Small World
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 Karza: "Kill them. Kill them all." Rom: "Tempting. But let's hear what Angel Rom has to say." | |||||||||||||
| "Small World" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing, Ted Adams | ||||||||||||
| First published | December 20, 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | December 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Christos Gage | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Paolo Villanelli | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Alessandra Alexakis | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman & David Mariotte | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2017) | ||||||||||||
War breeds strange alliances and makes for even stranger bedfellows. The Dire Wraiths have joined forces with Baron Karza and once again, the Micronauts must seek out Rom to thwart the villains.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Within D'rge's lighthouse, the Sorcerer and Baron Karza discuss terms of their alliance and the lack of trust between the two. Trust is irrelevant to Karza, who merely states it is the best interest of both parties to help each other, a sentiment shared by the Absence. Declaring the Wraiths must put aside their hatred for science, the Absence teleports all away so that their plans can begin. A few hours later, the Micronauts arrive at the lighthouse but find Karza long gone. Worse still, Dire Wraith energy is everywhere. Remembering their last alliance, the Micronauts ring up Rom and head to his location...unknowingly playing right into the Absence's hands. Meeting up with the Space Knight at a recently purged Wraith cell, along with his friends Darby Mason and Camilla Byers, notes are quickly compared and (unwilling to wait for Livia and Orphion) the group rockets off to stop the Wraiths.
At a drilling site in Nevada, D'rge explains more about the Presence to Karza only for the heroes to come swooping in. Darby and Camilla engage the Wraith Soldiers, the Micronauts fight D'rge and Rom takes on Karza himself. Owing to the size advantage, the fight is blatantly in Rom's favour until Karza enerchanges with the Knight. Much to the confusion of all, it is not a normal enerchange. Rather, Karza's abilities have been altered by D'rge and the Absence. Attacks on the Wraiths by the Micronauts prove futile and the spell takes root. As they fight, Rom slowly begins to shrink as his size and power become Karza's who begins to beat the Knight into submission. The Micronauts abandon D'rge in favour of helping Rom only to be swatted aside by Karza's newfound power. Concurrently, Orphion and Livia streak in, just in time to see Rom seemingly shrink into nothingness. Though Livia breaks down, Orphion tackles Karza without hesitation only for the Baron to access his centaur form and break free of the Knight's hold. Livia's own attack fares no better with Karza amputating her arm before the villains take their leave.
Some time later, Livia rouses Orphion who is briefed on the glum situation. Both Rom and the Micronauts are nowhere to be found despite Darby and Livia's Analyzers. Swearing vengeance on their foes, Orphion leads the group away so they may fight another day.
Hours later, the Micronauts pull themselves out of the wreckage and make way to one of their colonies... not to flee, as Phen thinks, but rather to access its Space bridge. For Rom still lives, and Microtron and Larissa have picked up his distress beacon... but in Microspace!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Micronauts | Space Knights | Dire Wraiths | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"For I am Rom, the Space Knight! And I will not die easily."
"Good. Baron Karza ever welcomes a challenge."
- —Rom tries to be tough in front of Baron Karza.
"Livia, hear me! Your love for me died, but mine has ever endured. Do not let hate consume you. Find happiness. Always know you are loved. For if my love could survive all that has separated us...even in death, it will not end..."
- —Rom's (seeming) last words. It wouldn't be him without a dramatic speech.
"Karza! He was the finest man I've ever known! The only man I've ever loved! From the depths of my heart, I stab at thee!"
"And I...stab back."
- —Livia tries to avenge Rom, but Karza's on fire with the sarcasm today.
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- The opening page flashes back to Revolution #5.
- D'rge and Baron Karza discuss terms in D'rge lighthouse which last appeared in ROM #6.
- D'rge and the Absence mention the Dire Wraith disgust for science first established in Micronauts: First Strike and reiterated in Shining Armor #5.
- Both Larissa and Baron Karza mention their relationship as daughter and father.
- Acroyear mentions his time as Karza's prisoner which occurred in the Wrath of Karza mini-series.
- As expected, Rom and the Micronauts mention their team-up in their respective First Strike tie-ins.
- Darby Mason acquired the severed Space Knight arm in ROM #11. No Rom doesn't really seem to care that she's essentially wearing the corpse of one his friends.
- Camilla Byers regrew her arm with Wraith aspects in ROM #11.
- D'rge explains to Karza about the growth of the Presence, the Wraith deity incubating beneath the surface of the Earth.
- Larissa shielded the Micronauts from magic, specifically D'rge's spells, in ROM: First Strike. Acroyear even mocks the Sorcerer for using the same attack twice.
- In Rom's message to Livia, he mentions the romance they once had.
- After Rom's seeming demise, Livia and Orphion mark his passing with the same beacon (blasting their Neutralizers straight-up) as Rom used to mark the passing of his family back in the ROM Annual.
- The Microspacian colonies and the Space bridges between the two universes were established in Wrath of Karza #5.
- Adrift in Microspace, Rom is surrounded by the Repto, the race of scavengers first introduced in Micronauts: Revolution who more recently appeared as part of the invading force in Micronauts: Wrath of Karza.
Real-world references[edit | edit source]
- The Wraith-cows that Rom is seen in the aftermath of purging are a homage to Marvel Comics' Skrull Cows, and more specifically to Fantastic Four Annual 17.[1]
- D'rge derisively refers to the Micronauts as Homunculi, a Latin term meaning, appropriately enough, "little man".
- Livia (quoted above) paraphrases the famous line from Moby-Dick as she attacks Karza.
Errors[edit | edit source]
- This issue does a little patch-job on the claim made in the Micronauts and ROM First Strike issues that Karza betrayed the Dire Wraiths; here, they instead refer to Karza "aiding a human" in betraying them, which more accurately reflects both parties' dealings with Miles Mayhem in that story.
- So... about that awesome flashback to Revolution:
- The sky is a clear blue when the final battle took place within Metrotitan's city mode and on the lowest level of said city mode.
- Matt Trakker is using the classic third generation Camaro Thunderhawk when he should be using the shiny ZL1.
- And, because we're pedantic like that, the Thunderhawk had already been grounded by the time Action Man had arrived.
- On page 16, when Rom shrinks down, Paolo Villanelli's signature is visible.
Other notes[edit | edit source]
- Larissa is now depicted as being fully bald instead of just having a shaved head as she had been previously. This may have been done to help further differentiate her appearance from Rom's ally Darby Mason, who is also a black woman with a buzz cut.
- While it's presumably the same ship, the Micronauts' transportation bears little resemblance to the Astro Station based ship they were riding around in during the First Strike tie-ins.
- This issue's title was left off the title page; it would later be given by Christos Gage on Twitter.
Covers (4)[edit | edit source]
- Regular cover: Baron Karza and Acroyear played angel and devil to Rom, by Richard Wentworth.
- Subscription cover A: Rom and the Micronauts in a totally not creepy techo-communist style, by George Caltsoudas.
- RI-A
- RI-B
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Christos Gage on Twitter: "This is an homage to Fantastic Four Annual...#17 I think? Skrull cows."
