| E-Man | |
|---|---|
 E-Man #1 (First Comics) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Charlton Comics (1973–75),First Comics (1983–86),Comico (1989–90), Alpha Productions (1993–94),Digital Webbing (2006–08) |
| First appearance | E-Man #1 (1973) |
| Created by | Nicola Cuti Joe Staton |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Alec Tronn |
| Abilities | Energy-based |
E-Man is a comic-book character, asuperhero created by writerNicola Cuti and artistJoe Staton for the American companyCharlton Comics in 1973.[1] Although the character's original series was short-lived, the lightly humorous hero has become acult classic occasionally revived by different independent comics publishers. The character was originally owned by Charlton but was eventually transferredto its creators.
After editorDick Giordano left theDerby, Connecticut-basedCharlton Comics, in 1968,[2] the publisher ended its superhero line.[3] A later editor,George Wildman, persuaded the publisher to try superheroes again, prompting writerNicola Cuti and artistJoe Staton to devise E-Man.[3][4][5]
Cuti said that his inspirations included theGolden Age of Comics superheroPlastic Man, such that he wanted to create a similarly fun and whimsical character. Cuti also admiredAlbert Einstein and his formulaE=mc2. He conceived a character who was caught in a factory explosion and became an energy being that could take any form of matter. When he shared this idea with artistJoe Staton, Staton felt the origin was too similar to that of Charlton'sCaptain Atom and the atomic-accident origins that had often been used byMarvel Comics writer-editorStan Lee. Inspired by the works ofArthur C. Clarke, Cuti created a new origin that made E-Man a packet of sentient energy created as a star wentnova.[6]
Cuti asked Staton to design the costume, requiring only that the character not wear a cape and that the formula E=mc2 be his chest emblem.[6] Staton based E-Man's face on that of actorRoger Moore, making him appear heroic but somewhat generic.[7] When Staton delivered his design to Cuti, Cuti colored it with yellows and oranges to differentiate it from the reds and blues so frequently in other superhero costumes.[6]
E-Man took a light whimsical tone to differentiate itself from super hero comics at Marvel and DC.[8] Cuti enjoyed scripting wisecracking banter between E-Man and his girlfriend, Nova Kane, inspired by films likeThe Thin Man andMr. and Mrs. North. He, however, did not intend to spoof superhero comics, but present serious situations that the characters could make light of.[4] Inspired by the work ofWally Wood inMAD magazine, Staton inserted sight gags into each issue.[6]
Cuti promoted E-Man in advance of the first issue by sending letters to assorted fanzines, such asRocket's Blast ComiCollector[9] andThe Comic Reader,[10] with aphotostat illustration of the titular hero. The letter announced Charlton's re-entrance into the superhero genre and promised that one-third of each issue would feature a new superhero,[9][10] an idea suggested by Wildman to try out new superhero properties.[11]
E-Man first appeared inE-Man #1,[12]cover-dated October 1973, on a bi-monthly publishing schedule. In the first issue, E-Man tangles with "the Brain from Sirius", a giant villainous pink brain in a clear Plexiglas dome who crash-lands on Earth and wants to detonate its "hate bomb".[13] The series ran for 10 issues until cover date September 1975.[14]
Cuti suggested the title "E-Mail",[15] for the series'letter column, a term not yet in common use.[6] The last four issues, along with other Charlton titles, featured painted covers after Charlton began working with aTexas company that could dopainted color separations cheaper than Charlton could do hand separations.[16]
Due to a nationwide paper shortage caused by a Canadian paper-mill strike,[17] six months passed between issues #2 and #3. This gave Cuti and Staton time to push other material back and produce a story titled "The Energy Crisis",[18] a social commentary on the1973 oil crisis. This gap in publication also gave Staton the opportunity to refine the title's art style, making it darker and moodier.[6]
E-Man was Charlton's lowest-selling title on newsstands but was the company's best-selling subscription. When Wildman told Cuti that the title was to be cancelled after issue #10, he explained that the publisher had allowed it to continue publication to that point only out of loyalty to Cuti.[3][4][8]CPL Gang publisherBob Layton agreed to publish E-Man stories in the fanzineCharlton Bullseye,[19] but only a single story saw print, "...And Why the Sea Is Boiling Hot" in issue #4 of that title.[20]
All issues of E-Man except for #8 featured a backup story:
A supporting character, the grubby but right-hearted detective Michael Mauser, got his own backup series in Charlton'sVengeance Squad.[34] In 1977, six issues were reprinted under the Modern Comics label for sale as bagged sets in North American discount department stores.[3][35]
