Rom #7 Review: Solstar Order Space Knights Versus G.I. Joe
By Alex Widen
Rom faces enemies at every turn! Not only are his fellow Space Knights against him, but now they have to face G.I. Joe!
Rom #7
Writers: Christos Gage & Chris Ryall
Artist: Paolo Villanelli
Colorist: Alessandra Alexakis
More from Comics
- X-Men: 6 reasons why Marvel’s mutants are the best superhero team
- Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
- Marvel Comics announces seven important X-Men comic books
- The X-Men were betrayed by Captain America in Uncanny Avengers
- Spider-Man: Miles and Peter team-up for their first ongoing series
As the end of every episode of the G.I. Joe cartoon used to say, “Knowing is half the battle.” And if there’s anything Rom has grown to know, it’s that nothing is as it seems. Ever since making landfall on Earth in his two century long war against the Dire Wraiths, nothing has gone as planned. He may be united with his two closest Space Knights from the Solstar Order, but they consider him mad at best and a coward at worst. Now two members of G.I. Joe are after them!
Image by IDW Publishing
Considering this is the first regular issue since January, a lot is packed into twenty pages. The Dire Wraiths continue to switch strategies in their conquest of Earth. Their latest is exploiting both religion and its effects on desperate people. Since their powers are magical in nature, the energy of the souls they absorb is especially potent. Having learned much about humanity over two centuries, they’re now tricking the vulnerable into willingly surrendering their souls to the Wraiths.
Image by IDW Publishing
Rom Still Is the Good Cop of the Space Knights!
Yet the Space Knights remain stuck in their ways, much to Rom’s chagrin. Orphion and Livia are intent on destroying the Earth itself as a lost cause. From their perspective, the Dire Wraith infestation is too great and endangers the universe. Rom, however, sees potential in humanity as their allies as well as the folly of remaining too stuck on tradition and order. Rom’s attempts to convince both Orphion and Livia of the complexities of the situation fall on deaf helmets.
Image by IDW Publishing
Furthermore, the Dire Wraiths aren’t the Space Knights’ only threat on Earth! Thanks to the effects of the Revolution crossover, many within the U.S. military consider Rom as yet another alien invader like the Transformers. These include some within the G.I. Joe rank and file. Beach Head and Grunt, two minor members of the team, have gone rogue with stolen weapons. The pair are intent on proving that Rom is a threat to superiors, and eliminating him once and for all.
Image by IDW Publishing
The issue also does a solid job of catching up readers as to the rest of the cast. Camilla Byers, whose Wraith infestation allowed Rom to gather intelligence on them, remains critically injured but alive. And Darby Mason, Rom’s first ally, continues to struggle with her post-traumatic stress disorder. She meets with Ruan Sablik in the hopes of leaving the house for the first time since Rom left. Hopefully Ruan doesn’t prove to be a Dire Wraith just like most of her family was!
Image by IDW Publishing
There Is Plenty of Nuance beneath the Armor!
Christos Gage and Chris Ryall submit another engaging script which covers various perspectives. Rom, the Space Knights, and the G.I. Joe pair all have their own agendas and perceptions. It is easy to sympathize with Rom, who is caught in the middle. He is weary of rigid order and genocide in the name of galactic order, especially when the Dire Wraiths appear very eager to change tactics. The G.I. Joe members see aliens planning to blow up the Earth, and they’re not exactly wrong.
Image by IDW Publishing
One thing that this issue nails down is how one thing the Wraiths and Space Knights agree on is disdain for native races. To the Dire Wraiths, other life forms are just beings to be absorbed. Yet being on Earth so long has caused them to consider it theirs by right. The Space Knights are about protecting the universe, but they literally see humans and other races in their war as beneath them. Committing genocide to stifle Wraith invasions by destroying planets is literally procedure.
Image by IDW Publishing
Although the regular Rom series skipped February, the annual debuted featuring the origin of Rom and the Knights. Therefore, after that, reading this regular issue has added meaning. The ethical gap between Rom, Orphion and Livia makes sense. Orphion had been a soldier and a member of the Solstar Order long before finding the ore that made them cybernetic Knights. Livia had always been geared towards combat. But Rom was a geologist, becoming a soldier by circumstance.
Image by IDW Publishing
Terrific Art Enhances a Terrific Story!
Villanelli and Alexakis once again unite to produce an amazing looking comic. It could be easy to get lost in all of the alien armor and hi tech soldiers, but the pair always find the humanity in all of it. The Space Knight armors are sleek, yet incredibly detailed. The Dire Wraiths are as visually creepy as ever. The colors and line work are incredible, and the action is always fast-paced. I do wish that Grunt and Beach Head had better designs, as they’re pretty generic for G.I. Joe members.
Image by IDW Publishing
With all of the talk of diversity in comics, I remain surprised that Rom never winds up in most people’s Tumblr feeds. Here is a mainstream franchise science fiction book where virtually the entire cast are people of color. The Space Knights are aliens, and none of them were Caucasian anyway. Rom’s closest allies are women of color. In fact the only white man on the regular cast is Dubosky, a high ranking Dire Wraith within the U.S. military. The series walks the walk with race.
Image by IDW Publishing
Image by IDW Publishing
Next: Rom takes on his own in #6!
Rom remains an incredibly fascinating and exciting science fiction comic. It has all of the cool armors and battles of the 1980s Marvel incarnation, but with a more contemporary cast. It questions issues of identity, ethics, and perspective. The Dire Wraiths are masters of adaptation, and it may be time the Solstar Order did so as well. Rom’s feelings of disorientation even among his own will relate to many people. This remains one of the greatest of the Hasbro comic books!