E-MAN MEETS HEIDI SAHA?

E-Man (alter ego "Alec Tronn") was an unfortunately short-lived superhero created by Nicola "Nick" Cuti and Joe Staton for Charlton Comics. The original series ran for 10 issues, from 1973 until 1975. When editor Dick Giordano left for DC in 1968, Charlton cancelled its superhero titles. New editor George Wildman fought to bring them back and Cuti and Staton took the opportunity to pitch their idea.

E-Man was inspired in part by Jack Cole's Golden Age superhero Plastic Man because Cuti wanted the character to have a humorous side. Together, with his girlfriend Nova Kane (!), their comedic banter gave the stories a light-hearted tone. Staton designed E-Man's costume and purposely colored it in a way that wouldn't be derivative of so many other caped heroes.

With the exception of one detail, this story, "The City Swallower", from E-MAN #5 with a cover date of November 1974, was fairly standard E-Man fare. A well-constructed story by Cuti and the criminally-underrated Staton's unique style of cartoon-inspired art is off the charts wonderful here.

Alec gets sidetracked from his beach date with Nova when he spies a mysterious girl disappear into the ocean. He follows after her (turning his arms into giant fins of course) and passes into another dimension where he helps the girl (named Heidi) and her people defeat the titular bad-ass monster with a big mouth called Empirex the Norwol (a riff on the narwhal whale?).

So, what exactly was this detail I mentioned? Well, the character named Heidi has been suggested by a few sites around the 'net that she was intended to be the 70s convention costume queen, Heidi Saha. Well, folks, she was, and here's the proof: a statement by Nick Cuti confirming what has been suspected from an issue of SPOOKY, THE WARREN FANZINE.

THIS FANZINE IS SPOOKY

It's no stretch to say that James Warren's line of magazines have become the stuff of legend. From his attempt at emulating Hugh Hefner's PLAYBOY with AFTER HOURS, to the most famous monster magazine of them all, FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, followed by CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA and everything in between, Warren and his trusty editor Forrest J Ackerman made an indelible mark in the monster industry.

It only stands to reason that a fanzine would come along to celebrate these timeless classics. Although it didn't first appear until the early 2000's Piers Casimir's SPOOKY: THE WARREN FANZINE was a worthy little digest that featured a lot of good content befitting Warren's legacy.

Shown here is Vol. 2 No. 2, published in 2005. Included are reminisces by Frazetta (whose last original interior comic work was with Warren) and Trina Robbins (the underground comics artist who designed Vampi's costume over a phone call with Frazetta), and not one but four interviews with people who worked with Warren during his heyday, Mike Royer, Don Glut, Nicola Cuti and Harry Roland. A little gem of a fanzine!

Read Vol. 2 No. 1 HERE.