E-Man #5
Published and © by Charlton, November 1974
Title: “The City Swallower”
Synopsis: A day at the beach gets complicated when E-Man crosses over to a dimension being threatened by a massive monster.
Writer: Nicola Cuti
Artist: Joe Staton
Review: E-man is such a strange comic. It feels like an evolutionary offshoot; Golden Age superheroes could have evolved to read like this. Its appeal feels targeted to an older audience, without the self-seriousness so prevalent of the Bronze Age. Regardless, the series’ madcap adventures and cartoony art are a winner.
•••
Title: “Freedom’s Star”
Synopsis: Liberty Belle thwarts a Communist spy, then rockets to Skylab III in anticipation of a space pirate invasion.
Writer: Joe Gill
Artist: Steve Ditko
Review: Dated superheroics replace the ham-handed commentary of earlier backups scripted by Steve Ditko (see reviews of E-Man #2 and #4).
Grade (for the entire issue): B
Cool factor: It always feels like just about anything can happen in E-Man.
Notable: First appearance of Liberty Belle.
Character quotable: “We share a common, powerful threat to survival that makes war merely a parlour discussion.” – Peter, the other-dimensional man with a plan
Editor’s note: This review was written June 4, 2021.
