ROM had a great comic book tie in back in the day - so why didn't the toy become more popular than it was? I think one major mistake was not looking to what Marvel was doing for inspiration in expanding the line. Pretty much all you could get was ROM himself, I saw no other Spaceknights on the shelves next to him, let alone vehicles and accessories. An even bigger issue was that you could not even purchase a toy Dire Wraith for him to battle with. What good was that cool weapon of his if you couldn't blast his arch enemies? That was truly a lost opportunity.
21 comments:
Oh, no! It's Kanjar Ro!! Hasbee's black sheep brother!!!*
*Sorry, Bob and Tobor. I just couldn't resist.---Carycomic :-)
i never saw the toy for sale, but loved the comic.. the idea of total sacrifice of all human parts , beyond being a cyborg for your peoples safety was a Great leap.
no idea who Space Ghost is beyond being a figure that turned up a year or so ago in DC strange animation team ups
but must be well known in the united states.
@Simon: he was the eponymous star of the first animated cartoon series about superheroes that Hanna-Barbera ever did for American Saturday morning television. It ran for roughly two seasons (1966-68) and spawned a whole bunch of equally superheroic spin-offs and imitations...while simultaneously rendering live-action Sat. AM children's shows all-but-obsolete.
The Space Ghost series, itself, was created by Golden Age Batman artist Alex Toth as basically Batman in a sci-fi setting. Inspired, of course, by the break-out popularity of the Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward earlier that same year (1966).
For further information, try googling the Youtube cartoon video compilations posted by Fred Flix.
Nice cover! Ever paired up Hawkeye and the Atom?
Like Simon, I only ever saw the ROM comic, and never the toy. But you're right, Ross: without friends, enemies, and accessories, there wasn't much chance for the toy line to flourish.
(Of course, I was a huge Space Ghost fan back in the day, and I totally enjoyed the comic where he teamed up with GL Hal Jordan -- especially the part where they trade weapons. And, as I think you're aware, heroes trading equipment definitely has its appeal.
So, who else would be fitting to show trading equipment here? Tony Stark and John Henry Irons? Nova and Doctor Fate? Duck Dodgers and Darkwing Duck? Harley Quinn and Thor ("Wait -- she's worthy?!?")?
(We do need another team-up of Captain America and the Guardian, too; we're way overdue for that.)
(Also still hoping for photo covers of Brie Larson and Melissa Benoist, and Lauren Ridloff and Grant Gustin.)
A buddy of mine had the figure, which was big and cool-looking, and you could switch out the three devices, which made different noises...but its arms and legs were barely moveable (or at all?)
Micronauts, by contrast, not only could be posed but could exchange all their parts. There was just more to do.
Hawkeye met The Atom in STF#1719, Dec.2016
Years ago, I remember one of my dad's friends spotting us in front of the TV one Saturday morning when Space Ghost was on in reruns, and saying "What happened to Batman?" C'est la vie.
@Simon, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4NjVTvbQEhE
Carycomic's ref was pretty good. Actor Gary Owens was the voice to Space Ghost. He was also the newscaster on the Green Hornet. SG was a Batman type with two wards, but his background was never given. I included his theme. It's from 1966, long before a lot of shows that evolved from it. As kids, when we first saw it, it was solid, serious and as dramatic as a cartoon could get then. Two eight minute spots, and one with a character called Dino Boy in the Lost Valley (of dinosaurs) for the third spot.
Ross, seeing Kanjar Ro done series like this adds a lot to his threat status.
Nowadays, if DC tried to a regular monthly comic book about Space Ghost, most readers would probably think he was the JLU version of Amazo using Martian Manhunter's metamorphic power to imitate Batman, Lightray, Booster Gold, and Green Lantern.
All at the same time!
@Det Tobor: I believe there's a graphic novel that gives an origin story for Space Ghost, but I don't remember what it's called.
@Daviticus, that was a fairly recent add on, i think by DC. It's just a later day writer adding to the story, but not the original story developed by HB.
@Tobor: You just said "his background was never given." I just wanted to point out that a background WAS given, albeit decades later.
Actually, DC's given him two different origins. The six issue-mini-series from 2005. And the one depicted in the "Future Quest" eleven years later.
@Carycomic: The Omnikron version was the better of the two.
If you say so...
@Daviticus: that I do. If only because the 2005 origin was more like the Punisher in outer space. A little _too_ grim for my taste!
Hey Ross, did you ever consider Rom: Spaceknight teaming up with Rom the Ferengi engineer from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? Seems like a natural pairing especially if the spaceknight's armor needed an impromptu repair job by an out of the box thinker.
Just never stumbled onto a good image of DS9 Rom. Good idea, I may try again one of these days
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