Rom Spaceknight Issue #5 review

The above cover image is the one my local comic shop set aside for me, and it wasn't the standard cover for a change. This issue starts a new story arc in the main ROM series with the Revolution mini series now having finished playing out within the ROM timeline. The first pages of the story in this issue involves some of the heavy hitters involved with ROM in the Revolution mini series reflecting on ROM being a great ally in the IDW Hasbro universe.

The new story arc starts off pretty exciting as we see some Dire Wraiths do their thing. They are later taken out, but not by the title character. Two Solstar Order Spaceknights are now on earth and appear to be more ruthless than what we have seen ROM do when it comes to the mission of eradicating the Dire Wraiths.

When the story catches up with ROM, we see him come across Camilla Byers again, but she is starting to be overcome with the Dire Wraith 'infection' she contracted in the first issue of the series. Drama ensues between her and ROM and the issue ends with ROM realizing he is not the only spaceknight fighting the Dire Wraiths on earth anymore.

This issue was fun and interesting, and it reminded me why I like ROM the best of all the characters in the Hasbro universe. I can't wait to see what comes next with two additional spaceknights now on earth. Also, I can't help but be reminded of the Marvel ROM series issue #4 where he encountered the Firefall spaceknight armor bonded to a human which was kind of like another spaceknight on earth.

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

Grade: B+
 

Was ROM Spaceknight in any of the IDW Revolution One-shots?

For any of you who were reading the IDW Revolution mini series and were tempted to pick up any of the one shots that were made to tie into the series, I will give my brief recommendation for whether you should pick up any of those issues based on a ROM fan's perspective.

M.A.S.K. Revolution
ROM appears: NO
Recommend Buying: Only if you are a M.A.S.K. fan.








Micronauts Revolution
ROM appears: NO
Recommend Buying: Only if you are a Micronauts fan.








G.I. Joe Revolution
ROM appears: NO
Recommend Buying: MAYBE. The story contains a Dire Wraith beach invasion with the Joes fighting them off, but the story is very dull with poorly drawn art. Personally I wouldn't buy it, but if you want more Dire Wraith action you could buy it for that.

Transformers Revolution
ROM appears: NO
Recommend Buying: YES. The story shows a Dire Wraith infestation in the White House and shows the horrors of how brutal and deep the Dire Wraith infiltration has become. This one is very well written and is a must read for the Revolution mini series along with the ROM Revolution issue IMO.





Transformers: Till All Are One Revolution
ROM appears: YES, Sort Of.
Recommend Buying: Only if you are a die hard Transformers fan. Oh, and about the ROM appearance, see the only appearance he makes on the last panel on the last page in the issue in the screenshot above. My opinion, not worth buying just for ROM's appearance.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye Revolution
ROM appears: NO
Recommend Buying: Again, only if you are a die hard Transformers fan.








Action Man Revolution
ROM appears: NO
Recommend Buying: Only if you are an Action Man fan and if you plan to buy the Revolutionaries ongoing series. This issue explains how Action Man and Kup bond together as friends since they will be regulars in the Revolutionaries series.

ROM Spaceknight in IDW Revolution 4-5 Review

I am finally going to post my thoughts on the conclusion of IDW's Revolution mini series. The above cover variants are the ones that my local comic shop set aside for me which in actuality, they really aren't variants at all; they are the standard covers. My local comics shop, as usual, doesn't really make much of an effort to set aside the actual variants of any of IDW's series that I subscribe to in case they can make an extra buck by raising the price of the issue, but I shouldn't really complain, I am primarily interested in the stories anyway rather than the cover.

We get to see Snake Eyes sneak into Autobot city only to be discovered by the Micronauts  and eventually his cover is blown, or is it? All the main hero players other than M.A.S.K. are hastily allied, which I think contributes to the criticism that the Revolution mini series has received by other readers (for the record, I'm ok with it but I won't pretend it isn't a legitimate complaint). Speaking of M.A.S.K., we see Miles Mayhem collude with the Dire Wraiths as though there is some backstory to it that was never revealed before. I guess that is supposed to be a twist in the story, but it doesn't make a lot of sense for a team of heroes like M.A.S.K. to be so easily misled by the Dire Wraiths.

Issue 4 has what I guess is the payoff for the whole Revolution series when a large cadre of Wraiths are fighting against all the heroes involved in the mini series, and issue 4 ends with yet another surprise when Baron Karza uses Enerchange. With all the mayhem going on in Autobot city, G.I. Joe can't sit this one out and the we are shown a call to arms to build up the excitement for the concluding issue.

In issue 5, the main antagonist switches from the Giant Dire Wraith Caleb to the Dire Wraith Hybrid Baron Karza. M.A.S.K. enters the fray on the side of the Dire Wraiths but during the battle they switch to being one of the good guys. The space bridge is used to stop the Wraith Hybrid Karza, seemingly destroying the microverse, but I'm not so sure IDW would write themselves into a corner like that by robbing the Micronaut's franchise of their home universe. We shall see.

The Revolution mini series ends on a somewhat positive note with all the heroes moving on to their own respective series', much like the ending of the first Avengers movie. Was this mini series successful? I would say yes, but it wasn't perfect. I was liking the buildup but the end was a bit cliche. I am subscribing to the Revolutionaries series to see how the Hasbro combined universes continue (and because ROM will be in the first issue at least), and I will review that series here on this blog.

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

Issue #4 Grade: B-

Issue #5 Grade: B 

Rom Spaceknight Issue #4 review

My local comic shop set aside the above cover variant for ROM #4 and while I think the art is ok, it is not the cover that I was hoping for. There was a neat cover done by Al Milgrom that was an homage to a cover he did for Marvel's Iron Man issue #80 that I would have preferred, but since I care more about the story inside the comic and not the cover so much, I won't throw a fit over it. :)

In this issue my previous thoughts about what becomes a twist in the story are proven to be correct. Darby is fully aware of how deceptive the Dire Wraiths are, and what seemed to be a wedge growing between her and ROM turns out to not be the case. I am trying not to spoil too much here, but ROM shows off some new skills as well as some brutality we don't normally see towards the Dire Wraiths and in my opinion, the brutality is justified. The writers of this issue have turned Darby into a spokesperson for the negative side of war, but I don't think that applies when the war is against visitors from outer space who seek world domination through deception and murder.

By the end of the issue, I can see now how the storyline leads into the ROM revolution one-shot, so I still have the complaint of why the issues of the Revolution storyline were released before ROM #4. The obvious answer is to sell comics and to jump start the other franchises interacting with each other sooner, but from this ROM fans perspective, it is a little frustrating. I still enjoyed the end of the first four issues' story arc, and I feel the return of ROM to comics has been successful, but why can't they work out the release schedule better?

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

Grade: B-
 

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+