IDW - Rom #2

Title: Earthfall Part 2 (I guess)

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage & Chris Ryall

Pencils & Colours by: David Messina

Inks by: Michele Pasta

Colour Assist by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Rom and Darby have returned to her family home, where she wants to take something to remember her family. She begins to freak out when she realizes that she doesn't know when they were replaced. After being calmed down by Rom, she offers to get him in contact with her old commanding officer for assistance in stopping the Wraiths, but Rom is reluctant to trust anyone he hasn't scanned to make sure they're human.

Suddenly Dire Wraith vines break through the windows to attack the duo, forcing Rom to fly out with Darby, and they see that the entire town itself is infected with Dire Wraiths, buildings and all. Rom taps into his reserves and sets his Neutralizer to wipespread mode, and burns the entire town, killing the Wraiths, though he keeps Darby's house intact, realizing how important it is to her.

The two fly off, but Rom needs to rest somewhere safe to recharge his power cells, Darby directs him to a cave formation nearby, where he can rest for a while.

Whilst resting, Darby asks Rom about his past. He explains that when he was 20, the Dire Wraiths invaded his planet, and he joined the Solstar Order to stop them, but despite their power the Dire Wraiths managed to take them out, and took over the planet Elonia, infecting people and spreading further out into the galaxy. Rom has been fighting them for over 200 years now.

Rom detects some inhuman signatures approaching their location, and heads out, leaving Darby alone...

Elsewhere, Scarlett is deployed to Utah to deal with an alien issue there, whilst he sends an "elite" team to Cooper's Mill to investigate the Rom situation for him...just as three soldiers approach Darby in the cave at gun point asking about Rom's location.

Nearby, Camilla is running down the road, and is being chased by a trio of dog-like Dire Wraiths, who are trying to take her back with them, due to her Wraithmark, but she is rescued by Rom, who located them. Rom explains that these are Wraith Stalkers, and used to be humans before being infected. He kills them, and prepares to rescue the human, until he sees her Wraithmark and prepares to kill her to stop the infection.

Suddenly an army team arrives and orders him to leave her alone. Rom scans them, but deems them to be humans, so he cannot fight them. The soldiers shoot at him with explosives, leaving Camilla confused as to why Rom isn't fighting them, since SHE can clearly see that they aren't Humans. The Elite Dire Wraiths drop their disguises and use their dark magicks to paralyze and hurt Rom, leaving him fearing that he'll fail in his mission to save the Earth....

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom the Space Knight

Bear Alien (Flashback)

Snake Alien (Flashback)

Red Skinned Female Alien (Flashback)

Purple Goo Alien (Flashback)

GI Joe

Joe Colton

Scarlett

Other Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers Infected by Wraithmark

Darby's Parents (Picture) Dead

Dire Wraith

Army Soldiers/Elite Dire Wraiths

Population of Cooper's Mill Killed by Rom

Wraith Hawk Killed by Rom

Wraith Stalker Trio Killed by Rom

Elonia Dire Wraiths (Flashback)

Notes

• So...it's 2:40 PM at the start of this issue, and yet the sky is dark and the Moon is out? Seems legit!
• Darby is worried that her parents were replaced by Dire Wraiths for years, even to before she left Boot Camp, however since she was at war for 5 years, and apparently the Wraiths WANTED army personnel, it's unlikely.
• Darby reveals that she went on leave due to seeing things, this is likely due to the PTSD.
• Rom learns that the Dire Wraiths can now infect non-organic things like buildings and laptops...YIKES!
• Rom reveals that his home world was Elonia, and it was invaded by the Dire Wraiths more than 200 years ago.
• Rom also explains that he's been modified to allow himself to survive in space unaided, and has lived for more than 200 years. However he was originally human-like in appearance.
• The situation that Scarlett is heading to in this issue appears to be the transport of Blackrock to a secure location, as shown during the Titans Return storyline.
• From the dialogue, it seems very likely that the soldiers who meet with Darby this issue are Dire Wraiths.
• Rom is reunited with Camilla, and discovers she has a Wraithmark on her forehead, and reveals that it will eventually lead to her becoming a Dire Wraith herself
• Rom's Analyzer is revealed to be faulty against the Elite Dire Wraiths disguised as soldiers in this story
• Camilla's Wraithmark is revealed to also allow her to see behind Dire Wraith disguises