Rog-2000 Day!

John Byrne was born on tomorrow's date in 1950. Byrne was arguably the most potent artist during the Bronze Age of comics on titles such as The X-Men and Fantastic Four for Marvel and later on Superman for DC. His Indy comics also made quite an impression with titles such as The Next Men and Babe. I first fell in love with his work at Charlton on Doomsday +1. But my favorite Byrne character will always be Rog-2000. 

One of the seminal books in my collecting history is E-Man #6. The book tumbled into my hands at the perfect moment and reignited my interest in Charlton, an interest that has rarely dimmed since.


But what I didn't know then, is that E-Man #6 also debuted (in color at least) a brand-new character and to no small extent a brand-new talent. John Byrne drew Rog-2000, the first of several back up features in the already superb Cuti and Staton comic with Nick Cuti scripting. Adding that wonderful spice immediately made this the best comic book of its time.


Rog-2000 was Byrne's creation for the CPL Gang, a cluster of Charlton fans including Bob Layton, Roger Stern, Duffy Vohland, and a few others, some more named "Roger". "Rog-2000" was added to the staff by Byrne as an inside joke.

He was a mascot of sorts who first shows up atop a letters page, his crusty nature in plain view due to that delightfully evocative posture.

He showed up in a few bits of spot art.

And then he debuted in his own story of sorts in CPL #11 under a typically excellent Alex Toth cover, which also starred the CPL Gang itself. Here's that story.

Soon thereafter he popped up in E-Man #6 and made a total of four appearances in the E-Man series.And here with a splash gallery are links to the Charlton stories themselves.

THAT WAS NO LADY @ DIVERSIONS OF A GROOVY KIND

WITHERING HEIGTHS @ DIVERSONS OF A GROOVY KIND 

THE WISH @ DIVERSONS OF A GROOVY KIND

ROG-2000 VS. THE SOG @ DIVERSIONS OF THE GROOVY KIND
He shows up on a few The Comic Reader covers.

A few years later those stories were collected in a Pacific Comics magazine-sized B&W reprint, and alas poor Rog-2000 diminished into the West it seemed.

Apparently during its last years Charlton toyed with the notion of reprinting some Rog-2000 stories. This cover was apparently done for the reprint and is credited to Nick Cuti, the writer of the series.

(Nick Cuti)

Rog-2000 did pop up at First Comics in E-Man #1 as part of their very funny Hostess Ad parodies.

And it was rumored he might make an appearance of sorts in Byrne's She-Hulk run.

Rog-2000 is too good a character to languish, but that's exactly what has happened. John Byrne is likely right to keep Rog limited, as his shine might rub off with too much exposure. To be truthful, I'm sure I'd find his new incarnations suspect, but there's no denying the sparkle on that chrome, it glittered very brightly for a tiny time.

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Dojo Classics - Charlton's E-Man #10

E-Man Volume 3, Number 10 is dated September, 1975. It was published by Charlton Publications, Inc. The editor is George Wildman. The cover was painted by Joe Staton.

"The Witch of Hog Wallow" was written by Nicola "Nick" Cuti, drawn by Joe Staton with colors by Wendy Fiore. The story begins in the apartment of Nova Kane and Alec (E-Man) Tronn when E-Man is reading a fairy tale to the unusually intelligent koala bear Teddy. Nova bursts into the room and blasts E-Man angry and wanting to know why a beautiful blonde woman named Maisy-June is wishing to come and visit her old friend. E-Man calms the jealous Nova by relating a story that happened soon after he came to Earth but before he met her. He too the form of a fawn and wondered the woods looking for friendly folk and encountering a bear which he gives a shock to by becoming a fawn with extremely large fangs.

He then spies the lovely blonde figure of Maisy-June Braggs carrying a book which she then reads to the animals in the forest, E-Man among them. He listens to her stories for several days then one day decides to speak and show himself becoming a heroic figure like the ones from the stories. Maisy-June is not frightened but delighted by this powerful creature she dubs a "Genie". They have fine and innocent fun in the woods until one day they are seen by some of the locals who imagine that Maisy-June must be a witch.

The community rises up and tries to capture Maisy-June but she escapes and is saved from being shot by the arrival of her Genie who then adopts a superhero costume like he'd seen in the comics complete with flowing cape. Maisy-June now afraid no longer seeks to frighten those who frightened her by showing them her power assisted of course by the Genie. They make the locals think that Maisy can transform into a panther but nonetheless she is taken unaware and captured and taken back to the community where the frightened people try to burn her at the stake.

