All issues of ROM are out of print and apparently caught up in some weird publishing limbo preventing Marvel from rereleasing them, so I don't mind admitting that I downloaded every single issue from demonoid the other month. I poked through every issue and cut out my favorite weird robots and monsters, then put together an interesting collage as a sort of composition study. I'll be using the image above as a sort of sketch to make the final work. It's going to be a very colorful version of my typical digital collage work. Basically, I tried to come up with the most bad ass pin up poster of ROM that I could imagine.
Jason Leivian at Floating World Comics is putting together an art show of works inspired by ROM next spring along with a book of ROM inspired art. You can see examples of artists who have contributed including Renee French, Guy Davis and our own Uland. More here.
Details on the first exhibit from a few years ago can be viewed here.
If you're considering participating you can get some inspiration by checking out these ROM comic covers.
To sum up what this art show and book is for, I'll just quote the Wikipedia article on Bill Mantlo..
"a regular writer at Marvel, notably for the licensed properties Micronauts and Rom a.k.a. Rom: Spaceknight. On Christmas Day 1977, Mantlo's son Adam opened a new present, a line of the Mego Corporation's Micronauts action figures. Seeing the toys, Bill Mantlo was instantly struck by inspiration to write their adventures. Convincing then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get the comics license for these toys, Mantlo was hired to script their series.[6] Mantlo and Michael Golden (the artist on Micronauts) took a few bits of colorful plastic and built an entire (subatomic) universe around them, with its own history, mythology, personalities, and even an alphabet. Ultimately, the Micronauts comic won the 1979 Eagle Award for Favourite New Comic Title.
In the same way, Mantlo turned an uninspired toy called Rom into a cosmic odyssey about chivalry, alienation, and what it means to be human.
On July 17, 1992, Mantlo was struck by a car while rollerblading. (The driver of the car fled the scene and has never been identified.) Not wearing a helmet at the time, Mantlo suffered severe head trauma and spent over two weeks in a coma. He has since been institutionalized, and is not expected to fully recover. Mantlo now resides in the Queens Nassau Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, where he must have 24-hour assistance. His care has long since used up his health insurance. In 2007, cartoonist David Yurkovich released the benefit book Mantlo: A Life in Comics, with all proceeds from the book donated to Mantlo's brother and caregiver, Michael Mantlo, to help toward the costs of maintaining Mantlo's care. In addition, Floating World Comics sponsored Spacenight: A Tribute to Bill Mantlo, an art show made (almost) entirely of various artists' interpretations of ROM, to help raise funds for Mantlo's care."
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2 comments:
Really cool piece Aeron. It's interesting to see what happens when you use a different basic material for your collages. I'm curious what it will look like when it's more refined.
I also started on a ROM drawing several weeks ago, but then I didn't have time to finish it because of a commission deadline. I intend to finish it though, then I'll post it, too.
OK... this is weird.
I submitted a piece to the SPACENITE2 art auction, and have just posted the artwork on my blog (now that the auction is over - it being fair game to showcase)... and then came across your post here.
My illustration is very close to your collage mock-up!
Rom, surrounded by and battling all of his assorted nemeses...
I swear, I hadn't seen your piece before now.
In fact, I went through a few different designs before I went with the "throw EVERYTHING against the wall" motif.
Great minds and all that.
Feel free to pop by to check it out.
http://sanctumsanctorumcomix.blogspot.com/2010/12/color-me-new-to-help-rom-in-new-year.html
~P~
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