Spaceknight Saturdays: Ms. Marvel Guest-Stars!

Well, as much as Doctor Strange did in #5. I.e. in a flashback. But we'll get to that in a moment. As usual, I start with a few notes from the letters page. Issue 9's has 2 letters of interest. The first by one of those ubiquitous letter hack pseudonyms of the 80s, one Cosmic Critic of Columbus, Ohio, who loves Rom so much, he predicts it won't last beyond #20. Obviously, this guy has come out supporting such series as Chase, Manhunter, All-New Atom and Blue Beetle.

The other is from a kid asking if he can start a Spaceknight Fan Club. Mantlo certifies him right then and there. It's THAT easy.

So if you'll remember last week's issue (and if you don't, you do realize a blog archives everything, right?), Rom had fallen down a grave into large hollowed-out caves. He starts exploring and finds the Wraith equivalent of an elephant graveyard. It's all he can do not to squee.

Turns out to be the trophy room of Serpentyne the One-Eyed, the mysterious lizard man who was out killing Dire Wraiths in the previous issue.

Who is this Punisher of black magic alien body snatchers? An alien himself? Nope. He's a good old boy from down south.

Here's where Ms. Marvel comes in. A couple years before (our time), she'd met this Saurian race living underground, enslaving humans for fun and profit. She liberated them, made peace with the lizards, and had the slaves hypnotized so they couldn't remember what happened. Unfortunately, one of those humans was actually a Wraith in disguise, and the Great Levene has nothing on those guys. It went back to its coven and hatched a plan to genocide the mutated reptiles but good, and steal their cave complex. So yeah, Serpentyne has a pretty good reason to go after them.

So does Rom have a new ally then?

Nah. Serpentyne has gone over the deep end and the Wraiths must die only by HIS hand. No robot man from space is gonna steal HIS spotlight. A fight breaks out and speaking of deep ends, it goes from underground cave to underground pool...

...and back out again when Rom turns Serpentyne into a lobster roll. Disarmed of both sword and gun, Serp has to improvise:

But ooops! He should have watched where he was going. Those Wraith skulls are damn slippery!

And so the journey ends for Serpentyne. I'm afraid there's no walking away from that torso wound. Unless you're Rom. Then you definitely walk away. Maybe with a pithy soliloquy.

What about the Wraiths, you ask?

Yes, they're in this. Last issue, Steve Jackson's best friend Artie the Cop was almost killed by Wraithly plants, but rushed to the hospital just in time. Well, he dies off-panel on the operation table. Next time, get a referral if you can't be sure the surgeon ain't a Dire Wraith.

Dead giveaway: Smoking in a hospital. (Then again, it WAS 1980.)

BONUS TERRIFYING ADVERTISEMENT!

Rom Spaceknight swings between badass and terrifying, and is either way the perfect magazine to sell this toy in: