By: Chris Claremont (writer), John Romita, Jr. & Dan Green (art), Glynis Wein (colors) & Tom Orzechowski (letters)
The Story: Storm has lost her powers due to a weapon designed by Forge (a man she thought she might have loved). Forge based the gun’s design on the neutralizer of none other than ROM – Spaceknight, making him a target for the dreaded Dire Wraiths.
What’s Good: If there were a carbon-dating system for comic book fans, it would be: Did you read ROM – Spaceknight? I LOVED ROM as a kid in the early/mid-1980’s but after his ongoing series ended, the character has been so completely tied up in an intellectual property Gordian knot that there has never been, nor will there ever be (probably) a collected edition of ROM.
So, it was with some fun that I stumbled up an appearance of ROM in this issue of Uncanny X-Men from November 1984. Granted ROM only appears as a hologram created by Forge to distract the Wraiths, but it was cool to see the silver guy and remind myself that putting together a collection of ROM is definitely on the “to-do” list.
From a story standpoint, as it features a all-out battle between a depowered Storm, Forge and his father-figure, Naze, and a mess of Wraiths and their minions. It is great as Storm is at her street-fighting best, using the skills that Wolverine taught her that she never thought she’d have to use (including shooting a gun…. gasp!). Forge at this point in time was Tony Stark without the armor, but he sure had a sophisticated defense system in his penthouse. And Naze is doing his best Wolverine impression as the tough old guy who strikes from the shadows (but with a shotgun instead of claws). By the time Rogue and Colossus show up at the end, this issue had already been a lot of fun.
I know that some people aren’t wild about the way Romita, Jr. draws now, but if you need an example of why the dude has been around for 30+ years in comics, this is a pretty good issue to look at. I remember his Dire Wraiths giving me the creeps as a kid and they’re still pretty impressive today. We also get a masterful inking job by Dan Green who had to do a LOT of detailed inking on several scenes of Storm fighting Wraiths in the snow and rain (guess the temperature outside changed during the issue or something).
What’s Not So Good: Well…. some of the costumes look pretty 1980’s. A few issues earlier, Forge was introduced and you could tell that his first panel was supposed to make him look like a suave ladies man, but he looks a little more roided-out Freddie Mercury (who is one of my favorite dead musicians) than lady-killer. By this issue, his costume just screams 1980’s especially since it isn’t a costume…it’s just what the dude wears around the house. Ditto for Rogue who in this issue shows up in her third costume since she joined the X-Men in #171. Remember when costume changes were a big deal? I remember reading this as a kid and being very excited that she was no longer in her orange get-up as I put the issue away for safe keeping because it might be worth a lot. Ha!
The only other negative is that of Storm’s relationship with Forge. She had lost her powers to his weapon, but had started to fall in love with him in issue #186 (LifeDeath, Part I and a classic in its own right). So, Storm fell in love with a dude in one single issue and then spends this issue inner monologuing to herself about how she hates him now (that she knows the truth about the gun’s origin). Guess she’s temperamental or something.
Conclusion: A wonderful combination of two classic flavors: ROM and X-Men. You can pick this issue up at mycomicshop for $1.60 for a VF copy and I encourage you to do so now. The Wraiths are great villains and even though they’ve appeared a few places since the 1980’s they’ve never been done as well as they are here (or in the pages of ROM). Plus, this issue is one of the sneaky few that has a ROM appearance that still finds its way into collected editions. Guess the lawyers didn’t notice. Sssshhhhh! Don’t tell!
Grade: B+
– Dean Stell
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