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AUGUST 2005 |
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AUGUST 2005 |
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Evening
Bob,
Kas, To
tell the truth, I was actually very good friends (at one time)
with Jimmy Doohan, who passed away recently. He and I use to be
drinking buddies--and he had been a guest in my home on
many occasions. Unfortunately,
we had a falling out many years ago and hadn't spoke since. I
regret is that we didn't try to patch things up between us before he
left.
Hi
Bob, After
reading the recent letters on your site, particularly the one from Edward
Endres, I also would like to compliment you on the great results of
your inks over Byrne's pencils in the Hulk Annual #7!
Whenever I hear fans talk about how great Austin's inks are over Byrne
on the X-Men run, I always tell them to pick up a copy of the Hulk
Annual #7 so they can see just how well your inks look in
comparison! By
the way, if you still have Mr. Endres' e-mail address, please feel free
to let him know there are two other original pages from that annual
available for sale on the internet and have much better content than the
one he recently purchased. Of course, that naturally means they're
pricier than his page, but better pages mean bigger prices, right?
Anyway, for the record: I've purchased art from the person selling these
two available pages on a few occasions and he's a stand up guy and
very professional. Please let Mr. Endres know that he can see the two
pages at www.comicbookartgallery.com
.
I really miss the days when you were a monthly mainstay at Marvel, Bob. I hope your current and future endeavors turn out as well and even better than you want them to! I'll continue to browse your site whenever I get a chance. Take
care, Troy Lee
Troy, What kills me about that Hulk Annual is that, as popular as it's been with the fans over the decades, John Byrne absolutely hated my inking on it. I mean--passionately despised it! Hey--you can't please everyone, eh? I suppose time has been the ultimate judge on the quality of the final product. The fact that we're still talking about it says something in my book. Personally, I'm very proud to have been a part of bring that classic to life. Thanks for the comments and information. I'm sure Mr. Endres will appreciate it, as well.
Hello Mr. Layton, First up, let me compliment you on all
of your GREAT cover recreations!! I really like the tightness in your
line, and the covers just look sublime!! I was wondering about one thing
though. I was wondering how you got the letters on the covers so nice
and tight? Are these hand-lettered? What is common practice in lettering
today when you do a cover recreation? Hope you can answer my question.
Thanks, and best regards, Guido de Bue The Netherlands
Guido, Actually, most of the cover copy and logos are the product of my handy xerox machine and some artistic manipulation by yours truly. Fortunately, I've kept full-size xerox copies of many of my Marvel covers--complete with the original paste-ups. Occasionally, I have to do one from scratch--but, thank goodness, that doesn't happen too often (especially since I'm not the world's greatest letterer.). Once I recreate the logos, the trade dress and blurbs are transferred to high-quality gloss paper and pasted-up directly onto my artwork--giving the commission the same authentic look as the original published covers. It's all part of the full-customer service here at BobLayton.Com, my friend.
Mr. Layton, I began to read comic books at the age
of five year old. When I was seven, I was sick and my mother bought me a
comic that featured an episode of Iron Man drawn by John
Romita Jr. and you. This episode marked the return of Mr. Romita on
the series and had an epic fight under water between Iron Man and Force
. I tell you this because it marked the day when I said to myself that
I'll be a comic book penciler one day. You gave me the courage to do
this job. I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to tell you this!
It's a great honor for me. I've got a gallery on comic art fans. (CLICK
HERE>>) I'll be very happy if you could take a
look and tell me what you think! Please know that I respect your work
and that I am very sincere hope one day soon I'll be able to ask you for
a commission. Please take care, Vincent Fourneuf
Vincent, I am moved by your comments. More so, because the very same thing happened to me when I was young--except it was Jack Kirby and Wally Wood who inspired my path as a comics artist and writer. (Although I'm pretty sure they were NOT aware that they did--same as you and me, Vince.) One of the reasons I love the medium so much is that you never know what results your work will have on people. You can literally change a life if you do your job well. That why I've always tried to give 100% on every project I've ever worked on. I'll check out your art gallery and send you my comments in private, Vince. In the meantime, perhaps some of my readers will click on the link above and check it out for themselves. Thanks for dropping me a line.
