A professor friend sends Nova Kane an artifact wanted by an unfriendly government. Private eye Mike Mauser and his partner Alec Tronn on behalf of a detective network search for the idol. It's just another day in the week for E-Man.

Created by Cuti and Staton, E-Man is an alien energy lifeform that took the shape of a human dubbed Alec Tronn. Nova, an exotic dancer/grad student, was one the first humans that E-Man met and Mike Mauser was the second. The fun stories, including one in which Nova gains identical powers as E-Man, debuted under the auspices of Charlton Comics. A second volume which included a story that removed Nova's powers hit the racks under the First banner. Digital Webbing now serves as the home for Cuti's and Staton's hero, and in a previous book Nova regained her super-powers. I prefer her this way. While a non-powered Nova was no mean threat, with super powers she's much more complimentary to E-Man's adventurous life and can't fall into a stereotype of endangered girlfriend.

It's surprising how easy it was to jump back into the world of E-Man, and that's a testament to Cuti's and Staton's status quo. The setup for E-Man allows for quite a bit of expansion and these familiar elements make E-Man, even decades later, a welcoming treat. Nova's college background and Mike Mauser's want to show up the big league detectives, who here are pastiches of Nick and Nora Charles neatly represent the two sides of the coin. The idol rests on the edge, and it influences Nova's mind to keep the two sides opposite the other.

The characters haven't changed all that much. Nova is a little more accepting of Mauser, and he's a little more tolerable toward her. She and E-Man have been a couple since the Charlton days, though it's now clear rather than implied. Since his beginnings, E-Man has simply been a nice guy who loves Nova and just wants to do good. That may sound boring, but combined with his power to change into anything and shoot energy blasts, it's enough. The last thing anybody needs is a brooding, angst-ridden E-Man.

E-Man always took place in a flexible reality, similar in fact to Scooby-Doo. The relatively normal characters such as Fred and Daphne take no notice that Scooby-Doo is actually a talking dog that has a more cartoony look than a normal dog. Shag and Scooby's antics occur in a world populated by ruthless crooks who don't mind killing sleuthing teens. Likewise, Teddy was one of the staple background E-Man characters. Teddy is, an anthropomorphized koala bear. Teddy didn't have a starring role in the book, and he still doesn't, but his presence was sometimes juxtaposed with such things as characters being shot. Nova in one issue was wounded and bled. Of course, there was her exotic dancing aspect and the fact that she and E-Man were shacking up. The fluctuation between moods made E-Man an odder experience.

Even if he wasn't the co-creator of the character, Joe Staton would be the perfect illustrator for E-Man. Staton evinces an amphibious nature. He renders E-Man's antics and the unique exaggeration of the characters. Nova's a sexy knockout, and Mike Mauser's a diminutive disheveled gumshoe prone to constant 5 o'clock shadow. He swathes the smaller bad guys in shadow. When the Big Bad shows up, it's a behemoth that wouldn't be out of place in an H.P. Lovecraft story. Colorists Mike Watkins and John Anderson provide E-Man vivid colors that can also be surprising. The choice for the hue of Nova's eyes, when possessed, are light green rather than the expected stereotypical red.

The latest of the E-Man adventures recalls the best from previous volumes. Cuti's story is a classic that loses none of its appeal when investigated by E-Man, Nova and Mike Mauser. Joe Staton reminds readers that he can do some pretty impressive art that's of his own design rather than a translation of models previously seen.

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