IDW - Rom and the Micronauts #4

Title: Asymmetric Warfare

Writer: Christos Gage

Artist: Paolo Villanelli

Colourist: Alessandra Alexakis

Letterer: Shawn Lee

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Gold Goldstein

Plot

Orphion, Livia, Camilla and Darby are pinned down by a small army of Wraiths, including Axiom and Reptos, being powered up by sorcerers in South Korea. Luckily Rom and the Micronauts arrive and turn the tide of the fight by taking down the sorcerers, allowing the others to fight properly again. Axiom escapes to warn Karza and the others about this turn of events, whilst the heroes take out the remaining Wraiths. During the battle Rom is pointed towards the Reptos, who have Enerchanged with others to gain a larger size, but are left unstable due to the difference in power, meaning Rom needs to Enerchange with Karza to regain his own true powers.

Following the battle, the Earth team explain that Karza and the Wraiths have set up base on a Japanese island facility, Hashima Island, and have Japan on their side due to them infiltrating their government and portraying the Solstar Knights as murderers. Whilst Orphion shares his intel on the island with the Micronauts, Rom talks with Livia about his lessons in Enerchanging, and believes that they could use it to be able to safely remove their armour and resume their pre-war lives, however Livia doesn't want to do that, as she isn't the same person she was before they joined the war.

At Hashima Island, Axiom explains what has happened, and the Wraiths are starting to panic. Karza reveals that he has a plan to speed up their plans, but it requires The Absence to be "dedicated", angering the intangible Wraith to the point that he agrees, just to show his power...

Back at the staging ground, Acroyear approaches Livia and relates to her that he is also an organic being trapped inside armour, and that he would give anything to remove it and have a normal life, indicating towards Phen again. Livia picks up on what he's saying and points out to him that one's appearance doesn't matter, and she has witnessed many very different species fall in love in her travels across the universe, even a Solstar Knight and a Dire Wraith once fell in love. Rom's true ambition with removing his armour is that he hates it because it is a constant reminder of how his family and his innocence died.

After their preparations, the team head out to Hashima Island, where they split in two teams, Rom and the Micronauts use their smaller size to sneak into the base, whilst Orphion and the others create a big distraction outside.

Things begin well, but Axiom notices that Rom isn't amongst the others fighting so he hunts him down. The Micronauts manage to fight off Axiom, but Rom finishes him off by Enerchanging with him, stealing his size and seemingly sending him to Microspace as Karza did to him earlier. Rom is glad to have a full sized body again, but can feel his body is unstable, so the group rush off to confront Karza and get Rom's true power back, however as they reach his chamber, they see Karza has already succeeded...he has awoken The Presence...

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia

Orphion

Space Knight in Love (Flashback)

Micronaut

Larissa

Phenolo-Phi

Acroyear

Biotron

Microtron (Voice Only)

Baron Karza

Dire Wraith

The Absence

The Presence 

D'rge

Axiom Shunted to Microspace by Rom

Wraith Sorcerers

Wraith Soldiers Most Killed

Wraith Hawks

Reptos Army Most Self Destruct

Wraith Sorcerer in Love (Flashback)

Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers

Other

Fire Alien (Flashback)

Multi-Headed Alien (Flashback)

Torchbearer (Flashback)

Blind Alien (Flashback)

Rom's Family (Flashback) Dead

Notes

• I know it's the penultimate issue, and they had to gloss over the timeline between the end of Rom and this series, but I still find it amazing how quickly Livia and Orphion accept Camilla and Darby, considering the former has partial Dire Wraith powers, and the latter is wearing the dead arm of one of their former allies...
• Oh wow! It's Axiom! He hasn't been seen in like a year, wonder if he'll do a lo- oh...he pretty much dies at the end
• It's implied by his dialogue that "The Absence" is technically "An Absence" and is a position one can attain through a hard ritual, and implies to be a conduit for The Presence to be summoned through.
• Amongst the aliens who find love appears to be a Torchbearer (Camien religious warriors and the guards for the Mistress of Flame) and a blind alien (based on her eyes being covered, yet they still have a gun out)
• Microtron, despite seeming to be on death's door last issue is HEARD on the ship a few times this issue...we don't see him, so either this was a late addition just to show people he's fine before the series ends, or it's for a reveal that he's been modified in some way on the ship (maybe even as part of the ship now?)

IDW - Rom #13

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage & Chris Ryall

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Main Story

Title: Long Road to Ruin, Part 3

Art by: David Messina

Inks by: Michele Pasta

Tales of the Solstar Order

Title: Battle Scars, Part 3

Pencils by: Guy Dorian, Sr.

