photostat 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, an idea suggested by Wildman to try out new superhero properties. Charlton Comics E-Man first appeared in E-Man #1, 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". The series ran for 10 issues until cover date September 1975. Cuti suggested the title "E-Mail", for the series' letter column, a term not yet in common use. The last four issues, along with other Charlton titles, featured painted covers after Charlton began working with a Texas company that could do painted color separations cheaper than Charlton could do hand separations. Due to a nationwide paper shortage caused by a Canadian paper-mill strike, 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", a social commentary on the 1973 oil crisis. This gap in publication also gave Staton the opportunity to refine the title's art style, making it darker and moodier. 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. CPL Gang publisher Bob Layton agreed to publish E-Man stories in the fanzine Charlton Bullseye, but only a single story saw print, "...And Why the Sea Is Boiling Hot" in issue #4 of that title. All issues of E-Man except for #8 featured a backup story: "The Knight", by Cuti and artist Tom Sutton, appeared in the first issue, starring a superspy agent of C.H.E.S.S. "The Dragon Killer", by writer Joe Gill and artist Wayne Howard, appeared in issue #3, which featured Travis, a time-travelling youngster. "Killjoy", written and illustrated by Steve Ditko, appeared in issues #2 and #4, expressing a similar tone and philosophy as another Ditko creation, Mr. A. The stories featured a silent but frenetic hero battling criminals who protested that Killjoy's constant interruption of their crimes was a violation of their rights. In E-Man #5,