Favourite characters: E-Man (Charlton Comics)

It was around late February 1974 after a particularly bad day at school (for a reason that is now long forgotten) that I entered R S McColl’s (my newsagents of choice at this time) to buy a comic book to cheer myself up. It was there that I spied what was then a totally new superhero comic book character from a company (Charlton comics) that up until then I was unaware published superhero comics. I immediately purchased the comic called “E-Man” (issue 2) and was instantly enamoured by the story, the art and the character of Alec Tronn and his supporting cast. The success of E-Man was very much down to the characters creators, writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton. Cuti’s humorous and light-hearted writing quality just seemed to mesh perfectly with the exciting and fun art style of Joe Staton which made E-Man’s adventures and transformations great fun to read. Sadly, Charlton’s E-Man only lasted for 10 issues between October 1973 and September 1975 but in that short time the comic was for many fans one of the most creative and fun comics of the time.

Cover to E-Man issues 1 – I missed the first issue of E-Man at the time only purchasing my copy around 1987.

Originally the origin of E-Man was to be based around the story of a man who is caught in a factory explosion and becomes an energy being that could take any form of matter. However, when writer Nicola Cuti shared this idea with artist Joe Staton, he felt the origin was too similar to what had already been used many times in the past by both Marvel and DC comics. On hearing this Cuti created a new origin where E-Man was born from the energies of a star going nova (see origin page above from issue 1) and the resultant burst of pure energy gained sentience as it travelled through space in search of a home.

Cover to E-Man isues 2 (my first E-Man comic). As noted above, despite E-Man’s cult status among comic fans the Charlton series only lasted for 10 issues but in that time the comic not only produced the fun adventures of E-Man but it also featured some excellent backup strips including Steve Ditko's zany superhero "Killjoy" (page below from issue 2) the time-traveling "Travis", by Cuti and Wayne Howard; and the colour-comics debut of John Byrne's wonderful ROG-2000 character which I blogged about previously.

E-Man issues 3 introduced Michael Mauser (below) a scruffy, sarcastic private investigator who would become a regular character in E-Man's adventures.

E-Man issues 4 "City in the Sand" and issue 5 "The City Swallower" are my two favourite E-Man tales.

With issue 8 E-Man's girlfriend Katrinka Colchnzski, a brilliant college student by day, and sexy burlesque dancer Nova Kane by night, becomes the super-heroine Nova.

All things must come to an end and so it was with E-Man issue 10....well it wasn't really the end of E-man as noted in the letters page (E-Mails) E-Man would continue in the pages of the "Charlton Bullseye", a semi professional(and excellent) Charlton fan comic.

Above, the cover of the Charlton Bullseye issue 4 (cover from the Grand comicbook database) which featured the last Charlton E-Man strip by Cuti and Staton.

Of course E-Man was too good a character to keep down for long and during the independent comics boom of the 1980’S First comics produced a succesful 25 issue run of new E-Man stories. Since then E-Man has found a home with various other publishers including Comico, Alpha and Digital Webbing Press. However, all good things must finally come to an end and in 2018 Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton created the final E-Man story arc that appeared in the "Charlton Arrow". Sadly, in 2020 Nicola "Nick" Cuti passed away.

Above the final page of the last E-Man story featuring E-Man (Alex Tronn), Katrinka Colchnzski (Nova Kane) and regular back up characters Mike Mauser and Teddy Q.

Best of British: The manic and funny side of Bonfire night in UK comics

The 5th of November in the UK is Bonfire Night, well technically it’s called Guy Fawkes night, an annual fire festival that marks the anniversary of a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. To celebrate this failed event an effigy of Guy Fawkes, a member of the men who were behind the Gunpowder Plot and their plan to kill King James I and his government, is burnt on a bonfire. For such a gory celebration Bonfire night was embraced by children who would make life-size effigies of Guy Fawkes, usually made out of straw and dressed in old clothes to burn on the bonfires. Before this kids would parade their “Guy” through the streets and ask passers-by for a “penny for the Guy” . Although this tradition is now a rare sight, it was very popular up to the 1960s as was the tradition of showing Bonfire night celebrations in UK comics. Below are some of my favourite UK comics of that time:

Wham! issue 21 - 7 November 1964 - Cover by Leo Baxendale ( image from EBay)

Buster and Giggle - 2 November 1968-Cover by Angel Nadal

Valiant- 6 November 1965 -

POW! issue 43 - 11 November 1967

The above strip "Dare a Day Davy" was the back page feature to POW! (this strip is from issue 43) by the legendary Ken Reid. Looking at today’s children’s comics it's hard to believe just how violent some of the comic strips of this time could be. Ken Reid was a master of dark humour and his characters would regularly be blown up, sent hurtling off buildings and attacked by wild animals. Reid knew what kids liked and that children knew that the events in his manic and genuinely funny strips were pure fantasy and were not to be repeated.

The above strip (also by Ken Reid) is from Valiant, dated 7 November 1970.