Scans_Daily

For more, check out the tags, or go here: Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

ROM SPACEKNIGHT the comic lasted from 1979 to 1986. The toy lasted from 1979 to 1980-ish. I'm not sure when, exactly, it stopped being produced. The point is, the comic outlasted the toy by a big margin. When the series entered its second year, it was decided that a second feature, about the Spaceknights themselves, would also be appearing in the title. Since the back-up feature was only 5 pages, I . . . won't be showing them in this series, maybe a page here or there. However, the increased pagecount per issue meant that when the Spaceknights back-up wouldn't appear, there would be additional story pages used by the main story! Yay! Granted, this would bring the page count up to 22, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

PREVIOUSLY, ON ROM: SPACEKNIGHT: ROM fought Jack of Hearts, got blown up, crashed into the ocean, and was in danger of not drowning. Steve and Brandy were arrested by the local cops, but released. Steve was replaced by a Dire Wraith for mysterious purposes, and Brandy and Dire Wraith Steve got engaged.

So ROM somehow washes up on some minor cliffs at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (where the iconic tallest lighthouse in the US is). I can't find any indication that the shore is as rocky as depicted, but I'll allow a few artistic flourishes. The lighthouse doesn't resemble the actual one at all, though.

ROM is on the nonexistant rocks, when a young local girl shows up with her dog, Teaser. ROM weakly asks for help, so she throws a net over ROM, ties it to a rock, and waits for the tide to recede.

In response to ROM's amnesia, and knowing she'll have trouble explaining him to her parents,the girl leads ROM to a nearby sea cave--another bit of local landscape I'm not sure exists, but whatever, it'll help the story--and ROM wallows in his loneliness as nameless faces dance through his memory; of Steve, Brandy, himself before he became a Spaceknight, and his old flame from Galador Ray-na.

We then jump to Washington D.C., where--at the offices of Washington Weekly--Ace O'Conner is developing the photos she had taken last issue. Anyone remember darkrooms? Anyone remember actually developing their photos by hand? Why, in my day--

Oh, right. The comic. Ace is developing photos, which also works as a recap of the previous issue, and discovers one of the pictures--

This is the first page the girl is named. I have to assume Talley is short for Tallulah. Anyway, she takes some food to ROM, but ROM finds the electricity from the flashlight more nourishing, and while Talley is stunned by the dead torch and lack of light . . . some boats approach, and it's the Plunderer, Ka-Zar's younger brother. I'll just let the comic explain why there're here:

ROM asks Talley what her father would do if told about these pirates, and she says he'd call the Coast Guard, but that the pirates would monitor the radio, and bug out as soon as they heard. ROM says "Not if they were held in this place," and sends Talley back to her dad. Once she's gone, ROM flies closer and scouts the place for the prisoners. Yes, a guy in completely white, shining armor, with glowing red eyes, sneaks around in a dark cave. When ROM finds the prisoners, their guard lets slip that the Plunderer wasn't after any money, he was after their yachts . . . and then he notices ROM's shadow, turns around, threatening to shoot--of course, ROM just crushes the fancy sci-fi gun the guy's holding barehanded, and the guard faints. ROM frees the prisoners (popping their chains effortlessly) and commands them to leave, but the captives describe the pirates capturing them and assaulting them with the crazy sci-fi rifles, sure that even ROM's armor wouldn't stand up to such punishment.

"But there is evil here," ROM says, "and I sense that I have a duty to combat evil wherever I may find it." The captives deduce ROM must be a superhero, like Iron Man, and claim they'll back ROM up if he goes against the pirates, since they figure they're as good as dead otherwise, so they don't have anything to lose. So supported, ROM jets off toward the pirates, and--

ROM's Neutralizer rips the Vibra-Ray Cannon apart, but the pirate manning it leaps away beforehand. So the Plunderer himself shows up to taunt ROM, sure that his vibra-ray guns will destroy ROM with the next shot. He reveals he's never read the Evil Overlord's List and reveals to ROM that he stole the yachts to construct a fleet of pirate ships so that he can steal small amounts of Vibranium per yacht at a time, because large freighter ships would be useless for this purpose, until ALL THE WORLD'S SUPPLY WILL BE HIS!!! Yeah, Goldfinger this guy ain't.

Wait, isn't Wakanda landlocked? Why would boats of any kind be the best way to steal Vibranium?

Either way, ROM points out that the poor Plunderer doesn't control his captured fleet, anyway, and as he glances behind him, he sees the captives attacking all his pirates.

Man, these pirates are lame.

The Plunderer and ROM fire their respective weapons at each other, in that old cartoon cliché of the energy beams stopping each other, with one gaining the advantage, then the other, then the first again. Turns out the vibra-ray trumps the Neutralizer, and ROM gets zapped. He screams in pain, but apparently it's the right kind of pain, as his memories return and he chases the Plunderer onto his big hovercraft thing, while the other pirates surrender.

