ROM Spaceknight in IDW Revolution 1-3 Review

My comic shop only set aside the above regular edition covers for me, and while I am ok with that, I noticed that they then put some of the non regular edition cover versions of these issues on their main rack for $7.99 rather than the standard $3.99 cover price. I'll quietly laugh inside if I still see those higher priced variant covers sitting on the rack months later.

After three issues in to the Revolution mini series, I like how all the different franchises are intricately woven together in a story that is not overly complex, yet not too simplified either. I grew up liking G.I. Joe and some of the Transformers and Micronauts, but M.A.S.K. was not a cartoon I ever really cared for. I do like how M.A.S.K. is being used in this series as a way to counter the 'Cybertronians,' but it still doesn't make me want to start reading their solo comic series. Action Man gets an honorable mention, but so far he has had very little involvement in the series. Action Man plays out a lot like a James Bond type, but the jury is still out on him.

My favorite aspects of this mini series is the interaction between ROM, the Transformers, and G.I. Joe. ROM makes a great entrance in the first issue and in turn upsets G.I. Joe's Scarlett to the point she is hell bent on hunting down ROM and the Transformers.

The second issue has ROM interacting with the Transformers and my favorite part involves ROM schooling Optimus Prime on who shouldn't underestimate who. I didn't think ROM had that kind of strength in him, but I was absolutely giddy seeing an imposing Optimus Prime get a smack down from my favorite space knight. Of course Optimus shows that he can bring the smack down himself later. M.A.S.K. gets their introduction to the storyline in this issue too.

The third issue introduces the Micronauts and their involvement with this series storyline, but their introduction has been a little flat as in nothing significant happening except for exposition. Baron Karza is not that imposing of a villian, so I hope maybe that changes in future issues. ROM's and the Transformer's interaction with each other is not as exciting as when they were fighting against each other before, and ROM now has some ability to control an important substance that is at the center of this series' plot all of a sudden. This issues ends by introducing a G.I. Joe character that I was hoping to see at some point in the series, but it doesn't make up for the letdown this issue has brought to the overall story so far. Let's hope issue four picks up the excitement again.

Please comment with your thoughts on the Revolution series so far and what variant covers you got or liked the most.

Issue #1 Grade: A-

Issue #2 Grade: B+

Issue #3 Grade: C+

All the IDW Revolution with ROM Spaceknight mini-series toy package covers

With all the variant covers IDW likes to push out there, some of the variants get lost in the shuffle when searching for images on the internet. I decided I would show all the toy package variant covers for the Revolution mini-series here so you don't have to track them down amongst the sea of variant cover images out there. I also hope this is a sign of things to come from Hasbro by making actual figures of these characters again (aside from the Transformers and G.I Joe).

 I couldn't just show these toy covers without showing a toy cover of my favorite character from the series.

Stay tuned for my review of the Revolution mini-series. Please comment if you like these covers, want to see more toys from these characters, or just comment about which variant covers were your favorite from the Revolution series.

IDW ROM Spaceknight Revolution One-Shot Review

I was happy to see that my local comic shop set aside the above cover variant of the ROM Revolution one shot issue. This one was drawn by Rob Liefield and I love that it looks a lot like the classic ROM.

Well this one shot was interesting since it begins with ROM flying into Seattle, Washington with Camilla in tow. It appears to take place before the Revolution series begins since there is no sign of G.I. Joe (except for one) or the Transformers in Seattle yet in this story.

This one shot's primary purpose was to introduce a new antagonist called Axiom to the ROM universe, and we learn how Axiom came to be through a flashback. As you would expect, Axiom was engineered by Dire Wraiths, one posing as a key figure that I don't want to spoil for you, so that they can ultimately test the limits of ROM's abilities.

At the end of this one shot, ROM figures out who the Wraiths are and is off to the races to track them down, which in turn leads into the first issue of Revolution.

This issue was a little confusing at the beginning as to where this story fits into ROM's series timeline, but a tweet on Chris Ryall's Twitter mentions that the one shot comes after ROM issue #4 (which at this time of this writing, is not out yet). If it turns out that is the case, maybe this one shot, and the rest of Revolution, shouldn't have happened so quickly so the stories could play out in the order they should. That is a little disappointing, but on the bright side, I am always happy to read more ROM stories. It was nice to pick up three issues during September that had ROM stories (for the record it was ROM #3, ROM Revolution, and Revolution #1).

