Don't Fear The Spookman

Channeling into the campy brand of superheroes that the mid-60s was soaked in, Charlton Comics began the first issue of the second volume of their anthology, Charlton Premiere with a triple-header. The first volume only went on for a single issue two months prior in Issue #19 of a military title that was renamed after its initial run, Marine War Heroes. Volume 2, Issue #1 debuted the unfathomable Spookman. This supernatural superhero was created by Pat Boyette, a former radio personality and TV anchorman that became a comic artist/writer who also co-created Peacemaker, a controversial crimefighter who inspired Comedian from The Watchmen and recently had his own cable series. Spookman was at first supposed to be named Sandman, but since there was already a DC hero and a Marvel villain with the same name then Spookman became the character's moniker. Aaron Piper runs his own museum of ancient artifacts, one of which is a Malaysian magical staff that can transform him into the secretive Spookman, a ghostly entity who has the power to travel through time. Now, does Piper use this power to prevent the Kennedy Assassination? No! He instead uses it to go into the past to appraise old pieces of art. A collector brings in a headless Roman statuette and asks Piper to find the head for ten grand which would be a hundred grand by today's dollar. Even though Piper could just use time travel to invest in winning stock markets of the past, he decides to turn into Spookman and does the time warp with his partner Crispin to the era of Nero. The duo interrupt one of the emperor's soirees and Spookman is forced to briefly battle a gladiator and wins Nero's favor. They trade the original statue complete with head for Crispin's pocket lighter which inadvertently creates a causality loop sparking Nero's tendency for pyromania. Spookman and Crispin go back to the future to collect their fee for the falsely restored statue, thus gaining the ten grand and possibly the headless statue from the original timeline despite all the pesky paradoxes this might initiate. Pat Boyette reportedly mulled over what to do his time-travelling ghost guy who is also an expert wrestler, but Spookman made his singular mark at the bottom half of this triple-decker superhero sandwich. The character made an extended comeback in 2014 in the pages of the fan-inspired magazine, Charlton Arrow, but so far Spookman hasn't broken out into the mainstream like his rival Casper.