Inks by: Sal Buscema

Main Plot

One month after the Elonian Invasion by the Dire Wraiths Rom and Livia prepare to leave the planet to chase after the Dire Wraiths, and they share an intimate moment at the monument left for Rom's lost family.

Back in the present, Rom has taken Livia's dead body to a fishing boat on the water's surface where he shares the energy from his suit with his former lover intending to either revive her or die too. Luckily his gambit pays off and Livia does indeed come back to life, and she is actually appreciative of Rom's sacrifice.

The Wraith Charybdis reappears and attacks the ship, but due to the power share, neither Solstar Knight is able to generate their Neutralizers properly. One of the fishermen is grabbed and drained into a lifeless husk, whilst Rom and Livia fly the remaining two fishermen away to shore.

The Knights take the fishermen to a nearby dock where they grab a couple of boats and supercharge them with Neutralizer energies and fling them at Charybdis, blowing up his tendrils. The Knights return to the dock and ask their new allies to evacuate the area whilst they go to make sure Charybdis is actually dead, and deal with Scylla. The two Knights generate some makeshift Neutralizer weapons and go after them..

Meanwhile in Rhode Island, Darby breaks into the Dire Wraith Warehouse Stronghold and uses her new Solstar arm to scan the area where she locates an invisible Wraith, she investigates it and manages to activate it, revealing it to be a communication device, which connects her to Camilla, who also happens to be near one. Camilla reveals to Darby that even though her Wraith was removed from her, it left traces and some memories, and she reveals that this strange Wraith device is also a transporter, allow Camilla to travel to Darby, and the two friends reunite.

The two Knights encounter a swarm of Wraith-fish, but are able to fight them off, soon however they locate Scylla and an army of aquatic themed Dire Wraiths, intending the battle them....

Tales of the Solstar Order Plot

Fy-Laa is embraced by the rest of Verdulun-5, as Rom tries to show him that he's been brainwashed by the planet. Fy-Laa reveals that they now plan to use the Solstar ability to travel unaided in space to spread their influence everywhere, and tries to absorb Rom as well. Rom however fights back, leading to Fy-Laa shooting his friend in the chest, and asks him to join their new collective again...

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia

Fy-Laa (Tales Only) Under Control of Verdulun-5

Dire Wraith

Scylla

Charybdis Partially blown up by Rom and Livia

Aquatic Wraith Army

Verdulun-5 (Tales Only)

Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers

Davide

Davide's Father

Other Fisherman Killed by Charybdis

Davide's Mother (Mentioned)

The Pastas Family (Mentioned)

Other

Rom's Family (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• We learn in this issue that the Solstar Knights are able to retract their face masks to reveal their real faces beneath them. This now makes Diavod's cameo in First Strike make sense!
• Livia's injured eye was caused when a Dire Wraith struck it during the Annual
• The Monument to Rom's dead family was made at the end of the Annual as well
• The fishing boat and fishermen were seen briefly at the start of last issue, I have no idea how Rom got Livia up to them though...
• The warehouse that Darby infiltrates was the same one that she and Ruan stole the Solstar arm from.
• We learn that the invisible Wraith seen previously is actually just a communication and transportation device, and not some invisible Wraith

IDW - Rom #12

Main Story Title: Long Roads to Ruin, Part 2

Art by: David Messina

Inks: Michele Pasta

Tales of the Solstar Order Title: Battle Scars, Part 2

Pencils by: Guy Dorian Sr.

Inks by: Sal Buscema

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis 

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Rom and Livia are being strangled by the Dire Wraiths under water, but the two Knights are able to break free and utilize their armour and Neutralizers to chase off the Wraiths. The two Knights give chase deeper into the ocean, as Livia has located them inside an underwater cave system.

Meanwhile in Rhode Island, Darby has returned home from her mission with the now dead Ruan, and plans out a letter to her grandmother before she leaves, in order to keep her last family member safe. Darby laments over the severed Knight arm that she has been left with, and tries it on, when the armour seals onto her arm and activates. Darby's grandmother comes into the room to see what is happening, and Darby activates the armour's Analyzer by accident and it shows her that she is indeed a human and not a Wraith. This excited Draby, as she now has a way to identify the Wraiths and finally help Rom in his fight against them.

Back in the ocean, Livia locates a whirlpool, where Charybdis grabs her and holds her prisoner. Rom goes to save her, but another Wraith, identifying herself as Scylla approaches him and shoots out an ink-like substance that disables him for a short while.

Eventually Rom reactivates his armour and goes after Livia. He quickly locates her, still being strangled by Charybdis, and despite his efforts to free her, the Wraith drains her of her energy, and the light goes out of her eyes  as Rom embraces her seemingly dead body....

Battle Scars Part 2

Rom and Fy-Laa flow over the gelatinous planet of Verdulun-5, and the planet, itself a living organism, who absorbs hostile entities that land upon it, and takes on their positive traits, whilst removing all the bad. Some Dire Wraiths arrived there some time ago, and it absorbed them, which is why it now registers as one itself. 

Fy-Laa is convinced that due to it absorbing the Wraiths, and even purifying his own armour before, they should try to use the planet to peacefully resolve the war with the Wraiths. Rom would like to agree, but Rom cannot allow a planet that is teaming with Wraiths, like this one technically is to continue to exist, and risk spreading the infestation further. Fy-laa tries to make Rom understand that they are not a threat, and Rom catches that Fy-Laa included himself within that group...

Fy-Laa has been absorbed by the planet too, and is part of their hive mind too!

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia Seemingly Killed by Charybdis

Fy-Laa (Tales Only) Mind Absorbed into Verdulun-5 

Orphion (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Charybdis

Scylla

Verdulun-5 (Tales Only)

Random Wraiths (Tales Only, Flashback) Absorbed into Verdulun-5

Human

Darby Mason Severed Knight Arm attached to her's

Gandma Gay-Lyn Mason

Fisherman

Fisherman's Father

Notes

• The two sea-bound Dire Wraiths are named Scylla (the multi-headed crustacean one) and Charybdis (the squid one). The former gets named, and identified as a female here, but the latter is left unnamed.
• Both Rom and Livia show their armour's ability to adapt to different atmospheres and pressures here, by changing their armour to better suit swimming, this also explains their ability to fly in space with ease.
• Let me just take a wild guess here, Darby is going to slowly have armour grow around her from the severed arm she is now wielding, and she will eventually become Rom's new partner as a Cadet of the Solstar Order.
• We get full confirmation that Darby's grandmother is not a Dire Wraith
• So Livia sure seems to die here....and for once we haven't had any spoilers for future set stories to spoil her surviving it, so she very well could be! Wow!
• Considering how Verdulun-5 fully absorbed the Dire Wraiths in it's flashback, it's likely that Fy-Laa was  also absorbed, leaving just his suit behind here, and the planet itself is controlling it...either that or mind control or whatever. It's pretty much sure that he's dead by now anyway.

IDW - Rom #11

Title: Long Roads to Ruin Part 1

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Art by: David Messina and Guy Dorian Sr. (Side Story)

Inks by: Michele Pasta and Sal Busema (Side Story)

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Orphion has tasked Livia and Rom with flying around Earth to analyse and deal with the Wraith situation, whilst he deals with some mysterious secret business, which totally does not seem dodgy... Despite his earlier hopes, Rom sees that Livia has become  blood-thirsty and just wants to take out the Wraiths regardless of the situation, so Rom decides to show her a different way,,,

The duo soon locate a cruise boat, where a couple of Wraiths are busy posing as being retired, Livia approaches them, and prepares to kill them on sight. Rom takes her away, but reveals that he does plan to kill them. Rom uses his Translator to spy on the Wraiths, revealing that they were there for a reason, and learn who they are going to warn about the Knights being there, then proceeds to kill them, with no collateral damage. Before they can act on their new information though, a giant Wraith squid grabs them from the water, and drags them under.....

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, Ruan and Darby begin their mission against the Dire Wraiths, by breaking into a storage facility they control, so Ruan can steal a severed Solstar Knight arm from them, so Darby can use it to identify Wraiths by herself, however in the process, Ruan kills himself to get the arm, leaving her on her own again...

At Pismo Beach Medial Centre, a couple of Wraith cops "visit" Camilla, intending to put her out of her misery due to her rejecting her Wrait, but as they attack her, Camilla accidentally activates her now inert Wraith powers and defeats the duo, freaking her out, and leading her to run away.

Battle Scars Part 1

Rom is flying around Earth, looking for Wraiths to kill, when he remembers his old friend Fy-Laa, and of a mission they went on to the planet Verdulun-5, where upon touch down, Fy-Laa is enveloped by a gelatinous substance, that appears to be cleaning any impurities on his armour. Rom however discovers that there are Dire Wraith life signs around them, which the substance confirms, as it announces that it is both a Wraith and the indigenous life of this planet.....