E-Man arrives but trips over his cape, at which point he disappears the silly accoutrements. In an effort to scare off the threatening folk, he appears before them and then frees Maisy-June from her bonds. He then transforms himself seemingly into a giant image of Satan himself sending the locals screaming away in terror. Maisy-June though becomes different and very violent wishing that her Genie destroy the people. Her mother arrives and tells E-Man that Maisy-June is mentally ill and though she has tried to keep her from it, needs to be admitted to a sanitarium. E-Man recognizing the truth of the situation creates the illusion of himself as a charming prince and leads Maisy to a beautiful castle which in reality is the asylum. He walks away sad, but sure he's done the correct thing.

Nova is affected by the story but still wonders what Maisy-June wants with her boyfriend when the doorbell rings. In walks Maisy-June seemingly cured and happy and much to Nova's relief she introduces her husband a familiar looking cuss named Dabney Slocum.

To get a look at this story in its original form see this groovy link.

"E-Mail" offers up three letters of comment in response to the eighth issue. The reactions are mixed on the transformation of Nova into a superhero. Some think it's a positive move and others fear it undermines the unique quality of the series. Sadly there is an announcement at the bottom of the page saying that this is the final issue of E-Man and that despite "spectacular" fan interest, there simply have not been enough comics sold to keep the title going. It is noted that thanks to Bob Layton and the CPL Gang the E-Man saga will continue in The Charlton Bullseye.


"Rog 2000 Vs. Sog" was written by Nicola Cuti and drawn by John Byrne. The story begins in a New York City evacuated and under siege as Rog-2000 decked out in a soldier's helmet and armed with an exotic rifle stalks the streets. He thinks back on how at the bottom of the ocean the pollution gave rise to a creature soon to be called "Sog" made of pollution and muck and animal remains which rises to overwhelm a fishing boat and its crew, and then comes ashore and begins to overwhelm the city absorbing people and getting larger and larger as it goes. Unaware of these goings on, Rog finds a deserted church and then is confronted by General Dove in a tank who tells him of the threat and offers the robot the chance to help by giving him a "Neutron Gun". That brings the story back to the present and Rog confronts the creature dubbed Sog but just as he is about to fire the weapon a little girl gets in the line of sight and he has to save her. Sog comes forward relentlessly until in the final moment collapsing into a mass of crud and pollution. The theory is that Sog died from overeating overwhelmed by the garbage in NYC. As General Dove and his men clean up Rog takes the little girl home.

To read this story in its original form see this groovy link.


This comic was reprinted completely under the Modern Comics label in 1977.



The E-man story was reprinted in 1986 by First Comics and later in E-Man -The Early Years, and the Rog-2000 story was reprinted in 1982 by Pacific Comics.

The end of E-Man was a sad day in comics. The industry had in the Bronze Age been a chaotic environment full of experimentation in the Big Two and briefly it seemed also in Charlton, the perennial also-ran publisher. E-Man was an attempt to break out of the doldrums and reestablish an identity on par with Marvel and DC. It failed. To its credit Charlton seemed to give E-Man a good long try-out, and they did follow it up with other inventive books. But alas the company then needed to focus on licensed material and the moment which was kindled with E-Man began to flicker and wane. Soon Charlton would be a shell of its former self and then after a few more years defunct.

E-Man continued to have fun with the superhero dynamic right up to the end though, as one of my favorite scenes in the series is when E-Man trips over his cape. A similar scene was a highlight of Steve Englehart's Nomad stories in Captain America. This kind of thoughtful comment made the books seem smart and made the reader feel as if they were in on the secrets.


Also this story brings E-Man right into my backyard. I'm a product of the hills of Eastern Kentucky and the yokels of Hog Wallow that E-Man encounters in this tale are versions of Al Capp's "hillbillies" from his famous Li'l Abner comic strip. Maisy is Daisy and Dabney is Abner for sure. Staton even puts a few shout outs to Capp in the story. But the land of Dogpatch, the home of Abner though famously thought to be in Arkansas and around that area, was originally identified as Kentucky, specifically the Appalachian hillsides I grew up on. So this story has a special echo for a country boy like myself.

