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ROM Returns To Right The Wrongs of Wraiths

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by Vince Brusio

Who doesn’t like to reminisce over their revered retro playthings? How can you resist stepping out of your regular routine to do a time warp, where all the time was yours to imagine yourself far away in worlds where they need you? For some of us, those adventures were acted out with toys. And for those growing up in the 70s, one of the coolest toys was ROM. Now Chris Ryall gives us an exclusive interview to tell us that his reverence for the Space Knight has finally paid off.

ROM Volume 1 TP (NOV160382) is in comic shops January 18.

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Vince Brusio: What sparked the idea to bring back ROM? Was your childhood fan fiction just no longer suited for life in a closet?

Chris Ryall: I credit E.L. James with getting me to take a chance on putting my fanfic out into the world now. “50 Shades of Silver” deserves to be seen, man. Also, why do you think my ROM fanfic stopped with childhood? 

But really, ROM is something I’ve wanted to see in comics forever, and been working to make happen for the past decade. I’d started to think it might never happen, and then not only did that change, but now I get to do the book alongside fellow ROM fans and talented creators like Christos Gage and David Messina. So maybe the time spent working toward this was just enough, since this is exactly the way I’d like to launch a ROM comic in 2016. Especially knowing that guys already associated with the character, like Sal Buscema, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, and so many others will be a part of things, too.

Vince Brusio: Will this story be more plot driven, or will you be spending more time to show the complexities and traits of the character?

Chris Ryall: Both. I mean, the basic plot of ROM — so nicely simplified when it first appeared on the back of the action figure’s box — will be the driving thrust of our story, but we’ll definitely be getting into the heads of the characters. Both literally and figuratively, I should add as a cryptic note. 

Vince Brusio: How did you settle on David Messina as the series artist? Can you tell us where the conversation went after you saw his initial submission for the book?

Chris Ryall: I’ve worked with David for as long as I’ve been at IDW, on things like Angel, Infestation, Star Trek, and other things, so we’re both very familiar with one another. And I know what David’s capable of, which is pretty much anything — he has a nice way of telling a good, straightforward story while also feeling very modern in his approach. He’s inventive and smart and endlessly passionate about the things he’s working on, and that’s been coming across in his work here from his initial sketches and gentle re-designs for ROM and the Dire Wraiths, to the new characters we’re developing and the actual pages themselves.

Vince Brusio: What direction will you be taking with this new title? Tell us what galaxies will be farmed as the Space Knight roams the cosmos. Or is ROM going to set up shop solely as one of Earth’s guardsman?

Chris Ryall: Well, ROM came to Earth in the #0 issue on Free Comic Book Day 2016. But he’s been fighting this galactic war for hundreds of years and we’ll definitely see that as well — both his backstory and other races he’s already met, as well as his current battles on Earth. Which very much don’t go the way he or readers should expect them to. 

Vince Brusio: If you could geek for a moment about this project, what would you say about its production that gives you the most joy? Is it seeing the finished art? Having the creative freedom to come up with new adventures? Let us peek behind the publishing curtain.

Chris Ryall: I’d say it’s two-fold, or maybe three-fold. One is just knowing that we’re bringing ROM back like this, and sharing the work with Bill Mantlo’s brother and caretaker, Michael, as well as taking to Sal about it and having him involved. And then there’s the idea of working up the stories with Christos and David, creating new characters and universe around ROM, and plotting out his story. I’ve written a lot of titles for IDW but never done an ongoing series, so the idea of setting up subplots in the way we’ve been doing is a lot of fun. And seeing initial fan reaction and seeing the fan anticipation is also really nice. 

But really, there’s still no comparison to seeing your words come to life through an artist’s pen. That will always be my favorite part of comic-book collaborations: seeing pages starring ROM, knowing we’re bringing back ROM in such a nice way thanks to David’s talents, as well as all the great people doing covers for the book. It’s as good as it gets.

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.

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