Retro Comic Review: ROM: Spaceknight #61

 Hi everyone, 

Today I'll be writing about the sixty-first issue of Marvel's ROM: Spaceknight. The cover is pitch black, except for the cover image, title, description and the titular character and his neutralizer, who appear to have fallen into a bottomless chasm. The cover indicates that he is in a type of wraith realm. The story was named "The Beginning of the End of the World!" The issue had a cover date of December 1984. 

The tale began on a sunny day in Virginia Beach. People were taking advantage of the nice weather until it started to get cold. Beachgoers looked up to see a swarm of Deathwings overhead. The wraith monstrosities started filling the skies and were noticed by planes and air traffic controllers. Military jets observed the massive swarm that eventually turned into a large black disc not far from the sun. People on the ground watched in horror as the disc evolved and a spike emerged from it, one that pierced the sun itself. 

As deathwings continued to fly around the star disc, ROM, greatest of the Spaceknights, was there, sending as many of them to limbo with his neutralizer as he could. Not even their frozen fire could deter him. The Galadorian was resolute that if he defeated his enemies that day, then the wraith war would finally be over. He pursued the wraiths into the very heart of the star disc itself. 

For a while, ROM seemed to be plunging into never-ending darkness, until the light of his beloved Starshine illuminated the way out of the prison. As the silver Spaceknight escaped, he wondered how that could even be possible, knowing that Hybrid had taken Clark out of her Spaceknight armor (in annual #3). As he looked back, he stared in horror at the black hole that the wraiths had made in Earth's sun.

Back on Earth, the members of the Wraith Hunter-Rangers were concerned that their ESPers hadn't been able to identify wraith activity in more than a week. Meanwhile, the dark hole in the sun continued to expand. Government Agent Henry Peter Gyrich was growing impatient and demanded answers that weren't easy to give. ROM explained what he had seen, just before checking in on the sleeping Clark once more. He realized that there may be one way to tell what the Dire Wraiths had in mind. 

In another trailer, Rick Jones played guitar and sang to young Cindy Adams. The songs seemed to be soothing to them both. Just then, the silver Spaceknight entered the room. He knew that a wraith died, leaving its mind in the young child, and supposed that she would know what they were planning. Jones resisted, knowing how Cindy was still grieving the loss of her parents to Dire Wraiths (in the previous issue). ROM knew that he couldn't leave her alone.

Cindy agreed to share what she knew. She saw how wraiths despised what Earthlings enjoyed, adding that the star disc was just part of a bigger spell. The hole in our sun would drain its energy to power a black magic beam out into space to their own dark nebula. The beam would link those two stars and allow it and Wraithworld itself to enter our atmosphere. The result would inevitably lead to destruction on Earth, as the two planets merged with each other.

Gyrich and Locklin wondered how they could defeat such a formidable threat. ROM noted that his neutralizer was usually effective. Gyrich added that our world had its own super-powered being who could stand up to Dire Wraiths, and that one scientist had developed his own neutralizer prototype. ROM was intrigued until he learned that its creator had thus far refused to turn that weapon over to mankind. The individual was known as Forge, and the issue ended with a glimpse of its creator and his new weapon. 

This was one of the first issues of ROM that I read as a child, and along with several issues of Marvel Tales, was one of my first issues of Steve Ditko's artwork. It's much different than that of Sal Buscema, but writer Bill Mantlo had a definite plan for each and every issue of the title's run. Although this particular issue was very dark, I felt like I had a bit of an inkling of the penultimate wraith confrontation. 

Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the sixty-second issue of Marvel's monthly ROM series. In that issue, we'll learn more about the man known as Forge, his weapon, and his concerns about it. We'll also see what happens to Brandy, Rick, and Cindy. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.