Without anyone to pilot the boat, it runs aground on a reef at full speed, and the Plunderer fires a blast to break the boat up and Talley watches the boat and all aboard sink . . . while her father remarks "No one could survive that!" Naturally, ROM isn't dead, and the Plunderer will survive to apparently be murdered by Frank Castle during Civil War . . . and probably some other stuff in between.

All that really happens in the back-up is the state funeral on Galador after the failed Dire Wraith invasion, and the Spaceknights resolve to chase after the Dire Wraiths wherever they may go, before they attempt to reverse the Spaceknight-ifications. Also, a bunch of unnamed Space Knights appear for the first time, and Ray-na convinces ROM to continue pursuing the Dire Wraiths. What do you want, it's five pages?

That android really is awesome.

So the Mad Thinker is reviewing some footage from ROM's first earthfall, deducing that an android from space has crashed near Clairton, West Virginia (apparently issue one took place "5 weeks ago"). The Thinker declares that he is the "MASTER OF ANDROIDS!"

We get more flashbacks while the Thinker reminisces, of Andy fighting the Fantastic Four and the X-Men; the Androids of Death, his facsimiles of the Fantastic Four, who were again beaten by the FF, and that his "mastery" of androids seems to have been supplanted, because of the appearance of guys like Vision, Dragon Man, Ultron, and the return of the original Human Torch. But, he reasons, if he can capture this alien android, he'll return to greatness. So, he decides to put Clairton under surveillance, and launches a flying camera towards that destination.

So the Thinker gloats that he reasoned correctly. There's a strange bit where the narration points out that ROM has returned to Clairton out of heartsickness, but the Thinker seems to reply to the narration, that it matters not why ROM has returned to Clairton. He just sends Andy to retrieve ROM.

In the meantime, a scene of domestic happiness.

But Steve is pushed out, though Brandy (still in her wedding dress, oop), leans out of the window to kiss Steve goodbye. As Steve leaves, he reminds everyone reading the narration and his thought bubbles that he's actually a Dire Wraith. Brandy's parents notice a change in her after Steve leaves, because Brandy has realized that Steve's goodbye kiss was cold, but she decides she's just being paranoid because the Dire Wraiths can shapeshift.

Enough of that! Time for action!

The Thinker is gleeful that ROM stood up to Andy's punch, that his calculations were correct, and that he'll let Andy pummel ROM some more to determine if he's really up to snuff. So Andy forms hammers out of his hands and attacks!--

Only for ROM to catch the hammerblow singlehandedly and flip Andy over onto his back! Dayam. ROM analyses Andy and detemines him to be an android and launches himself at him at full speed. However, Andy to open his . . . face and blows ROM back with a hurricane-like gust of wind. Huh.

So they fight some more, the Thinker happier and happier that ROM can survive so well. Andy puts ROM in a bear hug, crushing ROM, and ROM realises he's in real deadly danger, here. So, naturally, we change scenes.

So, yeah, her editor's a Dire Wraith. He summons a couple of hellhounds, who appear as though from an extra-dimensional doorway, grab Ace, and pull her away. Hmm.

Back to ROM, he's attempted to break Andy's grip by firing his rocket pack, but Andy's too heavy, it would seem, and ROM just ignites the local flora. Andy manages to mimic the composition of ROM's armor, and the Mad Thinker zaps himself to the vicinity, sure that he's only moments away from taking control of ROM.

ROM tries his Neutralizer on Andy, blasting Andy back hard enough to keep him from recovering swiftly, and realizes he's of completely human origin. The Thinker arrives, witnessing the aftermath, and declares that ROM will become the "ULTIMATE ANDROID!" but ROM explains that he's not an android. After the Thinker verifies this, he orders Andy to rise and serve him . . . but ROM points out that Andy has endured pain unlike any before. While ROM's neutralizer was the source of the pain, Andy knows it was because of the Thinker's actions that he felt it, and so Andy grabs the Thinker, tucks him under his arm, and teleports the two of them away, the narration saying only that the Thinker has miscalculated. The flying camera flies off, and ROM contemplates his navel a bit (an impressive feat, considering he doesn't have one).

In the Spaceknights back-up, they fight the Wraiths in space, and a couple of them get named: a female named Starshine with a topknot and golden armor, and a rather bloodthirsty one in black armor named the Terminator (this was in 1980, so before the movie), who seems to enjoy banishing Dire Wraiths. After the skirmish, they're alerted to Dire Wraith activity on a world called Agricom, where Ray-na lives, so the trio head there a.s.a.p. They meet a farming family, and the kids are in awe of Starshine, calling her a "golden lady" and trying to touch her . . . only for Terminator to zap 'em. Starshine reacts with anger and surprise, but he tells ROM to Analyse the farmers. Gasp, they're Dire Wraiths! Agricom has already fallen! So the Spaceknights begin banishing the Dire Wraiths, only for one of them to reveal they have Ray-na hostage! Ray-na tries to talk ROM out of any suicidal heroics, only to be shot from behind by the Wraiths. Uh-oh. So the Terminator and Starshine banish the Wraiths in retaliation, and Ray-na dies in ROM's arms, her last words "Our love...will never die."

