E-Man

E-Man
E-Man #1 (First Comics)
Publication information
Publisher	Charlton Comics (1973–1975), First Comics (1983–1986), Comico (1989–1990), Alpha Productions (1993–1994), Digital Webbing (2006–2008)
First appearance	E-Man #1 (1973)
Created by	Nicola Cuti, Joe Staton
In-story information
Alter ego	Alec Tronn
Abilities	energy-based

E-Man is a comic-book character, a superhero created by writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton for the American company Charlton Comics in 1973. Though the character's original series was short-lived, the lightly humorous hero has become a cult-classic sporadically revived by various independent comics publishers. Ownership of the character has changed hands over the years, moving from the original publisher to the character's creators.

After editor Dick Giordano left the Derby, Connecticut-based Charlton Comics, in 1968, the publisher ended its superhero line. A later editor, George Wildman, persuaded the publisher to try superheroes again, leading writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton to devise E-Man.

Cuti said in the 2000s that his inspirations included the Golden Age of Comics superhero Plastic Man, and that he wanted to create a similarly fun and whimsical character. Cuti also admired Albert Einstein and his formula, E=mc². He conceived a character who was caught in a factory explosion and became an energy being that could take any form of matter. When he shared this idea with artist Joe Staton, Staton felt the origin was too similar to that of Charlton's Captain Atom and the atomic-accident origins that had often been used by Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee. Inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Cuti created a new origin that made E-Man a packet of sentient energy created as a star went nova.