One of my true comic book joys was Charlton’s E-Man comic by Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton. Although this series only lasted for 10 issues it packed in a lot of fun during its short time on the spinner racks between October 1973 and September 1975. Apart from the obvious attraction of the lead character the comic also played host to a number of highly entertaining back up strips, the most entertaining of which was Rog 2000 drawn by the then up-and-coming comic book superstar John Byrne. Rog 2000 first appeared in the “fanzine “ CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature) initially as a mascot of sorts for the fanzine before progressing to his first fully fledged 6 page black and white comic strip in issue 11 of CPL (now a semi-professional fanzine). However, it wasn’t until E-Man issue 6 (January 1975) that Rog 2000 got his big break in professional comics with an 8 page back-up tale by Cuti and Byrne. Further appearances quickly followed in issues 7, 9 and 10 during which time Byrne’s art style quickly evolved into the style he would bring to Marvel a few short months later.
E-Man issue 6 - "That was no Lady" splash page
E-Man issue 7 -"Withering Heights" splash page
E-Man issue 9 - "The Wish" splash page
E-Man issue 10 -"Rog 2000 v the Sog" splash page
E-Man issue 10 was Rog 2000’s last full comic book appearance but he did appear in First comics E-Man (issue 1) in a wonderful spoof of the then popular one page Hostess cupcake adverts that appeared in many DC, Marvel ,Archie etc comics in the1980’s featuring characters like Superman , Batman ,The Hulk etc.
There were also rumours that Rog 2000 would appear as a character (called Roger) in an issue of John Byrnes She-Hulk comic with a cover (above) and a story page being produced. Sadly this never happened.
Other appearances (of sorts) by Rog 2000 have been in the IDW one-off special “Mars Attacks: Robots and Zombies” (as an alternative cover) but Rog never actually appears in the story itself.
All the Charlton strips (and the CPL issue 11 story) were collected by Pacific comics in a magazine sized black and white reprint with a nice John Byrne wrap around cover which is well worth seeking out.
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Luckily, I don't need to seek it out 'cos I have it in my collection. (Somewhere - so I guess I DO have to seek it out 'cos I can't recall offhand where it is.) I know I had E-Man #1 back in the day, and possibly #2 (I've had a replacement for #1 for a good many years now), but I never saw any of the later issues and therefore missed Rog 2000. I think the first I heard about him was in a text page in an issue of Showcase when the Doom Patrol were revived. Robot Man was based on Rog 2000. My next (or first when it came to seeing the original) was in the PC Rog 2000 mag already mentioned.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, McS, the first picture in this post isn't showing in my sidebar - nor did it in the previous one.
My first E-Man was issue 2, bought from R.S McColl’s in Rutherglen. I still recall seeing the logo poking out from the comic rack (not a spinner rack) and was so excited to see a new character. I never saw issue 1 of E-Man until many years later from Future-Shock when it was in Woodlands road in Glasgow. I remember seeing (I think I bought it as well) a copy of “The Comic Reader” fanzine that had a Byrne illo of Rog 2000 passing a mirror and the reflection in the mirror was of Robot Man .Yeah I noticed this picture and the last one didn’t show in your sidebar, I’m not sure what I’ve done there.
DeleteRog-2000 and I have a bit of a cosmic connection. I was a kid about the graduate high school and head to college and I was casting about for new things when I found E-Man #6 which not only featured the great Cuti-Staton creation but gave the broader world its first glimpse of Rog-2000. I fell for both and have never changed my mind. I jump on every Rog-2000 appearance I can find, but alas there are relatively few for a character with such vast potential. The PC reprint has been adequate for decades, but the world at large needs a new reprint and maybe a new story or two.
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We both share a strong affection for E-Man and Rog 2000 then Rip. I have followed E-Man’s adventures through most (if not all) his publisher right up until the (excellent) Charlton Arrow which I was sure would feature a Rog 2000 strip at some point but sadly it didn’t . I’m sure I have seen a few mini appearances by Rog 2000 in humour comics like Mad and What The? etc but I can’t remember for certain. A reboot would be great if done by Byrne or someone like Bruce Timm but sadly I can’t see it happening anytime soon.
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