But it wasn't quite over, as indicated in the announcement of cancellation. The stories by Cuti and Staton found a new home briefly in Charlton Bullseye. I'll touch on those efforts next time.

And while E-Man would eventually return many times in his own title, these ten issues will always be special in the minds of fans. They are of a time and have a special magic, that certain something which makes comics particularly fun.

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Dojo Classics - Charlton's E-Man #9

E-Man Volume 3, Number 9 is dated July, 1975. It was published by Charlton Publications, Inc. The editor is George Wildman. The cover was painted by Joe Staton.

"Prologue! History of E-Man and Nova" is a one page retelling of the backgrounds and origins of E-Man and Nova. E-Man is a thousands of years old sentient packet of energy from the stars who came to Earth and has become a superhero and Nova Kane is his girlfriend a burlesque queen who was exploded to atoms but reformed with identical powers as her boyfriend.

"The Genius Plant" was written by Nicola Cuti with art by Joe Staton, and colors by Wendy Fiore. The story begins on a local baseball field where after a game Nova rushes to giver her boyfriend E-Man a kiss since she believes he was playing first base. But it's a stranger she kisses as E-Man literally changes from being the actual first base. The couple walk down the street and take note of an election sign for "Ron Davis" who they think looks like Professor Wright of Xanadu University, but on second look they decide it is merely the pronounced high forehead that makes them think so. Teddy is having fun with the local dogs.

Nova then goes to interview Wright for the Xanadu Gazette while E-Man goes to join Mike Mauser in an investigation. Nova finds Professor Wright afraid of someone he called "Genius One" and suddenly the Professor undergoes a transformation as his large cranium shrinks to a more normal size and his intelligence seems to suffer as well. Then a flying robot breaks through the window and kills Professor Wright. Nova blasts the robot and dons her combat costume. Walking outside she is stalked by another robot but E-Man disguised as a lamppost blasts it. Mauser is nearby hiding in a trashcan. Professor Wright had been part of their investigation.

Back at Mauser's office he explains the case concerning a large group of highly placed genius types with giant craniums who have come under suspicion. Then General Dove shows up and reveals that through Professor Wright they have learned that these geniuses seem to have a base in on an isolated island. He recruits E-Man and Nova to infiltrate the island base and report back.

Part II begins with E-Man and Nova going undercover and underwater disguised as dolphins and later taking flight as birds. They discover a field of peculiar plants being guarded by robots and they come under attack, specifically they are captured in giant bubbles and taken to through the complex filled with giant-headed people to the office of Genius One, the leader of the group. His name is Carl Metz and he and Professor Wright discovered a plant which when eaten increased brain power and eventually brain size. Recruiting students and feeding them the brain food, Metz eventually left behind his reluctant partner and established his island base from which they plan to use the plants to transform mankind and the world, making it a paradise Genius One will control.

Nova and E-Man escape and flee through the complex when Nova has the idea for them to go inside the computers where she increases the plant food schedule making the peculiar plants explode. Deprived of their brainpower source the island of geniuses and Genius One in particular begin to lose their edge. The island comes under attack led by General Dove but when the forces break into Genius One's office he has suffered a dramatic loss of his brainpower and his brain size, in fact he is dumber than he was originally. Returning home Nova finds Teddy reading a magazine and suspects he's eaten some of the brainpower plant but it turns out to be E-Man playing a prank on his partner.

"E-Mail" offers up only a single letter of comment this time, a detailed panel by panel analysis of the sixth issue. Again the writer makes the mistake that "Nicola" must be a woman though.


Rog-2000 returns in a story titled "The Wish" written by Nicola Cuti and drawn by John Byrne. The story begins with Rog in his cab seeing a little old lady being mugged. He rushes to defeat the muggers and the lady turns out to be a witch who offers him one wish. He disbelieves her and takes the thugs to the cops. But the lady thinking she knows what he'd have wished for changes Rog into a human being. At the police station he suddenly is unknown and scoffed at by the police. Distraught he takes to the streets but is mistaken for a criminal named "Duck" Griffin by two hoodlums who want to kill Griffin. They yell "Duck" before they shoot, but Rog thinks that's an instruction and follows suit saving him from the bullets. He runs to escape the killers and gets on a local subway train where he finds the witch. He demands she change him back which she does and the constituted Rog-2000 quickly disptaches the two killers. The witch asks Rog what is wish is since he still has one coming to him, and we next see her standing standing between two devils in a rather hellish landscape.

