Friday, August 10, 2012

The most subtle ROM reference in a Marvel title ever I think

Fantastic Four 216 (1980) left click to enlarge
Looks like I'm back sooner then I expected. Can you spot the ROM reference here? Also take note that Marv Wolfman and Bill Mantlo wrote this issue. Which leads me to my next feature in this posting compliments of Gary Martin "a Rom curator".

Marvel Fun and Games (1979) left click to enlarge
Marv Wolfman co created The Torpedo with Bob Brown. His first appearance in ROM was in issue 21 (1981) so it would not surprise me at all if Wolfman and Mantlo were aleady collaborating on the concept of having The Torpedo be a regular fixture in the ROM spaceknight series when they worked on FF 216 together the year before. Also present in this name match puzzle is the Jack of Hearts who was created by Bill Mantlo. And in case you didn't see this recent posting elsewhere about the Torpedo's career in the Marvel Universe: http://www.armagideon-time.com/?p=7459

Just thought I'd throw this Marvel Age calendar date in this posting. As you know Bill Mantlo was the regular writer on Alpha Flight (issues 30-41)  for a while aside from the multitude of other Marvel titles during his amazing career .

Next up, THE TERMINATOR!

12 comments:

  1. I've scrutinized the page, but I can't spot the ROM reference.

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    1. dude that was funny! but i'm glad you didn't give it away i wonder if others will have trouble spotting it.

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    2. I've recently been building up my Bill Mantlo collection. Mostly Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-In-One and Peter Parker: TSSM, of which I've acquired 40+ issues in the last couple weeks. Now that I've seen his FF work with John Byrne as artist, I'm very determined to hunt those down ASAP. Eventually, however, I WILL own every comic Bill Mantlo ever wrote.

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    3. wow! how very ambitious of you. i don't know if you happen to know any or much Spanish but if you did the "Admirers of Bill Mantlo blog" (see top of blog role) would certainly love to see what you come up with in your extensive quest. me too for that matter of course. stay tuned my next posting will have a thing or two in it i'm also pretty sure most Rom fans haven't seen yet.

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  3. I love reading comic panel for this kind of stuff - easter eggs are always great when artists have time to slip one in! I saw it here as a sign of the times, - nice catch!

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    1. hey Dan "Easter Eggs" is the exact term that was used on the blog i found that FF page on. i had never heard it before or knew what they were talking about until i put 1 and 1 together.

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  4. All I can say is Look! Ha Nice find Dave I love John Byrne's style too thanks for the heads up!

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  5. Ha - yeah I remember hearing the term for the first time too.

    Old splash pages aye - boy they were awesome.

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  6. well good job so far gentlemen but anybody out there want to try and match the names in that cross word puzzle? with out cheating i knew what names belonged to who except for Stingray, Blackout and Thunderbolt. i can only make blind guesses what remaining names fir with them.

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  7. Ha! I found it! I love the comic book versions of Where's Waldo.

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