Dear
Mr. Layton: I
am a professional in an unrelated field; however I am a long time lover
of graphic literature/comics. I know this encouragement is a few years
too late, but I recently stumbled across the internet trail documenting
the sordid opera you endured while trying to launch an independent comic
firm, here in Florida. Of course, I have no idea as to what is the
absolute truth and there are many contradicting accusations posted all
over the web. Yet, it does seem to me (a
fan) that
you started out with noble intentions only to be squashed,
betrayed and kicked around by most of those involved. I am
a novice artist and writer myself, yet I have long given up on
ever making a living in the creative field due to the inherent lack of
professionalism displayed by most "artists" and their
associates. Whether the titles you generated would have had
enough appeal to catch on is a subjective question that will
never be answered. But it is obvious that they were never given enough
exposure to really compete. I am not ashamed to say I learned to
read from comics and I think its a real shame kids can't buy them with
the same convenience I was afforded as a child. Any way, for what
its worth, I applaud your efforts and admire your work. I would also be
interested in buying a few copies of old Deathmask issues if
possible, since I was never even aware of this title when it was active.
If you know of any place that carries back issues of Future Comics
I would appreciate the information. Thanks
again, Warren
Gibson
Dear
Warren, I
genuinely appreciate that you've kept an open mind concerning our
efforts to bring some sort of change to this troubled industry. Some
industry pundits have said our failure was due to the fact that our
product sucked. Fair enough—they are entitled to their opinions. But,
there were several factors involved in the company’s downfall. Diamond’s manipulation of the market and questionable
business practices was definitely part of the problem. Is
that an indictment of the current distribution system? Probably. Regarding
your inquiry concerning back issues of Future Comics, they are now
available on this website. Thank
you so much for your thoughtful comments. Sincerely,
Bob, I apologies for not writing sooner but work has been a pig and, bizarrely, although you mention the postage to the UK being a killer, I'm currently typing this out on a PC in a VT Edit facility just off Times Square!! I don't know if Vicki told you but I'm a TV producer and I'm currently working on a major project about John Lennon and am over here looking through some of Yoko Ono's personal archive of John's material --a great opportunity. I don't know what kind of thing you're into but I've produced primetime TV shows in the UK on topics such as James Bond, Tarzan, Dracula and Nat King Cole to name but a few and if you'd like a NTSC copy of any of those, let me know. Though the Jerry Springer chat show I did for UK TV may not be for taste!! |
But,
thanks so much for the Hercules/Iron Man drawing. Vicki really isn't
into comics and I'm grateful for the two of you working out such a great
present. I am indeed a fan of your work. I was even a subscriber direct
of the Future Comics line... but I've got a complete run of Iron
Man (a couple of the first few missing) and admire your and
David Michelinie’s work on the series enormously. I've got the two Hercules
mini-series (which are SUPERB! I love the Recorder guy), even
the one-off Thor you did with Hercules & the graphic novel. I even
got the Turok game without even realizing it was your fine work
on it!! Anyway,
once again, thanks for your work. It looks great and it will be
framed when I get back to the U.K. And, as I say, if you want to
see an entertaining documentary on any of the subjects I mentioned
above, please let me know. Best
wishes, Mark Tinkler U.K.
Mark, You've got one grand dame there in Vicki. She and I went through all sorts of internet Hell to get this drawing done in time and shipped off to England in time for your birthday. (We made it with days to spare, by the way!) Vicki
did mention that you were in the TV biz--but not in detail. I’d
love to take a look at some of your work, Mark.
So if you have the time, ship me some video. Meanwhile,
enjoy the birthday gift and thanks for taking the time from your busy
schedule to drop me a line. And—if
Vic wants to get you another drawing for the next birthday, let’s
start the process earlier in the year.
Bob,
I
have been a comic fan and collector for about 20 years and just
discovered a passion for original art. I've always been a Marvel Zombie
so your work on Iron Man and Hercules (X-O Manowar
was also one of the coolest comics of the past 20 years)
obviously played a great role in my comic book education (as well as
my love of reading) while growing up. I
just wanted to thank you personally for giving a fan such wonderful work
to enjoy. I think your gallery here is fantastic and your web site is
also stunning. I'm afraid I got into the original art game to late to
have a shot at any of your spectacular art but maybe there are some
pieces still lying around. Stay
well and until ol' Shellhead sells space on his armor to sponsors, make
mine Layton's Iron Man. Jason
Versaggi
Jason, You
know, I think the concept of corporate sponsors putting their logos on
the Iron Man armor
is a really keen idea.
I think it would be really funny if Tony
Stark had to deal with Iron
Man being turned into a corporate pitch man.