To read this story in its original form see this link.


The whole comic was reprinted in 1977 under the Modern Comics label.



The E-Man story was reprinted in 1986 by First Comics and the Rog-2000 story was reprinted in 1982 by Pacific Comics.

This is decent solid E-Man adventure. E-Man and Nova interact very neatly in their first true case together with Nova already showing that her wits are still arguably her greatest asset. Giving her superpowers was an attempt to inject some juice into the lagging series, and it does so. I'm not sure if I prefer old regular human Nova or the more superduper one, but regardless Cuti does a fantastic job with characterization so she's recognizably the same.

General Dove is a fun looking character, and according to interviews he was based on a Herb Trimpe character in the Hulk. I can only imagine that was Colonel Armbruster who apppeared in some Hulk stories about this same time. The two military men do look similar as you can see below.

General Dover by Joe Staton

Colonel Armbruster by Herb Trimpe

Once again Mike Mauser shows up at the beginning of an adventure then disappears at its conclusion. But as it turns out he does have something to do.

Frank Bolle

This is a interesting month at Charlton. E-Man gets its first spin-off series as Michael Mauser is given a back-up slot in the new comic Vengeance Squad.

The first story is titled "The Inheritance" and was written by Nicola Cuti and drawn by Joe Staton, and focuses on Mauser's noir aspects. No other members of the E-Man cast appear in this initial story, though Rosie Redd will ultimately appear. Likely I will be doing a series of reports on this series soon.

If you would like to get a glimpse of Mauser's debut check out this groovy link.

Next time we wrap up the regular run of the series with a glimpse into E-Man's rustic past.

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Dojo Classics - Charlton's E-Man #8

E-Man Volume 3, Number 8 is dated May, 1975. It was published by Charlton Publications Inc, and the editor is George Wildman. The cover was painted by Joe Staton.

"The Inner Sun" was written by Nicola Cuti, drawn by Joe Staton with colors by Wendy Fiore. The story begins after midnight when two policeman on patrol (who disregard Plastic Man making a cameo and waving at them from the sidewalk) get a report of a disturbance at the seemingly abandoned Boar Electronics Company. The encounter a giant blonde woman dressed in animal hide who attacks them and escapes. The scene shifts to a Michael Mauser's office where he is teaching Alec (E-Man) Tronn to play poker. Nova arrives and is upset that Mauser is corrupting her naive thousands-of years-old boyfriend. Despite changing to Charlie Chan, E-Man is snagged by his irritated other. Then the giant woman appears in Mauser's door, says his name and collapses. The woman is taken to the couch and mutters words about the North Pole and the name "Boar". E-Man immediately realizes this is Samuel Boar and learns from Mauser that Boar had escaped prison three months earlier. Leaving Nova and Mauser to tend to the giant woman E-Man uses radio waves and specifically the ham radio set of kid Clifford Bailey to get to the North Pole quickly. He encounters at the Pole a rough looking customer named Alfie Alcott and his pet Teddy a Koala, since both of them are from Australia. It turns out though that Alcott works for Boar who suddenly appears along with his new improved and larger Battery.

Cover Art by Staton

Part II begins with a battle between the Battery and E-Man with the latter ultimately gettting sucked into the Battery's headpiece storage unit. The Boar, Alcott, the Battery with E-Man and Teddy get into a flying snowcat and head to a vast cavern which leads to the center of the Earth. They descend into the cavern and ultimately emerge in the land of Nuclia a sprawling territory where dinosaurs still thrive and roam alongside many mammal species including man. The Battery releases E-Man and they group head to a native village of giant people led by Kotulka who immediately asks about his daughter. Boar threatens her life if the chief interferes with his plans to gather resources from Nuclia. Specifically Nuclia is given its warmth and energy by a great glowing sunlike globe atop the most prominent mountain. Boar wants E-Man to package this globe so that Boar can take it and its power back to the top. But a Tyranosaurus Rex suddenly attacks and while the Battery defends them by sucking in the entirety of the great beast, E-Man slips away and hides pretending to be a small grass-eating dinosaur.

