Another Rom revival bites the dust

I sat on this news so long, it's a relief to finally be able to tell it, although the result is sad. Back in February, Bing McCoy sent me a note saying:

Negotiations with Hasbro completed. Platinum comics is going to re-release ROM.

Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone! Now I'm a very patient person, although some might merely call it procrastination. Anyway, I set up a ChangeDetection alert on Platinum Comics news page and waited. And waited and waited and waited. Not a word. Figuring I'd long since passed the point where inquiring would make me a pest, in September I asked McCoy about the status of the "re-release." He responded:

Hasbro backed out just before signing the contract - and thus ended a long business association with them. Cannot do business with people who do not honor their word.

So it would seem that McCoy is done trying to revive Rom, which is a shame because he seemed to be the one who's come closest to doing so since the Marvel series ended. (And upon asking, he said yes, I can talk about it now.) Of course, whether Platinum's series would have resembled the original, Marvel series in any way is a whole other topic and I won't go into that right now.

Still, other questions remain. How far did Platinum get in defining the series? Did they have creators lined up for it and, if so, who? Assuming Platinum wasn't going to answer questions from a no one like me, I e-mailed the only person I could think of who might be able to get answers: Rich Johnston. Unfortunately, he tells me he doesn't have any contacts at Platinum. But he might publish something about it in his column and see what comes up. I guess there's nothing to do but wait and see.