Hi everyone,
Today I'll be writing about the fifty-fifth issue of Marvel's monthly ROM: Spaceknight title. The Butch Guice drawn cover shows ROM and Starshine facing dark red attackers, as it's indicated that there's an enemy within. The story was indeed titled "The Enemy Within!" The issue had a cover date of June 1984.
The tale begins as panicked patients flee Mercy Hospital, where the Spaceknights have just arrived. ROM, Starshine, and several SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Enforcement Division) enter the facility to find several hideous monsters attacking other patients. Doubt surfaced as to whether the monsters were alien or human in origin. ROM's energy analyzer confirmed that the strange beings were derived from man.
A battle ensued. While the Galadorian and SHIELD agents sought to preserve human life if at all possible, Starshine had no such qualms. Her savagery disturbed ROM, who once admired Brandy Clark because of her humanity and appreciation for all living things. He feared that she had lost those compassionate qualities forever.
Starshine soon suggested that the hospital be burned down to prevent the wraith infection from spreading. ROM was taken aback by this, knowing that there were probably still people inside and that no one knew if this plague could be cured. One person stepped in and said that he knew of a sure fire cure. That individual was Rick Jones, who was holding his dead doctor in his arms. He pleaded for the Spaceknights to kill him, thinking that he was a carrier of the disease.
ROM asked Jones just what had transpired. Jones explained that he was in his hospital room, about to receive a blood transfusion, when the orderly accidentally pricked himself with the transfusion. The young man suddenly started to convulse and writhe in pain before a strange creature emerged from him. The monster lashed out swiftly at the doctor, just before Jones brought the body of his acoustic guitar on the abomination's head. The Spaceknights listened grimly to Rick's story, which confirmed part of what the Galadorian had suspected. ROM used his energy analyzer to ascertain that wraith sorcery had been mixed with the blood from the hospital's blood bank. He then postulated that every person in the hospital who had received a blood transfusion the previous night was now a wraith-infused monster.
Starshine and ROM briefly explained what Dire Wraiths are to Rick Jones before moving on to encounter more wraith-spawned creatures. The Spaceknights quickly defeated the monsters, before Jones directed them toward the blood bank. Starshine, as usual of late, opted to destroy the wraith creations while ROM chose to neutralize them to the limbo dimension. The battle was soon over, but not without inflicting casualties just like at many other places during the wraith war on Earth. Jones asked if everything was okay, but event as ROM explained that the alien menace was quickly spreading elsewhere, he knew that his question would not have a positive answer.
I noticed Bill Sienkiewicz's distinctive artwork in a few panels of ROM's battle with a two-headed monstrosity, even though he wasn't credited on the first page. I assumed that he must have filled in a bit for Sal Buscema, who would not pencil the next issue. In fact, "our pal" Sal wouldn't be with the book for much longer. It was still an interesting turn of events that continued to move the storyline forward.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the fifty-sixth issue of Marvel's ROM: Spaceknight. In that issue, the wraith invasion spreads into Canada. ROM and Starshine will continue to defend the planet, this time with assistance from a few members of another well-known mutant team. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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