Sunday, April 27, 2014

Review: Rom 8

"Deathwing." Steve and Brandy mourn the loss of their friend, a police officer named Artie, as Rom looks on.  Steve rages against Rom, blaming him and once again entertaining doubts about the Wraiths, but Rom tells the story of another world destroyed by the Wraiths, and warns that this could be Earth's fate. Then with his Analyzer, Rom determines Artie is alive, so he departs, and Brandy and Steve let in the rest of her lab, so that Artie can be taken care of.  Rom uses his Analyzer to track Wraiths, and finds them pretending to have a funeral for one of their own.  In the mean time, a mysterious reptilian creature seems to be hunting the other Wraiths in Clairton.  Rom arrives at the grave yard and attacks the Wraiths. Their leader summons a Deathwing, but the creature is hard to control, and ends up turning on him and killing him. Rom's arm is touched by the creature, and he loses control of it, falling into the grave, and then down into a deeper pit.  The monster hunting Wraiths appears, and is revealed to be Serpentyne.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Review: Rom 7

"As I lay dying." Steve Jackson hides out in his damaged filling station, trying desperately to repair the still form of Rom.  His friend, police officer Artie Parker, arrives, demanding to know what is going on, and Steve tells Artie about the Dire Wraiths.  The body of a dead Hellhound convinces Artie that something is up, and he agrees to help Steve get Rom to Brandy Clark's lab.  While they are out trying to save Rom, Wraiths and Hellhounds break into the filling station and steal Rom's neutralizer, which is still surrounded by a force field. And far away at Project Safeguard, the wraith leader summons the Thornoids to finish Rom off. At Brandy's lab, Rom's friends, and Artie, try to resuscitate him, but before they can finish their work, the thornoids, which are sentient plant creatures, attack. Artie tries to protect Brandy and Steve and is killed by the thornoids.  But now Rom is conscious again, and he attacks the thornoids, defending Steve and Brandy.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Review: Rom 6

"Dog Day Afternoon." Steve Jackson and Brandy Clark take Rom to Steve's filling station, where they hide him inside.  Rom absorbs some energy from an electrical outlet and then goes into "sleep" mode, while Steve takes Brandy to work.  Meanwhile, the Dire Wraiths blame Agent Kraller for the failure of the Archie Stryker/Firefall plot from issues 3-4, and punish him by having a Deathwing kill him.  Back near Clairton, W.V., two Hellhounds telepathically track Rom from the destroyed house (issue 5) to the filling station, and they attack him.  There is a great battle, in which the hounds trap Rom's neutralizer in a force field. Steve comes back to see the battle unfolding, and uses gasoline and a lighter to burn one of the hounds. Rom deals with the other one, but his armor is over-charged by an electric wire, and he collapses.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Review: Rom #5

"A house is not a home."  Rom hides in the woods with Brandy and Steve as the police, unknowingly accompanied by incognito Dire Wraiths, search for him.  Eventually, the Wraiths bring out Hellhounds, which are telepathic trackers, and Rom is forced to flee. After dodging Wraith disruptor rays, Rom gets his human charges to safety in an abandoned house.  However, the house turns out to be a creature that once fought Dr. Strange, and it tries to capture Rom and the humans.  Rom uses his neutralizer to send the House back to Limbo, thereby protecting Brandy and Steve.