Rom (comics)
Rom toy in a box.
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| Type | Action figure |
|---|---|
| Inventor | Scott Dankman Richard C. Levy Bryan L. McCoy |
| Company |
Parker Brothers (Hasbro) Palitoy |
| Country |
United States United Kingdom |
| Rom | |
|---|---|
Rom from the cover of Rom #1, artist Frank Miller.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics (1979-86) |
| First appearance |
Rom #1 (December 1979) |
| Created by |
Bing McCoy (toy design) Bill Mantlo (writer) Sal Buscema (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Rom of Galador/Artour |
| Species | Galadorian |
| Team affiliations | Spaceknights |
| Abilities | Armor grants: Superhuman strength Extreme durability Flight Space travel via backpack rockets Survive the vacuum of space Self-repair capabilities Use of high tech weapons |
Rom the Space Knight is a fictional character and cosmic superhero created by Scott Dankman, Richard C. Levy, and Bryan L. McCoy for Parker Brothers, currently a subsidiary of Hasbro.
Rom appeared in the American comic book Rom: Spaceknight (December 1979 - February 1986) by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, and published by Marvel Comics.
In July 2015, IDW Publishing began publishing a new Rom comic book series.
"Rom" was a toy co-created by Scott Dankman, Richard C. Levy, and Bryan L. McCoy (US Patent #4,267,551). It was sold to Parker Brothers, and was the inspiration for the comic book series Rom: Spaceknight. The toy was originally named COBOL, after the programming language, but was later changed to "Rom", after ROM (read-only memory), by Parker Brothers executives.
The toy set a precedent for the game publishing company, which up until that time had only ever produced board games. As this was a new venture for the company, and given that electronic toys were still very new, a decision was made to produce the figure as cheaply as possible. As a result, the final product had very few points of articulation, and twin red LEDs served as Rom's eyes instead of the originally envisioned green, which were more expensive to produce.
Not long after its debut, Rom appeared in the corner box of the cover of Time magazine's December 10, 1979, issue. It was featured in the interior article, "Those Beeping, Thinking Toys," which decried Rom's lack of articulation and predicted it would "end up among the dust balls under the playroom sofa."
Rom was licensed to Palitoy in the United Kingdom to extend the "Space Adventurer" line of Action Man, appearing in their 1980 catalog.
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