Nova by Staton

Part III takes us back to New York City where Nova and Mauser are teaching poker to Rega, the giant girl. They need some vittles so Nova goes out and meets up with men pretending to be FBI agents. While running from them she encounters the seemingly friendly figure of Alfie Alcott. A quick cut takes us forward in time and back to Nuclia where Nova finds herself tied between to large stone pillars in front of the Nuclia "sun". She is being held hostage threatened by the "sun" which might erupt any moment to lure E-Man back. He does appear but before he can free her the Nuclia "sun" does erupt and for several moments it appears that Nova has been killed. Actually her atoms have been dispersed and further she has become in many ways like E-Man himself an energy creature who can reassemble into various types of matter. She at first speaks then reassembles herself in a really attractive and brief version of E-Man's costume and makes her big debut. The two partners then go to stop Boar and get to the native village by turning their feet into rockets. At the village Rega has been returned and they speak of a prophecy of two firey angels who will save the vilage when suddenly E-Man and Nova descend from the sky to engage the Battery in battle. The Battery catches hold of the over-eager Nova but is crushed by E-Man who descend upon him in the shape of a massive stone. Boar gives up quickly and the scene shifts back to New York City where he and Alcott are being turned over to the police. Teddy the Koala looks on as Nova gives E-Man a kiss which results in large mushroom cloud ascending over the cityscape.

"E-Mail" offers up three letters from fans, all of them complimentary to the story in issue five "The City Swallower" in particular and the series as a whole in general.


The story was reprinted in 1986 by First Comics and later in E-Man - The Early Years.

This is the only full-length E-Man feature in the Charlton run. It's got a sprawling story suitable for its larger scope and a broad cast of characters.

Roy Krenkel

The introduction of Nuclia creates an vibrant sci-fi environment that can yield a lot of stories if the series had gone forward. Nuclia follows in the tradition of underground worlds and seems very reminiscent to me of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar which was introduced in the novel At the Earth's Core.
The change to Nova was apparently a bid by Cuti and Staton to drive up sales on the series which were lagging. The experiment to re-introduce superheroes to Charlton had garnered strong fanboy support but overall was failing to reap the kinds of sales needed to allow the project to thrive. So changes were made both the cast, in this case making Nova Kane a superhero, and by adding to it.

Teddy is an attempt to add more humor to the comic and also respond to the reader interest in the Bools which were little other-dimensional critters in a previous story. Teddy gives the series a furry mascot, but one with an ironic sense for sure.

Mike "Don't Call Me Mickey" Mauser's role in the story is odd, since clearly Rega is recaptured but we don't see it, nor is it referenced. Mauser is about to be spun off into his own series and maybe this appearance is just an attempt to remind readers about the irascible gumshoe.

One nitpick I've noticed in the series this time, is that although in the debut issue the energy packet that became E-Man was said to have been trolling across the universe for millions of years, Cuti quickly in subsequent issues says that E-Man's age is in the thousands of years. I prefer the former, and I don't really understand why it was changed.

The cast though is nigh well complete, but then came a Dove. We'll give peace a chance next time.

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Dojo Classics - Charlton 's E-Man #7

E-Man Volume 3, Number 7 is dated March, 1975 and was published by Charlton Publications Inc. The editor is George Wildman. Joe Staton painted the cover.

"TV Man" was written by Nicola "Nick" Cuti with art by Joe Staton and colors by Wendy Fiore. The story begins in a night club where Nova Kane is dancing in all her glory. After the show she turns down an invitation from Rosie Redd and her father (the Toyman from last issue) to go on a date with Alec Tronn to a philosophy lecture. When Rosie leaves the E-Man poster on Nova's dressing room wall turns into E-Man himself. When they go to retrieve the poster he took down to make his surprise entrance he and Nova are both shocked to find a note which reads "You are doomed to die Ms.Kane. Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper". The prank shakes Nova up, but she is eager to get on with her date with E-Man. As they walk down the street, E-Man undergoes a transformation becoming Mr.Edward Hyde but with a difference, specifically a hatchet formed from his hand. He cuts Nova as she flees and as she screams he changes back with no seeming memory of the event. Nova punches him.

The scene shifts to a rooftop where a hooded super-villain type dials up another television show to use to transform E-Man as he has done all evening. The next horror film the mysterious villain finds is The Brain Eater from Planet X and with that dialed in he beams at E-Man who transforms into the TV monster and again threatens Nova. But the villain is not done with his fun yet and stops before she is hurt. The villain then goes back to his meager apartment and proclaims his revenge some more.