When Staton became art director atFirst Comics, the publisher acquired the rights to the character from Charlton[36] and launched a series. Cuti was asked to write the title, but his obligations to DC Comics prevented him from accepting. The series was initially written byMartin Pasko, who had previously worked with Staton onPlastic Man andMetal Men. After Pasko's run, Staton[37] andPaul Kupperberg[38] wrote the series until Cuti took over as writer with issue #24.[39]
As a direct-market publisher not distributed to newsstands, the First series was not obligated to seekComics Code Authority approval and could address more mature topics than Code-approved comics. Where the Charlton series featured broad whimsical themes, the First Comics series engaged in more specific satire[40] directed at targets including theX-Men,Steven Spielberg, andScientology.[36]
The first 10 issues each contained a one-page parody of theHostess snack advertisements that ran in comics through the 1970s and 1980s.[41] These parodies were written and drawn by different creators and featured characters from across theindependent comics industry. These parodies included:
E-Man ended with issue #25. It was followed by the seven issue mini-seriesThe Original E-Man and Michael Mauser, reprinting the Charlton series and Mauser's backup stories inVengeance Squad.[52] Issue #7 of the miniseries featured a previously unpublished story introducing E-Man's sister Vamfire.[53]
During the mid-1980s run, Staton acquiredrights to the character from First, although First Comics retained ownership of their publications. As Staton described:
The deal with E-Man was that I had an arrangement with First Comics so that they bought the rights to E-Man from Charlton, and then I was to repay First all their expense out of my royalties. The rights to E-Man were then supposed to revert to me completely. But some of us needed more lawyers than we knew, and the end result of how it stands, as I understand it, is that I have the right to do any new E-Man stories I want to, and I have the right to license any new E-Man material I want. Ken Levin, the lawyer for First, controls the rights to what First published. To keep the rights unified, Ken and I decided he would represent the whole E-Man package. ... [W]hatever I get in, Nick [Cuti] gets 50%, but so far, it's been nothing.[54]
In 1989,Comico published anE-Man one-shot (Sept. 1989) by Cuti and Staton[55] followed by a three-issueminiseries (Jan.-March 1990).[56] After Comico's demise, Alpha Productions issued twoone-shot publications,E-Man (Sept. 1993) andE-Man Returns (1994).[57][58]
E-Man appeared in the two-page story "Come and Grow Old With Me", by Cuti and Staton, published in the magazineComic Book Artist #12 (March 2001).
In 2006, Cuti and Staton produced three one-shots released byDigital Webbing Press:E-Man: Recharged (Oct. 2006);E-Man: Dolly (Sept. 2007); andE-Man: Curse of the Idol, per its cover-logo trademark, a.k.a.E-Man: The Idol, as copyrighted, per its postal indicia (Nov. 2008) abetted by co-writer Randy Buccini on the third.[59][60][61][62] The indicia for each listed E-Man ascopyrighted by "Joe Staton/First Comics".
A previously unpublishedE-Man story (done originally for Alpha Productions) by Cuti & Staton saw print inCharlton Spotlight #6 (2008) along with an unpublished Mike Mauser story.[63]
In 2011, E-Man appeared inWar of the Independents, a (still-unfinished)crossover mini-series by Dave Ryan featuring more than 200 independent andcreator-owned characters.[64]
Since 2014, Cuti and Staton have been collaborating on a new three-part E-Man story, which was to be published in an issue ofCharlton Action, a tribute comic fanzine celebrating Charlton's legacy. Staton said at the time that he was approaching the project as the final E-Man story.[65] The story was finally published in three issues of a rebootedCharlton Arrow in 2017 and 2018.[66]
E-Man is a sentient packet of energy thrown off by anova. Traveling the galaxy it learned about life, how to duplicate the appearance of life, and about good and evil. Reaching Earth, it metexotic dancer/grad student Katrinka Colchnzski (who attended Xanadu University), also known asNova Kane, and formed itself into a superhero dubbed E-Man, with a civilian identity dubbed "Alec Tronn" (electron). His emblem was the famousmass-energy equivalence formula "E=mc2", and his powers included firing energy blasts from his hands and transforming his body into anything he could envision (e.g., turning his feet intojet engines so he could fly).
E-Man's origin was expanded byretcon in Charlton issue #10 and in theFirst Comics series.
Nova was later caught in a nuclear explosion, gained the same powers as E-Man, and became his partner; later still, she lost her powers (in a parody ofX-Men's Phoenix) and then regained them. During their early adventures they acquired a petkoala named Teddy Q, whose intelligence grew to the point where he had a job waiting tables in a café.
"...I realized that was the look I was looking for, just more of an Americanized version of Roger Moore. Just charming and heroic looking, but kind of generic".
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