ROM: Marvel’s SpaceKnight, from failing toy to hit comics
In the late 1970s, the success of the Star Wars comics led to even more licensed comics. One of them was The Micronauts, a set of action figures that Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden turned into a successful comic book series. A success that Parker Brothers noted and hoped to be reproduced with one of his new toys, ROM the Spaceknight.
From The ROM Toys to The ROM Comics
Then Marvel Comics editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter asked writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema–two creatives who were open to work on non-superhero comics, in fact, Buscema was the only artist who agreed to do it—to develop a story as the toy came with close to no story element.
Mantlo was not aware of the toy before that and immediately thought about doing something in the vein of 1950s sci-fi with a touch of Arthurian myths. He added tragedy and Brandy Clark, ROM’s human ally, who eventually becomes romantically linked with him. But Jim Shooter and editor Al Milgrom himself provided a few ideas.
The final result has often been compared to the Silver Surfer, but ROM the Spaceknight had his own rich mythology that helped him stand apart. ROM is a noble warrior from the utopian planet Galador who volunteers to become a Spaceknight—a cyborg warrior—to battle the Dire Wraiths, a shape-shifting alien species threatening the universe—his primary weapon is the Neutralizer, which banishes Dire Wraiths to Limbo. Rom sacrifices his humanity to become a Spaceknight, clad in powerful armor that enhances his abilities but also isolates him emotionally.
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