Characters

Solstar Order

Orphion

Rom

Livia

Fy-Laa (Battle Scars Only)

Dire Wraith

Ruan Sablik Likely killed when getting Fallen Knight's arm

Squid Wraith

Gelatinous Wraiths (Battle Scars only)

Retired Wraiths Killed by Rom

Warehouse Wraiths Killed by Darby and Ruan

Wraith Cops Defeated by Camilla

Wraith Priest (Mentioned) Dead

Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers

GI Joe (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue features the first "Tales of the Solstar Order" side stories...YAY!
• What is Orphion's "true business" all about? Could it have something to do with the upcoming First Strike crossover?
• This is the first issue that I've read since it was announced that post First Strike we're getting a joint Micronauts and Rom comic...let's keep an eye out for bug sized cameos from here on!
• So...Ruan's big plan is to loudly break into a warehouse with his human buddy, then kill himself to give her a severed Space Knight arm with no knowledge on how to work it? Good fella!
• Also, speaking of the arm, I'm pretty sure that's Fy-Laa's arm, aka Rom's likely former partner and best friend along with Livia before their joining the Solstar Order.
• So...if we take it at face value, one of the Wraith cops implies that he had sex with Camilla in the past...I guess he can keep up his human guise whilst....um...climaxing?
• Despite having the Dire Wraith removed from her body, it seems that it's presence has left her body altered to be a Human-Wraith hybrid
• So...there's a giant squid Wraith.....HIDE!!!!

IDW - Rom #10

Title: Interlude: A day in the life

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Art by: David Messina

Inks by: Michele Pasta

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Following up on the conditions of their cease-fire, Rom takes the other two Space Knights into a Californian city, where they reveal themselves to see hoe regular humans act around them. Orphion expects the humans to attack them, but is shocked when they accept them, assuming them to be Autobots, and appreciating their work to protect their planet from evil aliens. The plan works, and both Orphion seems pleased with humanity (though hates being thought of as an Autobot) whilst Livia seems to be easing up on her cold exterior and is more playful, as she was when they were younger.

One of the humans asks if they are there to tackle evil aliens in the area, and points them towards a nearby church, where he says an alien is hiding.

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, Darby and Ruan are out walking, and Darby s worried about what they are going to do about the Wraiths. Ruan speculates that Darby was able to resist being turned into a Wraith before because of her PTSD messing with her mind. She doesn't care though, as she is worried that she can't identify Wraihs like Ruan and Rom can, but Ruan reveals that the Wraiths have something that could help her, that was taken from a fallen Solstar Knight, but it'll be hard to get to it..

The Knights head to the church, where some kids also ask if they're there to get the alien too, adding to their suspicions. Inside the church, the Knights encounter a Dire Wraith disguised as a priest, who then reveals that he has been hiding on Earth for a long time, hiding as various religious leaders and a congregation members, claiming to bring the humans salvation when he kills them, and evokes his belief that his god will allow him to continue and condones this course of action.

In Seattle, Leonard Song has been called to Deepwave HQ to finalize the work on the Axiom armour, finally perfecting the technology to allow people to control machinery, much to Caleb Awan's delight.

Meanwhile in a Californian hospital, Camilla wakes up from her life-saving operation, seemingly in pain...

The three Knights fight the priest, who manages to get the upper hand on them by morphing into a never-before-seen giant monstrous Wraith form, who is able to resist a Neutralizer's blasts with ease, however when Rom and Livia combine their weapons, they are able to destroy him, but not before he claims that his god will "embrace" them and the planet soon....

Orphion s glad that they have defeated the powerful Wraith, and is now intrigued by why the Earth is making the Wraiths so powerful, but is also concerned that this is further proof that they should just destroy the planet after all...

