ROM The Space Knight

IDW's Revolution crossover might be coming to a close, but that doesn't mean that things are slowing down for the Hasbro properties that have all been thrown into the same universe. In March, the Revolutionaries are faced with Cobra Commander, the secrets behind the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand will finally be revealed, the crew of the Lost Light are trapped with no choice but to save the universe (again), and --- perhaps most importantly --- we're finally getting to see Art Baltazar and Franco do a story with Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. That's right, y'all: Revolution is getting the Aw Yeah! treatment with a story where Micronauts foe Baron Karza reads a bunch of GI Joe comics and then finds out that Snake Eyes is very real. Check out all the IDW/Hasbro solicits for more information!

In all honesty, I don't know if there's anything going on in comics right now that's more exciting to me than IDW's Revolution event. It's the unification of most of the Hasbro properties into a single universe that finds the Transformers, GI Joe, ROM the Space Knight, MASK and more being thrown together into a unified story, and for someone like me, it's a pop cultural dream come true. But the one big question I've had since it was announced is "okay, but how's it going to work?" We have, after all, been assured that this wasn't a rebooting of the continuity for Transformers or GI Joe, but since one of those book is about giant robots from space coming to Earth and the other isn't, it seems like that would be something of a game-changer when it comes to world-building. But now, we have an exclusive video from IDW where John Barber, the editor and writer spearheading the new direction, explains it --- and it sounds pretty awesome.

The thing about doing comics based on toy properties is that eventually you're going to want to play with all the toys, and today, it looks like that's exactly what IDW has set out to do. After years of keeping them separated into their own universes --- with exceptions like the senses-shattering, soon-to-be-finished Transformers vs. GI Joe --- IDW is combining almost all of its Hasbro toy properties into a single universe. The shakeup comes in a biweekly event called Revolution, co-written by Cullen Bunn and John Barber, with art by Fico Ossio, which will combine GI Joe, Transformers, MASK, ROM the Space Knight, Action Man and Micronauts into one permanent shared universe.

ROM: Spaceknight is the definition of a cult-classic series; a sci-fi gem from the era that gave us Tron, Blade Runner and The Empire Strikes Back. ROM’s popularity is also bolstered by his absence from comics pages for several decades, but one fan is paying tribute to the Galadorian Spaceknight in the most capital-R Romantic way possible. Ahead of the upcoming IDW relaunch as ROM: The Space Knight, Australian poet Adam Ford is writing a poem for each and every issue of the classic Marvel series, including annuals, as part of a series he calls POEM: Spaceknight.

For those of us who are obsessed with the licensed comics of the '80s, the biggest news story of the year is unquestionably the return of ROM The Space Knight --- four words, very important --- to comics this summer. Considering he was a popular character at the time who hasn't starred in a comic in a full 30 years, it's a big deal, and IDW is taking the opportunity to reintroduce him in a pretty big way. In July, ROM is making an appearance on variant covers across IDW's entire line to celebrate his return, and today, we're happy to reveal his appearance on Brendan Cahill's cover for Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #55, where he and Rodimus are now best friends. That's what I'm assuming, anyway.

From the Department of Things That We All New Would Happen Eventually, it looks like this is the year that the inevitable finally happens. At Comic-Con International in San Diego, IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall announced that ROM and Micronauts will finally be making their long-awaited return in 2016.