Hi Bob,

I was wondering if you have ever thought about putting out an instructional book, DVD, or even some videos on your site on drawing. Maybe even a live web cam at your drawing board! You could show how you start a page from the thumbnails to the drawing and then inking. You mentioned in that cheesy public access show (ugh!) about making it look more difficult than it is. Maybe you could show what you mean by that and talk about your approach to creating a page. And if you use any reference material and what it is. I know it would be a lot of work but I'm sure you have plenty of fans that would be interested in seeing something like this.

Vin Ardito

Dear Vin,

Funny you should mention that! Part of the process of perfecting my video blog was to get us to a point where we could do new material for the website. Discussions are already underway on exactly how to format and present tutorials on inking that I can post here. Give us a few more months to work out the bugs, but expect to see a series of instructional videos on inking right here on BobLayton.com!

Bob,

I was looking at your website when I noticed the video blog. I laughed so hard I cried.  I saw this at work so I had to keep quiet and was silently laughing uncontrollably. Your comments made it even funnier, if that is possible. I am sure that at the time when you were there and sick, you were thinking, "Just get this over with so I can get out of here." But, it was great and you did a good job of getting your point across. And yes, I have read "Contest of Champions", which makes this even more humorous.

Robert (Bob) Smithers

Dear Robert,

Glad you enjoyed the first installment of my video blogs! If you love that one, you're going to laugh your ass off on this month's installment which takes place on a local talk show in Indianapolis in 1986. I'm hoping that this will be a popular feature on the website because I have a lot more videos tucked away in the vault, including some really fun footage from my Valiant Birthday Parties. Those tapes are like a "Who's Who" of the comic book industry!

Always good to hear from my favorite scientific advisor!

Bob,

I am dropping two All Star Comics trades in the mail that I'm hoping you'll sign for me.  After you, I was going to send to Milgrom, Staton and Chan.  You know, after reading them...they SCREAM late 70's!  The dialogue is kinda corny by today’s standards, and the stories were what they were back then, but enjoyable to a kid.  Even now as an adult, they take me back to a simpler time. And, there were so many  good names working on the book then. 

Hey-- I watched those BLOG videos!  WOW-- what a show! What hair!  Who was that guy?  It was like Wayne's World TV out of someone's basement.  But, VERY funny to watch!

Anthony Starks won the Iron Man question?  Go figure...I laughed out loud when I heard that.

And hearing you speak nicely about Big Jim...that was funny too, knowing what your future held.

Joe Staton had said bad things regarding you? He seems like such a nice guy. You were young and raw, maybe that’s what he commented about?

Well, I hope things in your life are going okay, pal.

Best,

Larry Clay

Dear Larry,

I'll be sure to get those books signed and back in the mail for you soon! I'm pleased that you found the video blog so entertaining! I definitely appreciate the irony of some of it as much as you!

As far as Joe Staton goes, the stuff he said about me in print is not worth repeating. Rest assured that it was simply him behaving unprofessionally and allowing personal matters to spill over into the professional forum. Needless to say, it lead to a parting of the ways on All Star Comics. All in all, my career didn't seem suffer too terribly much as a result of his unflattering comments.

As I've always said to you guys, nothing anyone says is going to erase the body of quality work that I've produced over the last 30 years.

Hey Bob!

I just got done watching your old TV interview from 82'. Dude--that was F*#'ing AWESOME (for all the wrong reasons!!!!!!!)

LOL! Priceless! Where on Earth did you dig it up?! Seriously, it made my day!

Hope all is well!        

Tim Townsend

Dear T-Dog,

Always good to hear from you, buddy! It's a high compliment when I can tickle the funny bone of a fellow professional! I'm dying to hear what you thought of this month's entry on BlogLayton.com.

Drop me a line!

Bob,

I just found out about your website and it is awesome!  I love your work and I'm glad to see you're back on Iron Man.  I have a quick question about CPL. I live in Indianapolis, and was excited to hear that CPL was started here, as well as, the fact that you're from Indianapolis.  Did you go to school here?  What ever happened to CPL?  Did it dissolve after you and Roger hit it big in the industry?  I met you a LONG time back during a convention here in Indy (Jim Shooter was here as well) and the one thing I remember was how nice you were to your fans, especially this one geek kid (me) who was really interesting in maybe becoming a comic artist one day. 

I hope all is going well for you these days and I'm glad to see that your art is getting better and better with age. 

Keep it up.

Tony Johnson

Dear Tony,

It always astounds me when I hear from people who remember the CPL fanzine days. What's amazing is that they were produced over 30 years ago! For those who aren't familiar with my fan-publishing background, CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature) was a fanzine produced by fellow Hoosier Roger Stern and me back in the early 70s. I grew up in Indiana and lived there until my early 20s until I moved to New York City. I went to Warren Central High School, graduated in 1971 at the age of 17. The other legacy of the CPL days was that Roger and I produced the very first Comic-Con in the state of Indiana--NapCon.

To answer your question about CPL, once Roger and I expanded our fanzine publishing to include the Charlton Bullseye, that lead to both of us getting noticed by the major publishers and eventually to mainstream comics work.   We ceased publishing CPL and the Charlton Bullseye once we started making a living as comic book professionals .

Bob,

I’m a long time fan.  I was wondering if you have ever inked any of George Perez’s work?  Your inking style seems like it would go well with it.

Thanks for your time.

Keith S.

Dear Keith,

I've had the pleasure of inking George on several occasions, most notably on several covers such as X-Men #112 and Marvel Fanfare (featuring the Black Widow).

