This is part two of my review of Rom: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Volume One. You can read my review of the first part here. I have most of the original issues of Rom stored in an attic somewhere, but one of the advantages of aging gracefully is the fact that I don’t recall what I ate for breakfast two days ago.
The upshot: I don’t remember most of this series, although I do recall enjoying it. First off, this is a horror comic disguised as a superhero comic. Rom has a meta-story that lasts 70+ issues, albeit with a number of side stories. Unlike superhero comics, it has a beginning and a definite end. The monsters, the sense of paranoia that permeates this book, and the weird conspiracy theories remind me of The X-Files, but unlike the X-Files Rom hasn’t jumped the shark…yet.
The other reason this is a horror comic is the body count. The creators (Mantlo & Buscema) use a cast of mostly new characters. There are cameos by Marvel heroes – in this volume we get the Torpedo, the X-Men, Power Man & Iron Fist, Nova, and the Fantastic Four – but they make sense in the context of the larger storyline, which is earth’s invasion by the Dire Wraiths. Bottom line: many of the characters are new, and the creative team has no qualms about killing them. This can be unsettling, because cast changes in superhero comics tend to remain static. In practical terms, this means that nobody is safe.
The highlights of this volume are Rom’s battle with Hybrid, the offspring of a human mother and a Dire Wraith father. Hybrid – who is also a mutant, and whose character design is totally grotesque – wastes no time killing his parents. His battle with Rom is interrupted by the arrival of the X-Men, searching for the new mutant. A number of misunderstandings ensue, which leads to the X-Men attacking Rom.
The second highlight is Rom’s return to his home planet of Galador, which leads to an encounter with Galactus, who wants to eat the planet. Rom strikes a deal with the planet-eater and leads Galactus to the Dark Nebula (the Dire Wraiths’ home planet), but who will consume who?
Mention should also be made of the arrival of The Torpedo, the Grade Z hero Rom chooses to protect his adopted home town of Clairton, WV from the Wraiths. So far, his record is 0-1, as Clairton is overwhelmed by a mystical fog in Rom’s absence. The Torpedo seems like a nice guy, and he does his best, but sometimes that’s not enough…
Highly recommended!
Abandoned Places 