Part II "The Duel" picks up the story about a week later and E-Man has been missing. Michael "Mickey" Mauser a private detective is walking down the street and not looking for our hero because no one is paying him to do so. At his office the villain who dubs himself "TV" says that Mauser must find E-Man and bring him to Rockefeller Plaza the next day, and he gets Mauser to comply by making him an offer he cannot refuse.

The scene shifts to Xanadu University and specifically the library where Nova expresses her wish to find E-Man to her friend Arachne. (Arachne is the niece of Professor Cyrus Coffin who also makes a cameo and together they are the hosts of Charlton's Midnight Tales.) Juno of the Entropy Twins appears and announces to Nova that her partner Michael is the mysterious villain and he is using his scientific know-how to gain revenge on E-Man for making it so that Juno and Michael cannot be in one another's presence. She agrees to take Nova to the showdown.

At Rockefeller Plaza Mauser leaves E-Man, who seems to have found with little difficulty, and "TV" or Michael unleashes his weapon which transforms E-Man into a version of the giant ape Konga. E-Konga goes on a quick rampage and finds Nova and snatches her up in his giant hand. He then does what all giant apes do and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building where jets appear in the sky to defeat the threat. But Juno is able from a distance to finally reason with the distraught Michael and at the last moment he snaps off his TV beam and E-Man changes back just as the jets began firing into nothing. Everyone now safe E-Man accepts Michael's apology and announces he will change the couple back the way they were before so they can be together again.

"E-Mail" offers up three letters of comment, all positive. One wishes to announce an E-Man fan club, another talks about getting his most recent copy at a comics convention, and Bob Rodi, the third writer and veteran LoC man praises the comic and hopes the title reaches the stature of Superman and Spider-Man.


Rog-2000 shows up again in the tale "Withering Heights" written by Nicola Cuti and drawn by John Byrne. The story begins as Rog is lost in the country and his cab (which must be called the "Enterprise"...check out that license plate) runs out of gas. He walks up to a rundown hotel where he asks the beautiful girl named Zenia for some gas. While there he meets two smug guests, a man named Dinsmore and a woman named Boombat. After getting some gas Rog hears a noise and rushes into the hotel and he and Zenia discover that old lady Boombat has been attacked and they see her being dragged into her closet but no trace can be found after. Next they find old man Dinsmoore in the same shape. Rog agrees to stay the night but soon finds himself under attack by a huge transparent blob which he uses his borrowed gas to burn as well as the rest of the hotel. As the hotel crumbles to the ground Rog wonders out loud by Zenia had never been attacked as she begins to transform becoming transparent and announces that her Daddy would never attack his child. Rog realizes he's in trouble.

To read this story in its original form see this groovy link.



The E-Man story was reprinted by First Comics in 1985 and the Rog-2000 story was reprinted by Pacific Comics in 1982. The E-Man story was most recently reprinted in E-Man - The Early Years.

This is a solid issue of E-Man and calls back some dandy characters from early in the series. It's a clever story that takes full advantage of E-Man's peculiar nature to create some wild visuals of him in monster forms. It was very neat to see Michael Mauser back, his role small but crucial. One criticism possibly is that Michael's return to sanity was a bit abrupt and difficult to swallow, but it works in the E-Man universe of niceness just barely.

The Rog-2000 story was a nice little romp with Byrne offering some properly gothic touches. Putting the gleaming Rog in the old dump of a hotel created some real contrasts in tone which served the story exceedingly well. We all know that Rog will prevail in the end, though we don't see it. This willingness to trust the audience's instincts about how these types of stories work is key.

Wayne Howard

Two other things that helped make this a fanboy object of desire are the knowing nods to other Charlton publications. For the first time we learn that Nova attends or at least uses the library at Xanadu University, home of "The Midnight Philosopher" Professor Coffin and the lovely Arachne. Wayne Howard's Midnight Tales was running at this same time and often featured work by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton. This hint of a larger Charlton universe was cleverly done here without drawing such attention that if you didn't know it bothered you.

Steve Ditko

Also vintage Charlton and movie character Konga gets a callback. Now admittedly the Konga as drawn by Joe Staton is not all that much like the classic giant ape from Charlton's old comics nor the movie they're inspired by, but it's enough for me that the name gets used. Cool beans.

Next time we find E-Man and Nova in a full-blown full-length epic and some big big changes are coming for the lovely Ms.Kane.

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