about the forty-seventh issue of the first ROM: Spaceknight monthly comic. The cover, drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, shows a new creature. While we don't know just what it is yet, it's hinted that it may have something to do with Dire Wraiths. The story was titled "One Man's Toys...Are Another Man's Terror!" The issue had a cover date of October 1983.
The humans in question are a young man and woman standing by a car that the man is hunched under the hood of to find the reason why it stopped working. The woman presumes that the car's breakdown was an excuse for her date to spend time with her, and makes it clear that she didn't want to go out with him in the first place. Her attention is diverted by the smell and then the presence of the alien, who approaches her before the male can look up from his work. Its barbed tongue causes the young woman to shriek in terror, finally gaining Johnny's attention.
Johnny looks up in horror and advises Mary Lou to run. Before he can do anything more, the man is grabbed with one hand before the alien's tongue pierces his forehead. Johnny screams in pain, and his body begins to fail before Mary Lou's eyes. The alien then removes its tongue from the dessicated human and begins to take his form and voice. Mary Lou tries to flee, but is quickly caught by another similar alien, one who does the same to her as her now deceased date.
Meanwhile, ROM and Starshine are flying together hand in hand, after having experienced another adventure, this time in Russia (in the last two issues). Although the pair are very much in love with each other, the Galadorian states that their love is unnatural, mainly because they are both encased in cyborg Spaceknight armor. They cannot love one another as normal humans would. ROM states his fear that he can no longer become human again, just as they fly over a rather unusual-looking island (one that longtime Marvelites might recognize).
As Starshine (Brandy Clark) pursues her love, neither of them is aware that they are being watched. We see a white gloved hand adjust a dial on a telescope before we get a closer look at him. We find out that it's a white fleshed being wearing a sorcerer's outfit, and talking to his master, whose skeleton occupies a throne behind him. Master of Kung Fu readers will identify these beings as the robot Brynocki and his long-dead mentor Mordillo. Brynocki has plans for these intruders and quickly changes into a military outfit before taking action.
Starshine continues to fly after ROM, hoping that he will eventually listen to reason. They glide over a clearing just before a flying machine piloted by Brynocki (with Mordillo riding shotgun) approaches them from behind. Starshine's warning of impending danger shakes the silver Spaceknight from his resolute mood, as a trio of artificial insects open fire on him and Brandy. The first salvo strikes ROM, and he crashes to the ground below. Starshine mounts a defensive attack and makes short work of the machines. Brynocki and Mordillo don parachutes after their craft is destroyed and escape safely.
ROM revives right before a quartet of armed toy soldiers fire at him. He realizes that these artificial beings pose no real threat, and they're swiftly defeated. Not far from him, Brynocki keeps his master safe and changes outfits as he makes his way back to their headquarters. An artificial Humpty Dumpty falls toward Starshine, only to have her be saved by ROM. The Spaceknights realize the insanity of the attacks and finally see their attacker in person. Brynocki dispatches another armed robot, which ROM defeats with ease.
Brynocki then dons a frontier outfit and shoots at the silver Spaceknight with his musket. ROM evades the shots and finds Brynocki in another disguise, this one being that of a blond curly-haired girl. The Galadorian continues pursuing the robot (who changes costumes throughout the chase) further into the castle, until Brynocki admits that he attacked the Spaceknights because he thought they were trespassers, just like Shang-Chi and his companions. Having met Shang and his friends, ROM knew that Brynocki's statements were not true. He then flew away, with Starshine soaring after him. After they left, Brynocki ran off to find Mordillo, and we see one of the skeleton's hands floating atop a nearby body of water.
Master of Kung Fu writer Doug Moench created Brynocki to be a comic foil to Shang-Chi and the rest of his book's supporting characters from time to time, and it was good to see him being used in another comic after that title was cancelled. This was also a major shift for Dire Wraiths. Up until this issue, they were only portrayed as the same type of pasty white creatures that my brother and I used to make out of Play-Doh when we were younger. They appeared to have more menacing abilities and would prove to be much more dangerous in upcoming issues.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about Marvel's second ROM Annual. That issue will take place in the past, as our hero continues to battle the wraith threat. We'll also see more Spaceknights for the first-but definitely not the last-time. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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