Thursday, March 27, 2014

Review: Rom #4

"The Fire, the friend, and the foe." Rom battles Archie Stryker, the two-bit criminal who has been tricked by the Dire Wraiths into being grafted to the armor of the dead Spaceknight, Firefall.  Stryker wields the Living Flame of Galador, while Rom wields a neutralizer.  Throughout the battle, Stryker tries to kill Rom, whereas Rom is attempting to avoid doing the same, since he knows Stryker is misguided. As they battle in the sky over West Virginia, on the highway below, Brandy Clark is being abducted by Dire Wraiths, and Steve Jackson is pursuing them. Brandy and Steve manage to force the car being driven by the Wraiths to crash, which kills the Wraiths, and enables them to stumble free.  Meanwhile, Rom manages to subdue Archie Stryker, and convince him that the Wraiths didn't just put a suit of armor on him -- they bonded Stryker to it forever. It can never be removed!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Review: Rom #3

"Firefall." A team of law-enforcement officials shows Archie Stryker a video of Rom's rampages on earth.  Angry at the deaths of what he thinks are humans, Stryker agrees to work with the officials to take the fight to Rom, not knowing that they are all Dire Wraiths in disguise. Meanwhile, Rom detects major Wraith activity and goes to confront it. As Brandy Clark comes home to find more police in her apartment and is taken away by them, and as Stryker undergoes physical training, Rom attacks an underground Wraith stronghold.  She banishes most of the Wraiths to limbo, only to be attacked by a new weapon -- Archie Stryker, now grafted into the armor of the former Spaceknight Karas, aka. Firefall.


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

New Comic-Book Night - 3/19/14

Finally, despite continuing wintry weather, I have managed to make a second trip in a row to the comic-book shop, actually on new comic-book night.  Instead of being a regular thing this has started to become an exception, owing almost entirely to week after week of icy weather and hazardous travel conditions.  It's been since early January that I have been able to make regular trips.

But, the weather was unremarkable today, and so I was able to make it.  I picked up four brand-new comics and a back-issue.  The new comics are Supergirl 29; Thor, God of Thunder 20; Lazarus 7; and Ghosted 8. The back-issue is the 1990s Power of Shazam 18.  This series is one that I have mostly complete, but I have a few gaps.  Out of the forty-seven issues, seven (after getting 18) remain.  My goal is, over the next couple of months, to slowly fill out the collection until I have every issue.  Then, next year, after I finish my regular reviews of Rom: Spaceknight, I will swap over to doing 47 weekly reviews of Power of Shazam.



Below, I will briefly review each issue.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Review: Rom #2

"Second Coming." Rom smashes into the vault area of Laserium Corporation, chasing a Dire Wraith. The Wraith is in the custody of the Stryker gang, led by Archie Stryker, and they're at the Laserium to steal from the vaults.  Rom ignores the humans and dispatches the Wraith to limbo, but Stryker only sees a human being turned to ash. When the police arrive and capture him, he tells the chief of police, who is also secretly a Wraith, that he will do anything to stop Rom. Next, Rom returns to the home of Brandy Clark to seek out her council.  Brandy's boyfriend Steve Jackson sees this and calls the police, thinking Brandy is in danger.  The Wraith-chief comes along and has the police employ "top secret" (actually Wraith-made) weapons. Rom defeats the police, and his analyzer shows that the chief is a Wraith, so he sends him to limbo.  Again to everyone else, it looks like Rom has killed someone. Rom then departs, not wishing to cause Brandy any further trouble.  Meanwhile, Stryker vows to get even with the Spaceknight.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Review: Rom #1

"Arrival!"  A comet crashes to earth, and out of it emerges Rom, greatest of the Spaceknights. A car approaches, and the shocked driver, Brandy Clark, loses control.  Rom saves her from going over a cliff. Then he summons his energy analyzer and scans her, after which he flies off. In the nearby town of Clariton, Rom scans the residents with his analyzer, and then summons his neutralizer and turns two of them to ash. As people flee in fear, Rom notices Brandy again, and this time he flies off with her. Using his translator, he tells his origin story: his people were at war with the Dire Wraiths, and he and others volunteered to give up half their humanity to become cyborgs.  The Spaceknights won a victory, but the shape-shifting wraiths fled to various worlds. Rom has come to earth to hunt them down.  Brandy isn't sure she believes him, but then the national guard shows up, and attacks.  Rom battles them. Among them are several wraiths, who try to kill him and capture Brandy, but Rom uses his neutralizer to send them to Limbo.  Then he flies off, leaving Brandy to wonder what is really going on.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

New Comic-Book Night -- and some future plans

Once again it has been 2 weeks since I was able to get to the comic-book shop. This time, for once, weather was not a factor. Instead, I had an appointment last Wednesday, and I just couldn't get out there until so close to the next NCN, that there was no point to going. Thus, I delayed until today.  This gave me a decent haul -- four comics, all independent titles.  While there, I also discussed some other independent recommendations with the shop owner, and I am probably going to pick up some of the trades by the Luna brothers, since I have been so liking their work. But first I have the "Confession" trade to finish for Astro City, and a Birds of Prey volume by Gail Simone, so it'll probably be a few weeks before I dig into anything else.