Man—if I ever get my hands on that book again, I’m going to
do something that incorporates that idea.
I think it would be a lot of laughs. Thanks for the kudos and comments.
Hi
Mister Layton,
Phillippe, What
do I think of JRJR? Do
you mean personally or professionally? Personally,
he and I were the best of friends for many years. There’s a great, long story about a certain night when
Johnny and I chartered a plane at LaGuardia Airport on a tipsy
whim and wound-up in Atlantic City after a few bottles of Dom at
an East Side Bistro. Not only were we good friends, but JRJR and
I actually lived in the same apartment building out in Long Island in
the 80’s. We use to have some outrageous snowball fights from the
windows of our respective apartments. John and I also traveled together
on promo tours for Marvel back then and we got into a bit of
trouble with the Marvel’s management for our antics on the road
on more than one occasion. We
were about to reunite on Iron Man once again when I accepted the job at
Valiant and left Marvel. I think JR felt a bit abandoned and
we had a bit of a falling out as a result.
Happily, we met up at the San Diego Con a few years later
and patched things up. Although we don’t really keep in touch anymore,
I have nothing but respect for JR and a comic illustrator and a friend. Professionally,
he’s, without a doubt, one of the finest storytellers working today.
And I had the distinct pleasure of being there as he improved from
issue-to-issue on our first run on Iron Man.
And—I’m not so sure that my run of Iron Man would have been
so successful without JRJR being part of that equation.
Mr.
Layton, As a fan of yours and comic book aficionado, I've always wanted to drop you a line to tell you how wonderful your Dr. Tomorrow series was--a wonderful waltz through comic "art" history (and world history) that was grounded in one of the most engaging time-travel stories I'd read in years. Of course I was incredibly upset with issue #12--with your authorial absence and the hack ending we were given. The
whole appeal of Dr. Tomorrow was that it committed to a finite
narrative arc--if Fabian Nicieza's piece at the end of the "Operation:
Stormbreaker" comic is to be believed, what sold you
on the concept was (and I quote): "[Take] a superhero . . .
chart his or her entire life from the point they've become a hero to
their of old age [and span] fifty, sixty years of a character's life in
a 12-issue mini-series". I
was thrilled by the novelty of the concept and read that series with
great expectation to see how you pulled off a satisfying ending (one
of your trademarks). I don't know if Fabian went back on his word,
but I have to say that never have I read such a wonderful series with
mounting expectations and been so let down. And the irony of it
all is that each issue had a Pete Sanderson piece that, along
with spotlighting comics legend bios, consistently praised the
wonderful advances in creator-owned rights! I like to play through my own Dr. Tomorrow scenarios in my head--alternative histories in which you save this series from its cataclysmic failure--a future where Acclaim takes its writers seriously and trusts their instincts. I suppose there's no hope of you ever doing anything associated with Dr. Tomorrow again. Our
loss. Best
wishes on future endeavors, Matthew
Zelie (Aspiring
writer and artist)
Matthew, The
whole Dr. Tomorrow fiasco was
one of the low points of my career and the only time I’ve ever walked
off of a project. I
have always prided myself on being professional and it took something
really dreadful to get me to abandon a series that I was so committed to
doing. For
the record: The deal with my creating Dr.
Tomorrow was part of the settlement of my lawsuit with Acclaim for ‘obstruction of duties’. In order to look like ‘one, big, happy family’, Acclaim’s
lawyers insisted that I stay on at the company for one year as a writer—in
order to give the public impression that the settlement was amiable.
But,
nothing could have been further from the truth. Greg
Fischbach,
the company’s C.E.O. and my mortal enemy, had clandestinely ordered
the staff to make my 12 month stint as a writer a living Hell, which
they did without hesitation (By
the way: I was
told this by a reliable Acclaim staffer who had remained a loyal friend
to me through all of this.). What
ensued was a systematic botching the deals I had made with potential
pencilers (like Gil
Kane), regular
delaying of my paychecks, constant egregious editorial changes, etc. And, the worst offense was the day I was going into the
hospital for a routine procedure. According to the terms of my insurance
coverage, I was required to notify the carrier of my hospitalization
prior to admittance. The
day I went into the hospital, Acclaim cancelled my health
insurance—a provision of my contract that was guaranteed in the
lawsuit settlement. With
little recourse, I had to threaten to sue Acclaim once again
before they reinstated my health coverage. But through it all, I kept
working on Dr. Tomorrow, trying desperately to produce a quality product while
being buried alive in Acclaim’s bullshit. So,
as I approached the end of the series, Fabian
Nicieza had one last bomb to lob at me—telling me that he had
decided to alter the approved outline of the series, in order to keep
the character alive for other titles in his doomed V2 universe. Once
Fabian ordered me to change the agreed-upon ending to the series,
I decided that this was ‘the last straw’. I
told him to get someone else to write it and left the company. I’m
glad that you enjoyed my attempts to entertain on the series, Matthew.
