 While there, he published his first comic book, "ACA Comix" #1, featuring "The Death's Head Knight".<ref></ref>

Byrne left the college in 1973 without graduating.He broke into comics with a "Fan Art Gallery" piece in Marvel's promotional publication "FOOM" in early 1974<ref></ref> and by illustrating a two-page story by writer Al Hewetson in Skywald Publications' black-and-white horror magazine "Nightmare" #20 (Aug. 1974).<ref name=gcd></ref> He then began freelancing for Charlton Comics, making his color-comics debut with the "E-Man" backup feature "Rog-2000", starring a robot character he'd created in the mid-1970s that colleagues Roger Stern and Bob Layton named and began using for spot illustrations in their fanzine "CPL" ("Contemporary Pictorial Literature").A Rog-2000 story written by Stern, with art by Byrne and Layton, had gotten the attention of Charlton Comics editor Nicola Cuti, who extended Byrne an invitation.