Rom Annual #1: Galador's Finest Explodes Into a King-Size Annual

Ron Annual #1 by Bill Mantlo and Pat Broderick with Steven Grant, Mark Gruenwald and Greg LaRocque (July 1982).
#Rom #Stardust #DireWraiths #BillMantlo #PatBroderick

[@robert2430]

I like the art. Kind of Michael Golden meets Steve Ditko.

[@SonofCapwolf]

Followed Michael Golden on Micronauts.

[@apilgrim8715]

Pat on the Broderick

[@sharkysharkerson]

ROM is a hidden gem that I think can do well with the right treatment. Hasbro isn't doing anything with him.

[@SonofCapwolf]

I think the problem a huge part of what people do like about Rom is his interaction with the Marvel Universe or him existing as part of that Universe. Rom going on a quest to eradicate the Dire Wraith menace from Earth feels a lot more generic and un-special on an ordinary Earth rather one filled with other wonders like Hulk or the FF, or more importantly, other alien races like Skrulls or the Kree.

[@sharkysharkerson]

@@SonofCapwolf This makes a lot of sense! I also liked those interactions, they were a random surprise.

[@robert2430]

The problem with some annuals is they don’t have a reason to exist so they just plop in an inventory story or filler. I do have some annuals I love, such as the crossovers between the Avengers teams for a couple of years there. But yeah a lot of the 70s/early 80s and then early 90s ones are pretty forgettable.

[@SonofCapwolf]

In theory, those Avengers annuals are nice. In practice, they're just more of West Coast Avengers. The events of them were never referred to or important to the main team even with them starring in them. Maybe if the readers knew Druid beat Tigra, they would've been onboard for his take-over of the team.

[@robert2430]

Mary Jo Duffy?

[@SonofCapwolf]

Knew you'd get it straight away. You're the only person who read Power Man and Iron Fist every month.

[@robert2430]

@@SonofCapwolf I’m a big D.W. Griffith fan.

[@SonofCapwolf]

Was he the Richard Rory sort of character that loved the local cinema? Think he was in the old Luke Cage solo comics.

[@robert2430]

@@SonofCapwolf yes he continued on in PMIF. Imagine if the one-armed pacifist guy from those 70s Cap stories was still a monthly character when Scourge showed up

[@SonofCapwolf]

Well, he was actually in the title only a year earlier when Zemo brainwashed him into putting on Devil-Slayer's costume and beating up Nomad.

[@robert2430]

Who was the first character to do the bands around their body like that? Firestorm?

[@robert2430]

No it’s got to go back to the 60s right. Dr. Strange maybe or the original Captain Atom

[@SonofCapwolf]

Maybe Silver Age Atom when he shrunk down?

[@SonofCapwolf]

Arguably Green Lantern's constructs as far back as the Golden Age...

[@SonofCapwolf]

Oh, Doctor Fate. Probable answer.

[@darthknight1]

Annuals might feel less protracted if the editors didn't insist on breaking them up into chapters. I like a good standalone story. Whether its a bit longer like an annual, or shorter, like an regular monthly issue, doesn't matter. A shit story is a shit story regardless of its length.

[@SonofCapwolf]

Annuals by the regular creative team are great, annuals by some guest talent or that are schedule fillers, I hate. The Annual crossovers were particularly bad for that, they would have different writers and it wasn't even to the benefit of the crossover. If all the Atlantis Attacks annuals were by one person, it'd probably be better but instead we have random people showing up on the annuals like Mike Higgins writing the Avengers Annual which is astoundingly bad.