I think it’s just a shame that Dr.
Tomorrow never had a chance.
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Mike's Monthly Missive
This month, Mike Kalibabky 's questions are on a wide range of subjects related to my career in comics. And, as always, Mike throws in a few opinions of his own to boot! Read on--
1. In June, an e-mail from one of your fans, Nick Jagar, posed a question concerning how many MICRONAUTS covers you created for Marvel. According to my research, you contributed four -- issue #¹s 33-36 (September-December 1981).
1. Mike, ol' buddy--that's not a question. But since you are the most knowledgeable fellow I know when it comes to comics trivia, I'll presume that you're correct--as usual.
2.
You supplied the cover to DAREDEVIL #224 (November 1985),
an issue featuring Sunturion, a villain created by you and David
Michelinie for IRON MAN #¹s 142-144 (January-March 1981),
which introduced Shellhead¹s first outer space armor! Only thing is,
the Sunturion co-starring in this particular DD tale is not Arthur
Dearborn from Iron Man, but, instead, Mike Stone, who came to possess an
abandoned Sunturion suit of armor after pulling it out of the ocean
during a weekend fishing trip in Florida. (Sheesh... Florida... your
current stomping grounds; think there could be MORE of those suits out
there?) Would you
please provide a little back story on how you and David Michelinie came
up with the character of Sunturion?
2. Mike, I must have missed reading that story, because the Sunturion suit had no powers of it's own. It was merely a containment field for Dearborn's energies. So whoever wrote that story could have been playing fast and loose with the premise of the character. Since I never read that tale, I'm left somewhat limited in my ability to respond. As I recall, Sunturion was an homage' to my great affection for Charlton Comics' Captain Atom. (you'll notice that he was colored the same as the original C.A.). Outside of that, I'll have to ask David how he thought up the back story on the poor, manipulated Arthur Dearborn/ Sunturion character and get back to you in another column. BTW: I always resented Marvel for not crediting David and I with the stories of ours that wound-up on that Iron Man Cartoon Show. As a creative businessman, I know that giving credit costs your company NOTHING--and gets you everything. That was simply another example of Marvel's policy of contempt towards the creative community.
3. To be honest, Mike--I wasn't a big fan of Jerry's work at that particular time. (let's face it--he was no JRJR, as history bears out! Johnny's a hard act to follow--even today.) Bingham's pencils were very uneven in the beginning stages of his career and Iron Man was about as early in his career as you can get. I struggled to keep some consistency between his pencils and the massively-popular Romita Jr. Fortunately, the stories that he was responsible for penciling were some of the strongest that David and I had come up with to date. For instance: Iron Man's battle with the Hulk is now considered by many as a classic. I'm happy to say that Jerry improved tremendously as his career moved forward and I've been blown away by some of the things he accomplished. I consider myself a fan of his work--just not necessarily on Iron Man.
Question: Agree or disagree? The interview, without a doubt, demonstrated the absolute uncompromising integrity of yourself and Mr. Michelinie. It took a lot of courage to make the remarks you two did.
4. I Agree. The
major problem, as I see it, is that comics are becoming totally
inaccessible to the general public, due to bad writing quality
and poor editorial acumen. The analogy I commonly use is that if
Star Trek movies were written by hardcore Trekkers, the general
film-going public would be totally alienated by all of the insider
references. Unfortunately,
the current generation don’t have the same skills or training that the
iconic writers of the comics industry possessed. A lot of them
have simply learned their craft from reading a lot of comics as kids and
are now merely regurgitating all their favorite stories from the past
five degrees to the left or the right. Stepping off of the soapbox now. Back to you, Mike.
Mike Kalibabky
5. Mike--that WAS a hulk-busting armor. Did we not K.O. the big, green meanie?
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If you wish to write Bob, please send all correspondence to:
P.O.BOX 2776,VALRICO, FL 33595 or e-mail him at
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