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Post by kirby101 on Nov 4, 2024 22:07:12 GMT -5
Did the Rom series survive only because of guess stars? I looked at all 75 covers and found there were 18 issues with guest stars. And some of them were "A-Listers" like Jack of Hearts or Torpedo. I took a Quick Look at the 75 issue run and some annuals and it was over 30 issues that featured characters from the Marvel Universe. I include villains in my count. And this all occurred after issue 12. So we're talking about 30 guest appearances in 63 comics. What series didn't have other villains come in? That was par for the course at Marvel. Do you think Space Phantom was a big sales draw? I agree with Raider that Mantlo ran out of steam rather than needing villains for sales. I think I liked Rom also because it was Sal's book, it could be the first book he started. (cue the experts). |
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 4, 2024 22:09:14 GMT -5
I took a Quick Look at the 75 issue run and some annuals and it was over 30 issues that featured characters from the Marvel Universe. I include villains in my count. And this all occurred after issue 12. So we're talking about 30 guest appearances in 63 comics. What series didn't have other villains come in? That was par for the course at Marvel. Do you think Space Phantom was a big sales draw? I agree with Raider that Mantlo ran out of steam rather than needing villains for sales. The writer Brought in familiar Marvel characters including villains like the Brotherhood of mutants and The space phantom. It helped a book that was divorced from the regular Marvel continuity. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 4, 2024 22:35:54 GMT -5
I thought it was a fairly consistent book. Never brilliant, but never dismal either. It had run its course after a while, though, because Bill Mantlo didn't keep building on his original concepts; after an inspiring start, he went for the "let's kill the supporting cast" gambit, then followed with the "let's make the girlfriend super-powered too" maneuver, and segued into the "let's destroy everything else in the hero's life so he can be miserable" mambo. When I played with toy soldiers, the point of building fortifications and positioning troops was so I could have fun tearing everything down. Once that was done, however, playtime was over. That's pretty much how I saw the last years of Rom. To each his own. I'm the last person to say you can't enjoy a series, I like some reviled books, myself.  Some? |
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Post by tartanphantom on Nov 4, 2024 23:36:23 GMT -5
To each his own. I'm the last person to say you can't enjoy a series, I like some reviled books, myself. Some?
Early '90s Image isn't all bad... but it does have its share of stinkers. But then again, so does '90s Marvel.
And I'm saying this as a Charlton fan.  |
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Post by rberman on Nov 5, 2024 8:29:07 GMT -5
Did the Rom series survive only because of guess stars? I looked at all 75 covers and found there were 18 issues with guest stars. And some of them were "A-Listers" like Jack of Hearts or Torpedo. ROM was simply a reliable title, mixing a sci fi “soldier returned to the home front” scenario with “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” It had plenty of action, and the love triangle between ROM, Brandy, and Steve kept the soap opera element bubbling. As others have noted, it was a de facto “Marvel Team-Up” book as ROM encountered various other heroes, but they were rarely the draw. More likely they were C- and D- listers being elevated by their exposure alongside ROM. Bill Mantlo told a coherent over-arching story from start to finish. ROM comes to Earth, makes human allies, sees them slaughtered by his enemies, and eventually enlists all the Marvel heroes to help, in one of the first line-wide crossover events. It culminates with the expulsion of the aliens from Earth, and ROM pursues them in space, interacting with Marvel’s cosmic line-up on his way home. |
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Post by DubipR on Nov 5, 2024 13:32:24 GMT -5
Early '90s Image isn't all bad... but it does have its share of stinkers. But then again, so does '90s Marvel.
And I'm saying this as a Charlton fan. Oh yeah. You had to sift through a lot of Image crap to find the good Image books. I like Grell's Shaman's Tears and Ordway's WildStar. Early Larson Savage Dragon was worth reading. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 5, 2024 16:26:54 GMT -5
Early '90s Image isn't all bad... but it does have its share of stinkers. But then again, so does '90s Marvel.
And I'm saying this as a Charlton fan. Oh yeah. You had to sift through a lot of Image crap to find the good Image books. I like Grell's Shaman's Tears and Ordway's WildStar. Early Larson Savage Dragon was worth reading. I have complete runs of Cyberforce and Wildcats. They were the slick books patterned after the X-men books from Marvel. I have to sit down and read them to see if they are anything special. For sure the class of the field is the Savage Dragon book. It's still going strong with 272 issues all done by Erik Larsen. |
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Post by DubipR on Nov 5, 2024 17:01:58 GMT -5
Oh yeah. You had to sift through a lot of Image crap to find the good Image books. I like Grell's Shaman's Tears and Ordway's WildStar. Early Larson Savage Dragon was worth reading. I have complete runs of Cyberforce and Wildcats. They were the slick books patterned after the X-men books from Marvel. I have to sit down and read them to see if they are anything special. For sure the class of the field is the Savage Dragon book. It's still going strong with 272 issues all done by Erik Larsen. Wildcats got good when Wildstorm moved over to DC where Lobdell & Casey took Wildcats into amazingness. I love volume 2 and 3 of that book. As for the original Image run, I think a couple of Alan Moore written issues, focusing on Mr. Majestic (my favorite WS character) were pretty much the highlight. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 5, 2024 18:55:49 GMT -5
Moore actually had a run in the Image volume starting with issue 25. It lasted a year and was amazing
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Post by Doghouse Reilly on Nov 5, 2024 20:08:14 GMT -5
Moore actually had a run in the Image volume starting with issue 25. It lasted a year and was amazing I'm pretty sure that Moore started with issue 21. And he had Travis Charest on art for a little bit, which helped elevate the start of his run. I wish Charest had done more comics. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 5, 2024 20:42:38 GMT -5
I have complete runs of Cyberforce and Wildcats. They were the slick books patterned after the X-men books from Marvel. I have to sit down and read them to see if they are anything special. For sure the class of the field is the Savage Dragon book. It's still going strong with 272 issues all done by Erik Larsen. Wildcats got good when Wildstorm moved over to DC where Lobdell & Casey took Wildcats into amazingness. I love volume 2 and 3 of that book. As for the original Image run, I think a couple of Alan Moore written issues, focusing on Mr. Majestic (my favorite WS character) were pretty much the highlight. I only saw house ads for those, but the Sean Philips art looked pretty good. The original run, though, I dropped after one issue (and I was a Jim Lee fan back then). I didn't want to die from a cliché overdose. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 5, 2024 20:52:49 GMT -5
Speaking of Philips... On Sunday, we mentioned artists who looked like the people they drew. I wonder if it comes from an artist trying to figure out how a face works, and only having his or her own to work with (not as in looking in the mirror, but as in feeling how the pieces seem to be arranged).
Sean Philips sure looks like a Sean Philips character come to life. So do Gil Kane, Michael Golden and Steve Ditko, among others. (That is... they don"t look like Sean Philips characters, but you know what I mean!)
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