Well, that's sad.

Anyway, next issue!

Dammit, ROM, weddings are supposed to be happy!

The issue opens with Brandy's parents escorting her out up to the church. Dire Steve comes down the steps in his white tux with frilly . . . front . . . thing. Oh, and Brandy is still wearing her wedding dress. Has she changed out of that thing since last issue? Wouldn't she arrive in street clothes and change into her dress at the church? Doesn't she remember the superstition about the groom seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding? Maybe, subconsciously, she does?

Whatever, Brandy's parents notice that Brandy looks uncomfortable (probably doesn't have to do with any corsets) and Brandy thinks Steve looks cold and calculating, but puts it down to paranoia and cold feet. Brandy's parents shepherd her into the church, trying to cheer her up. Steve's pals pat him on the back and congratulate him, brushing off his inability to recall the high school cheer. ROM, meanwhile, is lurking in the woods behind the Clark house--in a nice bit of continuity, the gazebo is still trashed--and reminiscing. He goes inside, recalling how Brandy managed to, in his own words, "aroused" emotions in him for the first time in two centuries. ROM wanders the empty house, noting that "There is no one here," with the same attention to detail that has served him well in his war against the Dire Wraiths.

ROM continues his stalking ways when he finds an old photo album and we learn that Brandy used to have straight hair. I guess she's gotten a perm over the years. Well, it was the 80s. We get a quick, two-page recap of previous issues, and the arc that Steve went through, from suspicion of ROM to eventual trust, and ROM wanders out of the Clark house, oblivious to a local--I guess they weren't invited to the wedding--who notices him. He attempts to run down ROM before he endangers a little girl crossing the road on a bike with training wheels, unwittingly endangering the little girl himself. ROM, in a mild depression, just watches the ensuing car "accident" waiting to happen . . .

And we cut to the Clairton coronor, Lane, in D.C. He's checking records, trying to work through the problem of so many seemingly dead people in town having the exact same birth day and year, despite looking years older or younger. Lane has the bright idea of looking up Ace O'Connor, whom he had told about the weird birthdates, but then we cut to Ace, reminding the audience that she's been captured by the Dire Wraiths. Wherever she is, she's in the same location as the real Steve, who says he was replaced by a Dire Wraith, and the two of them compare notes about ROM, and Ace is starting to believe that ROM isn't a rampaging alien robot, and then a pair of Wraiths teleport in. There's some posturing from Steve, but the Wraiths reveal they were only keeping him alive until the Dire Steve could marry Brandy. Now that the wedding is underway, they don't need Steve alive, anymore. Before they can kill him, though, Ace snaps a photograph and the flash momentarily blinds the Wraiths. What, she had her camera the whole time? And flash? Does she take it everywhere? Ewwww.

So the humans try to run, but the Wraiths recover and shapechange into something large and pink with tentacles. Ace holds them off while Steve leaps through the teleportal thing . . . and that's the last we see of Ace O'Connor. Naturally. Can't have the secret that ROM is a good guy spread too far, this early. Steve keeps running, aware of Ace's sacrifice, and runs out of the cave near Clairton where the Wraiths were trying to get free satellite.

Meanwhile, ROM remembers that he came to Earth to help mankind, and places himself between the biking child and the local's car.

"You would be dead now." Bad. Ass.

So the bridal march begins, and Brandy is led down the aisle, begging her father not to leave her. He promises he'll be right beside her up to the alter. After that, it would just get awkward. ROM ponderously rises up the steps outside the cathedral. We cut to--

Back at the wedding, there's a brief second when Steve's best man doesn't immediately produce the ring, but he does, and just as the priest is about the pronounce them man and wife--

ROM walks down the aisle, and when the attendees try to rush him, he just casually tosses them aside. Brandy's father confronts ROM, yelling at him, but ROM just says he's come in peace. Mr. Clark doesn't buy it, still thinking ROM's been vaporising people, but ROM reiterates that he's been banishing Dire Wraiths, and in a temper raises his fist. Mr. Clark asks in a small voice if ROM is gonna kill him . . .



Yeah, it's Steve. Nice shot, I have to say. So, anyway, in the aftermath, Steve explains to the gathered throng about ROM's history.



There's no back-up this issue, so extra story pages. Huzzah!

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; oh, that Spaceknight Starshine? Her introduction is one of the most important things in the entire series! Regulated to a back-up story! A five page back-up! That I can't even post! Reurgh.