Marvel's Forgotten Superhero Officially Confirmed To Return With A Catch

Surprise! While comic book fans are far and away not new to blind bag drops, it's still enormously fun, to this day, to open one and have the doors blown off of your imagination. Admittedly, not every blind bag achieves this feeling, but some do, and the latest to lay claim to the now doorless mind of readers involves a long-forgotten Marvel Comics character that has re-emerged in a most unexpected place.

It's Rom the Space Knight, folks. He's back, and he's officially in the Energon Universe for Skybound Entertainment — a blind bag surprise for those purchasing M.A.S.K. #1 — thanks to Invincible and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman alongside Lorenzo De Felici.

This is the kind of curveball Kirkman meant when he challenged the Big Two to shake up the comic book industry, no doubt.

Per Kirkman on the return of Rom, via official press release: “Nothing is more exciting to me than an unexpected comic drop! Getting to a store and finding out a brand-new book exists is just the coolest thing. The only thing that could make it better… is if it was ROM!

He continued: "ROM is such an iconic character with a rich history spanning decades. He’s been a constant request for the Energon Universe. Getting to develop him for the Energon Universe alongside my pal Lorenzo De Felici was an absolute blast and I can’t wait for fans to see our long-range plans for the character! ROM! WOO!!”

Marvel's Rom Returns In Shocking M.A.S.K. Blind Bag

That excitement is shared by Ben Abernathy, executive editor of M.A.S.K. #1 and ROM #1.

“I can finally say it—ROM HAS JOINED THE ENERGON UNIVERSE!” he said via press release, before giving a spoiler as to when the Space Knight might return again. “And will we see him again? You’ll have to read Void Rivals #33 to find out!”

For those who may not know about Rom, he's an intergalactic hero created by Marvel nearly 50 years ago, wrapped in a Plandanium armor, combined with cybernetics, from which he draws his powers that include flight, immunity to space's vacuum and superhuman strength. His Neutralizer weapon reveals Dire Wraiths (shapeshifters) and sends/banishes its victims to Limbo.

Robert Kirkman Brings Marvel's Rom to Energon

Originally a Marvel creation, Rom has since emerged with IDW Publishing and now Skybound Entertainment in the Energon Universe — the latter helping Kirkman make good on a strategy to excite fans into midweek blind bag drops.

"Yeah, between the blind bag program and the variant covers that we’ve got, we want this to be an event for comic book shops," Kirkman recently told ComicsBeat.com of his plan to drive foot traffic into stores. "We want people to be in the stores, opening the bags, excited about what they get. We’re certainly not revealing what’s in the blind bags, but there are some very exciting special comics that are absolutely insane, that when you open the bag and see what’s inside, that’s going to be a moment of excitement."

The ROM #1 drop joins the recent Invincible: Battle Beast #1 in generating some very real excitement for blind bags in 2026, and now we can't wait to see what comes next out of left field.