Characters

Solstar Order

Orphion

Rom

Livia

Fy-Laa (Mentioned)

Fallen Solstar Knight (Mentioned) Dead

Dire Wraith

Ruan Sablik

"Freaker" Priest Killed by Solstar Knights

Caleb Awan

Axiom

Dave Dubosky (Mentioned)

Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers

Leonard Song

Jogger

Old Lady and her Dog

Californian Civilians

GI Joe (Mentioned)

Other

Benna K'atsema (Flashback only)

Reyn K'atsema (Flashback only)

The Transformers (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue follows up on Rom's promise last issue to show Orphion and Livia why it is worth saving Earth
• Shockingly, all of the civilians seem to be very accepting of the aliens, even assuming they are Autobots, whom they have been shown to partially blame for the devastation on Earth and recent annexation of the world.
• This issue confirms that the short black haired  mother is Benna, and she is the one who would later be turned into a Wraith during the Annual story.
• Despite her imaginations, the three "Wraiths" seen by Darby are clearly not actually Dire Wraiths...Ruan would have told her if they were.
• This issue reveals to us that starting from issue 11 there will be a back-up story focusing on the other Solstar Knights!
• It's unclear whether Leonard Song knows that Caleb and Axiom are Dire Wraiths, as you would assume he'd not want to work with a known invading alien group
• Also, Deepwave have now continued their work on developing their cybernetic interfaces, as seen previously in the Rom: Revolution tie-in, but they apparently needed some outside human help with it.
• ALSO, didn't Caleb get absorbed into the Karza-Wraith hybrid? After which they all died, resulting in most of the other Wraiths going rogue on Earth since a large portion of their leaders were now gone?
• Rom still has Orphion's Neutralizer, most likely he'll keep it until his commander promises not to blow up the planet.

IDW - Rom #9

Title: Reinforcements Part 5 

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Pencils and Inks by: Paolo Villanelli

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Wraith sorcerers work with The Absence to complete their mission, despite the Space Knights having defeated all their troops above, but they have an unexpected ally, Rom is distracting the other Knights from attacking them...

Above, Orphion starts to charge his energies into the drill heading to the core of the planet, but Rom continues to fight him, despite being weakened himself. Livia is forced to fire on Rom by an order from Orphion, and knocks him out. Before anything else can happen though, The Presence appear and slams his arm through Livia's chest, draining her of her energy. He turns to Orphion, who tries to attack him, only to find him intangible. The fight continues to go bad for Orphion, but Rom suddenly appears, and fires his Neutralizer from inside The Presence, causing him to explode.

Orphion thanks Rom for his help, but goes back to charging the drill, whilst informing him that Livia is close to death now, and he has to choose, either save her life, or stop him from destroying the Earth.

Meanwhile, in Pawtucket, Darby has brought Ruan home with her, and her grandmother is surprisingly understanding about it (though still shocked that he's an alien). They explain that they are going to try and stop the Dire Wraiths from conquering the world, so she gives Darby a suitcase filled with weapons to help her out (she'd been stocking them up since the Transformers returned to Earth)

Rom tries to save Livia, but his energy is too depleted to heal her, Orphion continues to send his energy into the drill, unaware that the energies are being syphoned by the Wraiths below into a device.

Luckily, Rom is able to convince Orphion that saving his loyal and obedient partner is more important that rashly destroying a planet, which manages to convince Orphion of his mistake, so he helps Rom to heal Livia.

Livia wakes up, but is angry that they would "sacrifice" this world to the Wraiths just to save her. Orphion reveals that he hasn't given up on his plans to destroy Earth, but wishes to allow Rom a chance to prove to him why it should be saved instead...

Down below, the energies of Orphion's Neutralizer has killed the Sorcerers, and The Absence reforms following his fight with Rom. He is annoyed that their plan is not complete yet, but is also glad, since it is still within his sights, and he is still waiting for "The Presence" to awaken....

Characters

Solstar Order

Orphion

Rom

Livia

Dire Wraith

Ruan Sablik

The Absence

Acolyte Sorcerers Killed by Orphion's Energy

The Presence (Mentioned)

"Friends of our Enemies" Staff (Mentioned)

Human

Darby Mason

Grandma Gay-Lyn Mason

Grandpa Mason (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• Orphion mentioned "The years of solitude" regarding Rom, this implies that his partner died a while ago. We know that the upcoming Shining Armour crossover is set about 200 years ago, so it's likely that we'll see the identity and death of his partner in that (Most likely the Cybertronian member)
• "The Absence" refers to him as the absence of a Wraith, and is shown to be impervious to most attacks, implying that he is either ghost-like, or simply projecting himself to Earth in some way.
• Grandma keeps a suitcase filled with armed guns in her house?! HIDE!!!!
• "The Absence" mentions someone else named "The Presence" who seems to be his opposite....wouldn't ALL of the Wraiths other than he be classed as "present" though...

IDW - Rom #7

Title: Reinforcements Part 3

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Pencils and Inks by: Paolo Villanelli

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Following the fight at Cooper's Mill, a human recovery team arrives and rescues Camilla, concerned about her injuries, and the lack of any attackers. The Space Knights watch them from a nearby ledge, whilst in their cloaked forms. Livia uses her Analyzer to determine that all of the humans are indeed human, and watch as they leave with Camilla, to give her treatment.

