Last week at my local comic shop (Most Excellent Comics in Enfield, CT) I was looking throught the 50 cent comics and managed to pull the entire run of Charlton Comics classic character E-MAN! The run only lasted 10 issues, so yes… only $5.00 to collect and read some wild, imaginative and very ahead of its time stories.
Created by writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Stanton, E-MAN # 1 made its debut in October of 1973 from the legendary Charlton Comics. A few years before Charlton tried their hand at superhero comics with varying success. E-Man was a character that read much like Plastic Man; a hero who could change shape made up of energy and had a weird sense of humor. As a kid I always thought E-Man was a bit too ‘adult’ for me but as I read all the comics this weekend I thought… “this stuff is so ahead of its time.”
Interesting fact that artist Joe Stanton based the look of E-Man on Roger Moore who just took over the role of James Bond.
The book was the lowest selling Charlton publication on the newsstand but was the company’s most popular subscription title.
So who or what was E-Man? E-Man is a sentient packet of energy that while learning about life was knocked off course and ended up on earth. He befriended and exotic dancer named Nova Cane and the two had wild and crazy adventures until Nova herself was caught in an explosion and became like him.
Like I said… ahead of its time!!!