MARCH 2005



APRIL 2005
BOB REVIEWS MARVEL'S ULTIMATE IRON MAN #1 (SORT OF...)
I received this e-mail from long-time Iron Man fan Richard Becker of Seattle, WA which reads: Dear Bob, I know I'm probably opening a 'can o' worms' by asking, but I wondering if you've kept up with the various versions of Iron Man that Marvel has been pumping out lately? They just can't seem to get it right and I'm quickly losing patience with their inability to get the books out on a reasonable schedule. Have you read the Ultimate IM #1? If so, what do think of what they're doing to the legend of a character that you have been so identified with throughout your career? Sincerely, Rich Becker As a matter of fact, I recently went to my local comic shop (something I'm not usually prone to do) and purchased a copy of Ultimate Iron Man #1, just to see what the hoopla was all about. And in answer to your inquiry, Rich--here's my admittedly-biased take on what I read: ULTIMATE IRON MAN #1 Orson Scott Card (whom I personally believe is a decent novelist) debuts with his first comic outing that tows the line of the Joe Quesada School of Storytelling- begin at the beginning—no matter how tedious or boring that might be for the readers. Unfortunately, this issue reeks of “Let’s do Iron Man: the Movie” instead of utilizing the conventions of the comics medium that Marvel has made popular through its history. In the past few months, three different Iron Man books have debuted—with an absolute minimum of Iron Man in all. (Hell--two of the three had no Iron Man* whatsoever!)* It appears that Quesada doesn’t appreciate that there are structuring devices that a writer has at his disposal to arrange the events in a manner that will be visually exciting and intriguing—since it IS a visual medium. But let us not forget that this is the man who gave us a month of titles with NO DIALOGUE! He has already demonstrated how much respect he has for that part of the process. It seems that as long as you are a writer with credentials OUTSIDE of the comics industry, you can get a job writing for Marvel. (If Ed Wood had lived, he’d be writing a Thor Mini-series by now.)
No—the Ultimate Iron Man #1 starts at ‘square one’—regardless of the consequences. The consequence in the case of this title is a mildly engaging soap opera-type storyline that has almost no relationship to what Iron Man fans shell out their hard earned money for—namely, Tony Stark/Iron Man. This story revolves around Tony Stark’s father and his development of a bacterial armor. I applaud O.S.C. for attempting to sell us on a concept that has a plausible, scientific background. (Lord knows that I have always been a proponent of plausible science in comics.) That would be important—IF this WAS “Iron Man: The Movie”. But in reality, it’s not and it’s NOT what the fans (or I) care about when buying a comic—we care about the character development. In that regard—the book fails. I had that ‘ripped-off’ feeling after reading the first issue. (BTW: it will be the only issue I’ll pick up. I don’t have the time or patience to wait for them to eventually get around to the main character of the series.) In the story, a pregnant Maria Stark is infected with a virus from a simian test subject that will translate into baby Tony having head-to-toe brains and being a super-duper smart mutant. By prep school—he’ll be ready for Charles Xavier’s academy and everyone at Marvel will breathe a sign of relief. No more non-super-powered heroes in the Marvel Universe. The last normal human has fallen to the scourge of Marvelmutantitis. Unfortunately, it misses the point of the character by light years and drives home the problem with Marvel’s editorial policies in general—namely turning every title into the X-Men. Tony Stark is a normal human who elevates himself to the level of super-human through the auspices of science and technology in the guise of Iron Man. I don't understand what having superhuman brainpower adds to the long and respected mythology of Iron Man. Although the production values of this book are high (Andy Kubert does an excellent job of creating a visually credible world), the basic concept seems to be totally misguided and, in my opinion, diminishes the legend of one of comicdom’s most unique heroes 3/30/05
"NO SOUP FOR YOU!" (This gag has been removed--because it's now officially April 2nd)


*And-- because it's April 2nd--* HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH TO MY LOVELY WIFE-- JILL!!! *(Yes--she gets a Birthday Month!)*



