Monday, May 20, 2013


Probably be all over the map this week, since I'm mid-move! How many boxes of comics have I moved so far? I couldn't say; but my new closet is pretty packed...and I'm not done yet. So, let's just take a quick look at ROM: Spaceknight #26, "Galactus!" Written by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by Joe Sinnott.

On top of the usual drama on the planet Galador--ongoing war against the shape-changing Dire Wraiths, Rom's leftover human bits stolen and put in the Spaceknight Terminator, the planet's Prime Director now a disembodied consciousness after his evil self took over a cyborg body--now Terrax the Tamer has shown up, heralding the arrival of the planet-devouring Galactus. Terrax is a sadist, who doesn't really care what the inhabitants do before Galactus eats them, he's just going to torture them a bit until then. The Spaceknights take him on, and somewhat surprisingly manage to defeat him.

Meanwhile, both the Prime Director and the Terminator fall against Galactus. (The larger plot point for the book: Rom may no longer be able to be restored to human if the Wraith war ever ends.) Rom manages to get to Galactus's worldship, where he finds a massive museum of lifeforms and civilizations destroyed by Galactus. It's a memorial, not a trophy room; but Rom still attacks it to get Galactus's attention.

Galactus is vivid already, before Rom smashes up his stuff; but Rom tries to invoke a rule: Galactus would pass up a live world, if a dead one could be found to assuage his hunger. And Rom knows of a dead world, a dead galaxy: the Dark Nebula of the Dire Wraiths...

I remember reading ROM #25 as a kid, but thought the Galactus issues were before it. Seems like a lot more going on this issue than most, huh?

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