HOPE YOU LIKE IT: The Art of DAKOTA ALEXANDER… By DAKOTA ALEXANDER Email from Dan, after we did faux covers for a few weeks: “Shall we pivot to splash pages or house ads for awhile?” This got me to thinking of a certain Marvel house ad. Picture it: 1979. You’re flipping through the pages of your favorite Marvel comic and you see a startling full-page house ad. “He strikes from outer space… cleaving through the sky like a fiery sword of justice… hurtling Earthward on his dread mission of cosmic vengeance! AND NOTHING CAN STOP HIM!!” This impressive introduction reads almost like a manifesto, as it leaps off the page with Sal Buscema’s iconic illustration of ROM SPACEKNIGHT emerging from a blazing crater! And if you saw this for the first time, you’d probably presume he would be a hero. However due to his imposing design and fiery entrance you would also be right to presume that this is not you’re average type of hero. This is something to be reckoned with. The ad doesn’t mention that ROM was a toy tie-in but it’s one of the best-known examples of that kind of synergy. The toy version of ROM was developed by Parker Brothers and was a new venture for the company, which up until that time had mostly made board games. Electronic toys were also still very new, so the decision was made to produce the figure as cheaply as possible. It had only a few points of articulation and bore little resemblance to its exciting and heroic comics counterpart. Frankly, this seems more like a robotic henchman than a valiant spaceknight. Not to mention that the figure was 13 inches tall and, with all its accessories, was said to weigh close to 5 pounds. Suffice it to say, the toy was not a hit. Marvel, however, was more successful, producing a cult-favorite series that managed to run until 1986. Some of its longevity was due to the stories by Bill Mantlo, and some of it was in part to Marvel’s insistence on incorporating the character into practically every major title it could. As a kid, I knew of ROM without ever having to read a ROM comic. He was everywhere. The X-Men tussled with ROM, and so did the Hulk, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, and even Power Man...