Sal Buscema leaves his long, uninterrupted run after 58 issues. He was really great on this book. Enter Steve Ditko, who serves for over a year as series artist until Rom is cancelled at issue #75. Ditko’s art is much more what you’d expect from a “toy” comic—and I don’t mean that as a criticism. He’s just less sophisticated—he has a simpler, cleaner style than the more modern Sal Buscema.
Ant Man, Rick Jones, and Alpha Flight guest star in these issues, as ROM and Starshine shrink down to fight Dire Bacteria, which the Wraiths put in a town’s water supply. I always love these “shrink down” stories, and it’s kind of perfect for Ditko (who draws #59)—drawing Dr. Strange-style bacteria-size worlds and all.