Following their departure, Rom leads the other Knights to his cavern hide-out, where he tries to explain the situation on Earth, including the Wraiths managing to use technology to improve their powers, despite that being blasphemous to their species, and also points out that Earth is a Cybertronian colony world now, meaning that destroying the planet, as the other Knights wish to do, will just lead to a war. Orphion agrees that this will likely cause a problem, but considering that Earth is fully infested in Wraiths, it is a necessary war to help save the galaxy from a massive Wraith threat.

Beach Head and Grunt, of GI Joe, have located Rom's location, and are shocked to learn that he has two new allies. They over-heard about Orphion's plan to destroy the Earth and shoot at him. A battle starts and Rom manages to show Livia that the humans aren't Wraiths, so she agrees to not kill them, only disable them, leading to them having their flight packs torn apart and easily defeating them, for now...

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Darby Mason is finally leaving her grandmother's house so she can spend time with a new friend she met, who also has PTSD, allowing them to be a mess together.

Meanwhile in a city, four addicts join a new support group, which reportedly has had great results, and they meet it's enigmatic lead, Kagan Knight. One of the addicts is unsure whether he can trust Knight's new group to help him through his problems, since he's been let down so many times before, however when Knight transforms into his true Dire Wraith form, he relents, and the group appear to see him as a god-like figure, and open themselves up to him, causing a blinding light to emit from them, and into the Wraith.

Following their draining, all that is left of the humans addicts are their clothes, Knight wonders if these souls are going to be enough to please "The Great One", but if he isn't pleased, then he will just offer himself up to it as well...

At Vanderberg AFB Sub-Sector S-7, Agent Dubosky meets with Corporal Song, who reveals to Dubosky that Rom hacked into the internet when he arrived on Earth to learn our languages and the geology of the planet, but he never cut the connection, meaning they can send Rom false information to manipulate him!

Characters

Solstar Order

Orphion Injured by Joes

Rom

Livia

Rom's Former Partner (Mentioned) Dead

Dire Wraith

Dave Dubosky

Kagan Knight

"Friends of our Enemies" Staff

"The Great One" (Mentioned)

GI Joe

Beach Head

Grunt

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Scarlett's Team (Mentioned)

Other Human

Camilla Byers Taken to Hospital from loss of arm

Darby Mason

Grandma Gay-Lyn Mason

Ruan Sablik

Corporal Song

Addicts Absorbed into Kagan Knight

Cooper's Mill Recovery Team

Paramedics

Soldiers

Cooper's Mill Guards (Mentioned) Missing/Dead

Other

Cybertronians (Mentioned)

Notes

• It's very likely that "The Great One" is the same shadowy Wraith we saw at the end of last issue, whom I referred to as "Legion"
• It's not clear what the addicts in the side story this issue are actually addicted to. One of them mentions AA and NA (alcoholics and narcotics anonymous) so maybe they're just addicts in general?
• One of the investigators at Cooper's Mill dismisses the attack being due to Cybertronians, due to the damage not matching their sizes....guess they still don't know about Blackrock being a Transformer yet then?
• Rom is revealed to have cloaking technology to make him invisible. But before I can moan that he never seems to use it for covert missions, it is mentioned that it uses up a lot of energy.
• So...did Kagan Knight also absorb the baby that one of the addicts was holding? If so then...harsh!!
• Rom brings up that Optimus has claimed Earth to be one of their Colony Worlds, which is the main plot line over in the Optimus Prime transformers comic title
• Beach Head and Grunt immediately know to refer to Livia as a female, but the Joes in the past didn't seem to realise that Arcee was female...guess they're learning to gender their robot-like alien invaders now!
• Why don't the Joes know that Rom's Analyzer isn't a weapon?! Surely they saw it used during the Revolution!?
• Also, it seems that the events of the Revolution comic storyline are being referred to as "Revolution" in universe too, this is likely just a military code-name for the events or something.
• It's confirmed that Rom learned human languages from tapping into the internet...guess he has a lot in common with Biotron from Micronauts that way!
• So...Countdown/Agent Dubosky is still allowed to be on the loose? WHY HASN'T ROM TOLD ANYONE THAT HE'S A WRAITH YET!??!?!!? 
• Orphion mentions that Dire Wraiths are able to take over Cybertronians....this is a terrifying thought....

