Bon Voyage Captain Cosmos!


Captain Cosmos has stood his final watch my friends. The Last Starveyer has left this planet Earth behind for good alas. Nicola Cuti has passed away after a long bout with cancer.


The creator of Captain Cosmos - the Last Starveyer and Moonchild the Starbabes and scores of other entertaining comic book characters, Nicola Cuti worked as an editor and writer and artist for Warren, Charlton, DC, and more through the many decades of his career. He has a story in the most recent issue of The Creeps magazine titled "Bug-Eyed Monster" and it was his role as an Associate Editor which finally got me to give that mag a chance. Nick Cuti had career and life which seemed filled with enthusiasm for the comics and characters he loved.


His most famous creation was E-Man who he fashioned with artist Joe Staton long ago at the now gone but hardly forgotten Charlton Comics shop where Nick was an Assistant Editor to George Wildman.


E-Man stares down on me at this very moment, the delightful poster used to promote the character was added to my walls many years ago and has always had the most prominent and important position. For the umpteenth time on a blog a mine, but the first time at my "Other Blog" here are the covers for the original E-Man run.











The ten original issues of that magnificent comic book are perhaps the most influential in my life. I remember reading the sixth issue (the first I found) as if it were yesterday afternoon. You cared about the characters, even the baddies and no romance was more potent or real than that between Alec Tronn and Nova Kane.


Michael Mauser was a stroke of comic genius all by himself. The humor and adventure and sheer humanity evident in those comics is superior to any other comic I've chanced upon in decades of reading.  Some books came close, but none ever blended those elements so  harmoniously or with such aplomb.


I might well have more to say about Nick, the only one of my favorite writers I ever got to correspond with, but now his Captain Cosmos videos are just the thing to remember him by -- I'll dig that out. And then it's to reading some of that original E-Man yet again to warm my heart. Thanks again Nick and bon voyage Captain Cosmos.

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