Forget the upcoming Marvel Rebootlaunch. Forget all the new DC and Vertigo titles. The most important announcement from San Diego Comic Con 2015 has officially been revealed.
As posted on his Tumblr and confirmed on his Twitter, Chris Ryall has announced that fan favorites ROM Space Knight and the Micronauts will be coming back to comics next year via IDW. Something that Ryall has been campaigning for for years (Ryall’s personal ROM collection is pretty legendary), it’s pretty exciting to see that his hard work has paid off and the characters — whose books are rather notoriously out of print due to the lost license from the comics Marvel used to publish — will be returning.
Despite being out of print for so long, the legacy of the Micronauts and ROM have not been lost. For example, the Micronauts’ Microverse ostensibly has a role to play in the upcoming Ant-Man film from Marvel (teased as the Quantum Realm, but assumedly the same thing), and Marvel comics still include many of the creations from Bill Mantlo’s legendary run, including the continued use of the Dire Wraiths and the recent announcement that Venom will appear as a Spaceknight (the order to which ROM belongs). ROM has a pretty special legacy here at Multiversity as well (we even accepted a ROM Mighty Mugg over an Eisner at last year’s SDCC), so seeing his return is tremendously gratifying as a site that has attempted to repeatedly beat the “Hey, you should all be seeking out this comic in back issue bins” drum.
Of course, no article about ROM and the Micronauts would be complete without mention of Bill Mantlo, whose imagination helped make these characters Marvel icons beyond their initial creation as toys Hasbro was looking to sell to young children. For those unaware, Mantlo suffered a tragic injury in 1992 when he was struck in a hit-and-run car accident, one that has left him in need of constant care due to a brain injury related to the accident. You can read more about Bill’s story here, and if you’re as excited as we are to see these characters to return then I would emphatically encourage you to donate to Bill’s care or even send him something in the mail — and you can find out about how to do both here (an article from last year’s Guardian’s Month which we ran as a benefit to help Bill Mantlo leading in to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, which featured the now extremely popular Rocket Raccoon).
Long story short, we’re very excited to see ROM and the Micronauts return, and to see it happen from IDW specifically under the direction of Chris Ryall. Ryall has been a champion for ROM’s return to comics and is a man who has tremendous respect for the worlds and universes Mantlo’s amazing imagination gave us, so fingers crossed as we learn more about the upcoming deal between Hasbro and IDW that it includes something to his benefit. (I would at least hope for some form of the long awaited ROMnibus, with proceeds going to Mantlo’s continued care.)
Look for more info on ROM and the Micronauts as it’s released right here at Micronautiversity ROMics dot com.
Anyway, if you don’t mind me geeking out for a moment… *breathes in deeply* ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
