Rom: Dire Wraiths

ROM: Dire Wraiths #1-3

by Chris Ryall, Luca Pizzar (Illustrations), Guy Dorian (Illustrations)

July, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are about to become the first humans to set foot on the moon, but something inhuman is waiting for them!

Seeking to conquer everything in their path, the Dire Wraiths wield powerful dark magic and can infect other creatures transforming them into more of their kind. The only thing powerful enough to oppose them is Rom the Spaceknight. But, with Rom nowhere in sight, can even the Earth Corp help prevent one giant leap for Wraithkind or is there no way to stop an invasion of Earth? Only the crew of Apollo 11 and some unexpected guest-stars stand in their way!

Plus, a special back-up story with art by Guy Dorian Sr. and Rom legend Sal Buscema!

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2020

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been good. Humans first encountered Dire Wraiths during the moon landing? Sign me up. Unfortunately, there was too much else going on that was unexplained. I'm not sure if it happened in previous series or what. There's another group of humans called Adventure Team that have advanced technology. It's 1969 and they have technology that doesn't exist now. They are living on a satellite with artificial gravity. They appear to be watching over humanity for some reason. There wasn't much of a plan here to do this properly because it could have been good.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Era apreciador das aventuras de ROM na época Marvel, não porque fossem grandes histórias, mas porque o design simples e elegante do cyborg me atraía. Sempre achei curioso que ROM não se cruzasse muito com as restantes personagens do universo Marvel, o que até faria sentido dado que o personagem estava na Terra a combater uma invasão de repulsivos alienígenas dedicados à magia. Mais tarde vim a descobrir que a falta de ligação se devia a questões de propriedade intelectual, este personagem não era da Marvel mas sim de uma marca de brinquedos. Uma série dos anos 90 que ficou esquecida, até ser recuperada pela IDW. Mas, pela amostra deste arco narrativo, sem grande esforço. No livro, os astronautas que pela primeira vez pisam a Lua vão-se deparar com a ameaça dos invasores, e a ajuda de ROM. Para apimentar a coisa, o que os astronautas estão a fazer é apenas um golpe publicitário, já há equipas humanas multinacionais no espaço para defender a humanidade. Vão por mim, isto soa mais interessante do que realmente ficou no livro. Nem em termos gráficos a coisa se safa.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

No good. I miss Rom himself. Coloring is abysmal, story is hollow.