Review: Rom #9

"The Stalker in the Night." Rom is trapped deep underground, having fallen there last issue.  What he does not know is that he is in the lair of Serpentyne, the last surviving member of a lizard race.  Rom's circuitry continues to rebel from the touch of the Deathwing last issue, but slowly he recovers, and he summons forth his Energy Analyzer. He follows a trail of energy, and behind him comes Serpentyne, wishing to fight.  Eventually, Serpentyne catches up, and tells the story of his race, and their destruction at the hands of the wraiths. He is the only survivor. Vengeance must be his. So he attacks Rom, seeking to stop him from being the one to take out the wraiths. Rom and Serpentyne battle, and Serpentyne breaks off a stalagmite, seeking to run Rom through with it, but he trips, and the point breaks off and skewers him instead.  His madness passed, Serpentyne apologizes, and then dies. Rom heads off to continue looking for his Neutralizer.



Creative Team:
Writer - Bill Mantlo
Artist - Sal Buscema
Colorists - Bob Sharen and George Roussos
Letterer - Jim Novak
Editor - Mary Jo Duffy
Cover Artist - Michael Golden

Story - 3/5:  This is an interesting story, although unfortunately it is not up to the usual snuff of Bill Mantlo's otherwise stellar writing.   Although Rom continues to be wonderfully written, and his character continues to be revealed in each scene, Serpentyne felt unbelievable to me.  It simply makes no sense that he should want to kill Rom rather than allying with him against a common foe.

I realize, of course, that Mantlo's explanation for this (on pg. 12 in Rom's words and on pg. 17 in Serpentyne's words) is grief-based madness.  Basically, Serpentyne has gone crazy with grief and doesn't know what he is doing.  But if that were the case, why wouldn't he go on a killing spree of humans as well.  Why just attack Rom, the one being on the planet who understands the truth about wraiths and has suffered as much as Serpentyne has? This part makes no real sense, and I found it hard to believe the motivations ascribed to Serpy.

Another problem with this story is its heavy reliance on crossover material from, I can only presume, the Ms. Marvel comic.  I'm not sure how long ago the flashback sequence, which shows Ms. Marvel defeating Serp's race and freeing the humans they had enslaved, took place, but as someone who had never read a Ms. Marvel issue in his life, this part left me underwhelmed.  I had the feeling both at the end of last issue and throughout this one that Bill and company expected me to know who this guy is, and that I should somehow have a sense of his place in the Marvel Universe, but I do not.  Enough information is provided, to be sure, that I can understand the character's existence -- but I have no prior connection to him and the story feels like it needs that connection.

The ending, in a rare turn for Bill Mantlo, feels heavily contrived and unsatisfying. After battling Rom to a standstill (as few villains or heroes ever will), Serpy dies because he trips over his own two feet (well, actually an old skull, but still) and stabs himself with his own weapon.  This is not only hard to credit but also a really pathetic way for an established villain character to die.  I suppose there is a sort of poetic justice to the fact that his madness does him in -- the basic message is that revenge only destroys the person who seeks it, which is a classic old saw.  However, again, the clumsiness of Serpy is a little too over the top for me.

Overall, this story was not terrible, but it lacks the sophistication and top-notch writing quality that Mantlo brings to the table in the first 8 issues of Rom.  Additionally, the "lost Neutralizer" plot is starting to wear thin -- Rom lost it several issues ago now, and I'm ready for him to get it back.  Bill needs to move things along and get Rom back to dispatching Wraiths to Limbo.

Art - 4/5:  The interior art is Sal Buscema's typical, beautiful, kinetic work. The layouts are creative and interesting without distracting from the story.  The action sequences look fantastic, especially the full-page spread on p. 12.   Serpentyne looks appropriately reptilian, and Buscema has really relaxed into Rom's look, giving him the same basic appearance we will see for the next 3.5 years.  The last piece of the puzzle was the penlight eyes, which Buscema is now drawing as pinpricks in the way he will do going forward.  The look is quite good, probably the best so far in the series.

Cover - 3/5: Michael Golden does a very moody, solid job on the cover, except for Rom's eyes... they look awful. I'm not sure if this is really Golden's fault, or the colorist, but the eyes look like smudges, almost as if they are erroneous.  The rest of Rom's body, and Serpentyne, look good, although I find it odd that Serpentyne is colored green here, but orange on the inside.  I have the feeling the colorist is more at fault here than Golden, but whoever is to blame, this cover is not as good as it could have been.

Overall experience - 3/5: Overall, this issue has excellent art that is much stronger than the average story.  It is not a bad comic by any means, and compared to other titles, especially those on the market today, it's still quite superior.  But compared within the series to other Rom issues, this is one of the weaker installments.