It’s amazing how good this comic is. Let me put that in context: It’s based on a toy. A stupid toy. A stupid toy that nobody bought. And yet, we got a series that ended up reaching all the way into the pages of the X-Men, and which still has characters being used today.
This issue is the first one where Marvel put Rom into the main Marvel Universe. It’s really minor–Dr. Strange appears to Rom in a dream. That’s it. I mean, SHIELD had been in the first few issues, but they’re kind of a generic police force. This is Dr. Strange! And, moreover, it references the “Dweller in the Darkness,” who the Doc had recently defeated in an extended story arc.
In the Space Notes page (letters page), the editors offer a tribute to Bill Mantlo.