IDW - Rom #6

Title: Reinforcements Part 2

Plot and Script: Christos Gage & Chris Ryall

Pencils and Inks: Paolo Villanelli

Colours: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist: David Mariotte

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The two new Space Knights, Livia and Orphion, try to get to Camilla, so they can destroy her as a Dire Wraith, but Rom refuses to allow them near her, since she is still partly Human, and his friend. This disagreement leads to a full-on battle between the Space Knights, whilst Camilla is paralyzed by Rom for safety.

Whilst the Knights are fighting, Camilla-Wraith manages to extend her fingers through the ground, and finds the unconscious soldier that the others knocked out before, and infects him, whilst leaving half of herself inside Camilla.

Camilla, now only half-infected, tells the Knights that the Wraith is escaping through the ground, and they need to stop it before it's too late, leading Livia to shoot off her still infected arm, to trap the remainder of the Wraith inside her. Rom tries to get the others to heal her, rather than kill her still, but they still deem her a threat, leading to another argument. Suddenly the other Wraith attacks, intending to take them out whilst they are weakened

Nearby, Camilla is still in pain, and knows that she needs to die, but asks Orphion to allow her to die on her feet, impressing the commander...

Elsewhere, in Rhode Island, Darby has come to stay with her grandmother, but is struggling with her PTSD, and knowing what she does about the Dire Wraith infestation of Earth, and has a massive panic attack after being asked to go to the shops...

In Northern California, Beach Head and Grunt access a weapons-locker, and take a load of Joe equipment to help in their plans to act rogue and attack Rom.

Back at Cooper's Mill, the Wraith starts to escape to reunite with the others, when Rom teams up with Livia to destroy it.

Nearby, Orphion aims his weapon at Camilla, but Rom goes to stop him from firing...too late...Orphion fires his weapon at her, and skewers the inner-Dire Wraith, sending it out of the host, killing it, but keeping Camilla alive. Rom scans her and confirms the Wraith's absence.

Orphion explains that he is not without compassion or subtle tactics, but he simply felt both were misplaced here, and still does, since Earth is still overrun by Dire Wraiths, they are still duty-bound to destroy the Earth to remove the infection, leaving Rom to apologize to his badly injured friend for failing her...

Elsewhere, Countdown meets with D'rge at his lighthouse, where he is worried about the appearance of more Space Knights, but D'rge isn't concerned, as they have been on Earth for far longer than the Knights realize, and they has secrets they don't know about....as a large multi-eyed creature stands behind him....

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom, the Space Knight

Livia

Orphion

Dire Wraith

D'rge

Countdown

"Legion" (In the Shadows)

Camilla's Inner Wraith Half enters Jem Fan Soldier, Half destroyed by Orphion

GI Joe

Beach Head/Wayne Sneeden

Grunt/Robert Graves

Human

Camilla Byers Cured by Orphion, lost left arm

Darby Mason

Gramma Gay-Lynn

Jem Fan Soldier Possessed by Inner Wraith, destroyed by Livia and Rom

Mr Mason (Mentioned) Killed by Dire Wraiths

Notes

• The new Space Knights are revealed to be Livia (the female)and Orphion (the snake)
• Orphion is shown to be a superior officer amongst the knights, whilst Livia is hinted as being a former lover of Rom's. Their backstory is due to be explored in the upcoming Annual.
• Aww, the poor Jem loving soldier was turned into a Wraith...I was hoping he'd urn into a main character :(
• Also, the fragment of Camilla's Wraith was able to create a completely new Wraith, but was still unable to completely take her over after even a long period of time? What is she made of?
• Darby is shown to have gone to stay with her relatives after all, though her PTSD has gotten worse, with her now getting into panic attacks at the thought of leaving the house (likely due to her being unsure of who's Human or not now)
• In case you forgot since the last time we saw him, the old lighthouse keeper at the end is the current host for D'rge.

IDW - Rom #4

Title: Earthfall Part 4

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

At Vandenberg air force base, Corporal Leonard Song is showing off an image he managed to get of the mysterious alien, Rom before all information of him disappeared from the world. Agent Dubosky appears and orders him to hand the image over as part of his duties with the EDC. Dubosky tells Song that he's impressed that he was able to recover one of the photos of Rom, and escorts him to see the alien in a cell that keeps him out of phase with the rest of the world, whilst explaining that they need smart soldiers to help them against the alien threats like the Transformers and Rom.

Camilla is being kept in isolation as she's caught an alien infection, and is monitored by the other Dire Wraiths to see how her transformation is progressing. Darby is congratulated on her good job in capturing Rom, but she insists that she be allowed to see Rom up close, captured, for some sort of closure. Her psychiatrist agrees to this, and she approaches the cells, once there, Camilla gives her the signal to indicate that Dire Wraiths are there. Darby uses her alien gun to shoot Rom's cell, claiming to be trying to kill Rom, which destabilizes the cell.

Darby is restrained by Dubosky and her alien gun is taken away, but Rom manages to use his Neutralizer to break out of the weakened cell, He uses the Analyzer to scan the room, and manages to identify most of the soldiers there as Dire Wraiths. Rom attacks the Wraiths, but his Neutralizer needs to recharge following the energy used on the cell, so he can't kill them all right now.

Darby is knocked out by one of the Wraiths and is almost dragged away to use as a bargaining tool against Rom, but he detaches his Neutralizer (which is against the rules) and uses it as a projectile to skewer the attempted captor.

Dubosky approaches Camilla in her cell and begins to talk to her, or rather the Wraith inside her. He manages to wake up the sleeping Wraith, and tells him to remain inside Camilla for now, until he is needed in the future, as she is useful right now. Dubosky then leaves, claiming that she intimidated him.

Towards the end of the fight, the humans in the facility prepare to leave, with Song, Dr Shen and Commander Stamm unsure about what the aliens were. Darby refuses to leave Camilla and Rom behind, so she is left behind herself as the others leave.

Darby soon finds Camilla unharmed, and watches Rom torture a Dire Wraith to get information from it, and learns that their leaders are using a rare substance to create cloaking technology to use against Rom, but doesn't know anything else. Camilla confirms that he knows nothing else using her Wraith-mind reading powers, and Rom decides to finish off the Wraith, despite Darby's pleas to simply capture the alien as a prisoner.

Afterwards, Rom escapes with his human allies but Darby insists they land in a forest, and she decides to leave the group, unwilling to simply kill the Wraiths, but still wants to help out in other ways, even with the other human survivors from the recent attack, so they can help save the world properly.

Camilla reveals that she got one more piece of information from the Wraiths, there is something big happening in Seattle, and they need to get there to stop whatever it is. The group splits up into two, and worry about if they can win this war alone.

Meanwhile some partiers are watching stars on Pismo Beach, and are amazed when two shooting stars land in the ocean nearby, unaware that they are actually two more Space Knights, having arrived on Earth!

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom, the Space Knight

Snake Alien

Red Skinned Female (probably)

Other Members (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Countdown/David Dubosky

Camilla's Inner Dire Wraith Sleeping Inside Camilla

EDC Troops Killed by Rom

Cooper's Mill Residents (Mentioned) Dead

Mason Family (Mentioned) Dead

Human

Camilla Byers Infected with Wraith Mark

Darby Mason

Corporal Leonard Song

Commander Stamm

Dr Shen

Song's Friends

Pismo Beach Partiers

Edward Snowden (Mentioned)

Other

Cybertronians (Mentioned)

Notes

• The end of this issue leads directly into Revolution: Rom, and explains why Darby is not involved in that story.
• Rom notes that the restraining device used last issue, the gun given by Countdown, and the cage used on him this issue are clearly alien in design, it's not clear yet whether these are Dire Wraith technology, or stolen from other species conquered by them.
• Part of the Dire Wraith's plan to besmirch Rom's mission was to spread propaganda against him as a murderer in Cooper's Mill, but apparently all footage of him was expunged from the internet, likely by the EDC.
• Commander Stamm and Dr Shen are both absent from the room when Rom scans for Dire Wraiths, so their nature is unclear, but it's still likely that at least one of them are Dire Wraiths in disguise, considering their previous role in the series.
• Camilla's symbol to Darby to identify the Dire Wraiths looks like a Nabla symbol, which is often shown as an inverted Delta symbol, representing the letter D, which would logically stand for "Dire Wraith" here.
• It keeps being mentioned that the Neutralizer is stuck in the body of the Dire Wraith he killed, but it shot THROUGH him, and carried on firing afterwards.
• The Wraith inside Camilla has seemingly been made into a sleeper agent for he other Wraiths, at least as long as Camilla lives, this is most likely to keep a tab on Rom's mission etc.
• Rom has a drill accessory that he can use for torture....eep.
• From what we saw of the other members of the Solstar Order, the newly arrived Space Knights are likely the snake-like one, and the red skinned female.
• D'rge appears on the cast page, but doesn't appear in this issue at all.