	Marvel Premiere (Ant-Man) #48 Unpublished cover I recently uncovered this unpublished work while going thru my storage facility. As I recall, this was another cover that was rejected due to the fact that the hero was shown as defeated on the cover. The E.I.C. really favored the Ant-Man character and wanted him to always be on the winning side of things, even though this particular scene actually appears in the story. Because the dreaded deadline doom that was upon me while inking the interiors of this title, Dave Cockrum and Bob McLeod wound-up doing the second, published version of this cover in my stead. The cover was found in pencil form and inked by me in March of 2005. I also added the trade dress. (Note: the illustration board stock that I originally used for this cover has yellowed slightly) MINIMUM BID: $500.00



Hear Bob Layton featured in an hour-long radio interview! Your computer must have the Windows Media Player installed. This player is available for both the Windows PC and the Apple Macintosh. To experience the Live Web radio shows, you’ll want to use a 56k Modem or higher. For the archived shows, it’s best to also use a 56k modem or higher, but a 28k modem will work, as well.
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Antoinette "Toni" Stark When I took over the Iron Man series as the writer (#253), after the departure of David Michelinie, one of the sub-plots that I had weaved into the Armor Wars II storyline was the introduction of Antoinette "Toni" Stark. Antoinette was to be the 17 year old daughter of Morgan Stark, Tony's dead brother. After being thrown out of every boarding school in Europe, the juvenile delinquent Toni is shipped stateside and placed in the care of her billionaire uncle by the courts. The idea was to turn Tony Stark into a 'bachelor father', with a ward who resented him and what he represents, but was totally enamored with his alter ego--Iron Man. She also was to have a serious 'jones' for Tony's best friend, Jim Rhodes. Alas, Antoinette's character never saw realization, due to my leaving Marvel to start up Valiant Comics.

FROM BOB'S UNPUBLISHED CONCEPT VAULT FUTURE COMICS' UNPUBLISHED FOURTH TITLE-- *PEACEKEEPER #1: Part II* CREATED, DESIGNED & WRITTEN BY BOB LAYTON, CREATED & CO-PLOTTED BY DAVID MICHELINIE ART BY PAT BRODERICK & TERRY AUSTIN WITH COLORS BY TOM SMITH (CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED LAST MONTH'S INSTALLMENT)
PEACEKEEPER #2	PEACEKEEPER #3	PAGE 8	PAGE 9	PAGE 10
		PAGE 11	PAGE 12	PAGE 13
		PAGE 14	PAGE 15	TO BE Concluded NEXT MONTH--
ABOUT THE STORY: The Brahman Objective is a computer-generated blueprint that could lead the population of Earth into a utopian existence. But in the wrong hands, it could be perverted into a plan to control the world's governments and economies. The benevolent Peacekeepers have clandestinely existed for over forty years, slowly manipulating global events to conform to the Brahman Objective--until today! The organization’s founder and mentor to our hero, philanthropist Raymond Soong, is a good man whose only goal is to preserve the American way of life. But when Raymond Soong discovers that one of their own trusted members, Industrialist Arthur Rathrock, is up to some very bad things, Soong is ruthlessly eliminated. In one fell swoop, Rathrock eliminates the Peacekeepers, manipulates their corporate holdings to line his pockets and steals the Brahman Objective--perverting it into a blueprint for global dominance. And from the ashes of this unthinkable holocaust, a single survivor rises: a reluctant hero obsessed with justice, retribution ...and retrieval of the Brahman Objective! ABOUT THE SERIES: PEACEKEEPER could best be described as “The Lone Ranger meets James Bond (with a slight touch of Star Wars)”. Two things primarily influenced me in the creation of the character--Ian Fleming's classic character and the work of Jim Steranko on Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. David & I wanted to bring something to the Future Comics Universe that had that same global feel as Bond, since our other three series were set in specific locates. The thing that sets the Peacekeeper apart, from other characters in this genre’, is his morality...a quality something that's sorely lacking in most of today's characters. He's governed and motivated by a strong sense of morality and compassion for his fellow human beings… a man of vision and lofty ideals. He's the spy--with a heart. All Concepts & Illustrations (C) 2005 by David Michelinie & Bob Layton