Hello,

I have been browsing your website and I am very impressed by your work, but I am somewhat confused as to what I am looking at.  Is all of this work commissions?  I understand that people order "variant" covers from you, but my main concern is what you mean by unpublished work.  Is this truly artwork that was rejected by publishers?  I am fascinated by comic book art that never made it to print, particularly issues that I own and have looked at many times.  It fascinates me in a very "what if" kind of way.  Again, I have truly enjoyed your work and am even interested in possibly commissioning some art.  I was just wondering about those few things.

Paul Clough

Dear Paul,

There is indeed a difference between unpublished art and variant commissions. On occasion, I run unpublished material that was rejected from comic book publishers for one reason or another (generally, the unpublished pieces can be found in my "Art Find of the Month feature"). I try to make a clear distinction between those pages and the commissioned variants that I get from my clients. You'll notice when I present an unpublished work, it is clearly indicated as such. Keep in mind that ALL commissions are technically "unpublished art." Once in a while I'll do a cover for an independent comic, but again, I clearly indicate that in the art gallery, as well. If a client decides to have their commission published somewhere, it's strictly his prerogative and doesn't really involve any decisions on my part.

Dear Mr. Layton,

A while back you mentioned being in negotiations with a publisher to print trade paperbacks of the Future Comics series. I was wondering if there was anything new on that front that you are able to mention or if there are any other plans to bring those characters back in any fashion.

Thank you,

Brian Thomer

Dear Brian,

Unfortunately, the fellow I was negotiating with seemed to fall off the face of the earth after a while. So, I decided to put any efforts to reprint that material on the back burner, while I dealt with more pressing issues of the day, like my two, upcoming Iron Man projects. However, the Future Comics characters are far from forgotten. Just this month, the four main characters are featured on the packaging of Ultra-Pro's deck protector sleeves and trading card binder.

Oh, did I mention there's a major motion picture in the works for one of the Future Comics properties?  Silly me.

And don't forget, there are unpublished episodes of Freemind, Metallix, and Deathmask available in the Archives section of this website. You may also purchase back-issues of any of those Future Comics by clicking on the STORE button at the top of this page! For those of you who haven't read Future Comics, I highly recommend them! They feature great stories by David Michelinie and me and art by some of the most talented names in the comic industry such as Dick Giordano, Ron Lim, Bob Hall, Mike Leeke, Pat Broderick, Brett Breeding, Bob McLeod, Ron Frenz, and others!

Hi again Bob!

Just read your reply to my email from last month and I have to say I'm really surprised no one else got excited about Ron Lim coming aboard for a project. Ron's Silver Surfer stuff was some of the best on that character I've ever seen, as well as his many other Marvel projects over the years. The guy was one of the best artists of the 90's and is still one of my all-time favorites. His drawing Iron Man should be an amazing bit of artwork.

He always seemed to get the knack of making the Surfer's skin appear to be liquid metal, which I hope he does here on the new IM project, as well.

Take care Bob, I look forward to next months update!

Ralph L. Angelo Jr.

Author of "Help! they're all out to get me!

The motorcyclists guide to surviving the everyday world."

Dear Ralph,

I'm very appreciative of your support of the Ronster. I have to say that, in all my years as a collaborator, working with Ron has been one of the most enjoyable experiences that I've had! Not only does he draw exciting, dynamic pages, but he's a consummate storyteller and professional, as well!

While we're at it, why don't we form "The Ron Lim Appreciation Society"! And you and I will be the  Charter members! I'm pretty sure that we can get the next guy on the Letter's Page here to sign up, too! And, as the newly self-appointed president of the R.L.A.S., I promise to publish as much preview art as possible on our upcoming, four issue Iron Man mini-series, tentatively titled "LEGACY  OF DOOM",  right here on BobLayton.com!

Hi Bob,

I noticed you mentioned that very few people had commented concerning the addition of Ron Lim to the Iron Man/Dr. Doom team and I wanted to remedy that. I am immensely excited, as I am a huge fan of Ron's work, and follow him to whatever project he goes to (including the upcoming Fantastic Five miniseries). Along with you and David, he's one of the creators I am always mystified does not have a regular assignment at the Big Two. Hopefully that will be remedied.

Looking forward to your upcoming projects!

Matt Adler

Dear Matt,

Want to join the club? All you got to do is say "yes" and you're a member of the newly-formed "The Ron Lim Appreciation Society"! As a member, your only duty will be to pick up the Iron Man/Dr. Doom Camelot mini-series when it debuts in 2008! In the meantime, if you're dying to see some earlier Michelinie/Lim/Layton collaboration to hold you over, you should check out the back issue department at my STORE link for issues #0-6 of Metallix from Future Comics.

Wow, I think this deserves a:

Hi Bob,

Here's something I colored that I think your fans might like.  I use them for screen backgrounds.  It's not Ian, but then again, very few people are.

Take care, 

Derek Muthart

Dear Derek,

I take it as a huge compliment when my fans take the time to color pieces I've done, so thank you very much! And, by the way, you did a really good job of making it work.

Hello Bob!

I am a Spanish comic book reader and collector of original art. During months we have been visiting your website and enjoying commissions that you put there. In fact, I dedicated several entries of my blog to commenting on the wonderful and enormous selection of commissions that are on your site, which you can check out here:

I hope that the project which you have with Marvel after the summer is related to the tin plate head and that it will be successful.

Thank you very much!

Pedro de la Ossa Anton

Dear Pedro,

I'm extremely flattered that you've taken the time to post some of my commissions on your site. Unfortunately, since I don't speak Spanish, I wasn't able to comprehend what you had written there, but I can tell that you're sincere and truly a devoted fan. By the way, when you said, "tin plate head," I presume you meant, "Ol' Shellhead".

But In any language, it's clear that Iron Man rules!