Please comment with your thoughts or theories about the ROM Revolution one-shot and which variant cover you got or which one is your favorite.

Grade: B-

References found in the current IDW ROM Spaceknight series (part 2)

Part 2 of me showing screenshots from movies or other comics that I feel have been referenced or homaged in the latest ROM series by IDW.

Predator:

 

In this panel from ROM issue #3, a Dire Wraith is shown camouflaged in a similar way as one my other favorite aliens, the Predator. I don't know if this is done by technology or through telepathy by the Dire Wraiths, but the effect is still very much like the Predator cloak. 

Evil Dead:

One of my favorite movies is Evil Dead 2 and I couldn't help but notice the similarity to Evil Dead's possessed trees reference in the new ROM series. The Dire Wraith possessed trees grab ROM is a similar fashion as the possessed trees had *ahem* grabbed female victims in Evil Dead.


Battlestar Galactica:

 

In the panel above from Revolution issue #1, ROM is drawn in such a way that looks almost exactly like the new Cylons from the more modern Battlestar Galactica series. Not much else to say as it looks fairly obvious to me from the above images.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers:

The comic panel above doesn't visually show how the new ROM series references Invasion of the Body Snatcher, but it does through the context of the story. The Dire Wraiths can mimic humans to the point that other humans can't detect or tell the difference.


Hellboy:

















Another of my favorite movies/comic characters is Hellboy, and I felt that the human to Dire Wraith mutation looked a lot like the Sammael creature from the Hellboy movie. Other than the slight resemblance, there really isn't any more similarities between the two. That is the modus operandi of homages or reference though, isn't it?


The Guyver & Robocop (2014):

One of my guilty pleasure movies is The Guyver starring Mark Hamill. When I saw the supersuit being developed in the ROM Revolution one-shot and the enhanced abilities it gave the wearer, I immediately thought of the Guyver and how it's suit enhances it's wearer. I see that there is a little bit of resemblance to the newer Robocop movie's Robo suit, but I felt the Guyver and it's enhanced abilities fit as a better reference.


I Come In Peace (Dark Angel):

Another Guilty pleasure movie of mine is the film 'I Come In Peace' starring Dolph Lundgren. The villain in the movie is an alien who comes to earth to suck out the adrenaline from humans because adrenaline is like a drug on his planet. I immediately saw the similarities when those cords came out of the Dire Wraiths hands in a similar fashion as the cord that comes out of the alien's gauntlet to suck out a human's adrenaline.

Please comment if you find additional references that you think I missed or if you agree or disagree with what references I found.

References found in the current IDW ROM Spaceknight series (part 1)

I thought I would try and show screenshots from movies or other comics that I feel have been referenced or homaged in the latest ROM series by IDW.

The Thing:

The new look for the Dire Wraiths are eerily similar to this image of The Thing from John Carpenter's film. I think that is awesome.

The Terminator:

In this panel, ROM looks very much like a terminator with his glowing red eyes, chrome body and giving a gesture to the seated Camilla that screams out to me, "come with me if you want to live."


They Live:

The way the Dire Wraiths can 'hide' in plain view is very similar to how the aliens in they live could hide in plain sight. ROM has come to kick butt and chew bubblegum, and ROM can't chew bubblegum, so watch out.


Marvel's Soviet Super Soldiers:

When I saw the image of some of the Solstar Order as ROM was reminiscing about his past, I couldn't help but feel that I have seen something similar to this before. While perusing the interwebs, I see that I most likely have seen Marvel's Soviet Super Soldiers before either in comic or cartoon form.


Aliens:

To me Axiom in the ROM Revolution one shot is an obvious homage to the Alien from James Cameron's Aliens. I love H.R. Giger's unique design for the Alien and it is so iconic that it gets reused (or homaged) by other artists.


Power Rangers:

I have never been a huge Power Rangers fan and I wonder if the creators of the new ROM series knew that what ROM was doing with his translator was very similar to what the Power Rangers do before they get all super-powered and combine forces.


Robocop & Iron Man:

ROM's hud is very reminiscent of Robocop's ability to assess the people or environment around him. I realize ROM's hud looks more like Iron Man's hud, but Robocop preceded Iron Man (in the movies), so Robocop gets the credit in my book.

Please comment if you find additional references that you think I missed or if you agree or disagree with what references I found. Check back for part 2 of the references I have found in IDW's ROM series.