E-MAN Cover Gallery - The CHARLTON Issues...

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A staggering 40 years ago (my senses spin at the realisation) I bought First Comics 7-issue reprint series of Charlton's E-Man, originally published in 10 bi-monthly mags back in the '70s.  I remember my father buying me Charlton's first issue in an 'atmospheric' (dingy if you prefer) newsagent's around the corner from Glasgow's famous Barrowland market ('The Barras'), and me reading it on the bus on the way home.  (This was perhaps near the end of '73 or sometime in '74.)  I think I may've got #2 from a shop in my home town sometime later, but I never saw any subsequent issues (that I recall) until the reprint series in '85.

As far as I remember, the 7 reprint issues didn't contain the original Charlton back-up strips (not at hand to check), which included The Knight, Killjoy (by Ditko), Travis In The Dragon Killer, Liberty Belle (Ditko again), and Rog 2000 (Byrne).  Rog had first appeared in a fanzine called CPL and his strip in E-Man #6 marked John Byrne's professional debut and first work published in colour.  The mag lasted for two years, from 1973 to '75, and it's strange to think I was yet a mere schoolboy when it first came out, and a working lad when it finished - even though I was unaware of its schedule or lifespan at the time.    

And now, 40 years later, I've only gone and bought the original 10 comics in one go (at a bargain price), even though I obtained a replacement for my '73 first ish a number of years back, meaning I now have two copies of that premiere issue.  (It's always handy to have a spare.)  So why lumber you with this information you may be wondering.  Obviously, I'm paving the way for this E-Man cover gallery, necessitating a certain amount of preamble beforehand (well, preamble would be out-of-place afterwards).  So enough waffle from me, as I unleash 10 cataclysmic covers (and a Nova 'pin-up') from yesteryear just for you.

Was E-Man one of your favourite comicbook characters back in the day?  Then be sure to share your reflective reminiscences in our potentially captivating comments section.  (It needs you!)  Oh, and here's another question for you.  Pretty as these pics are, do you think speech balloons on all 10 covers (and not just #s 2 & 3) would've made them more interesting to potential buyers or are they better with none?

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(Note how the UK price almost doubles in two years - from 6p, 7p, 8p, to 10p in just 7 issues.  Interestingly, the UK price on #s 3 & 4 - printed on the covers under the 8p stickers - is only 6p.)  I've also just noticed there's a 6 month gap between the 2nd and 3rd numbers, which perhaps explains why I recall only the first two issues (and #2 only vaguely, if I had it at all - think I did).