Hi Bob,

Just a quick note to congratulate you on getting back into the Iron Man fold, where you belong.  This is fantastic news for those of us who miss seeing your work on the stands on a regular basis.

Best,

Brian Sagar

Bob,

Glad to hear you'll be back in some degree on Iron Man. I really wish you and David were taking it over again, but just to have you attached to it in some way or another is a MAJOR plus! Congratulations! I would still love to see you return to full pencils on the book, or the special, but at this point ANYTHING is a major plus!

Once again-- Congratulations!

Ralph L. Angelo Jr.

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

The motorcyclists guide to surviving the everyday world."

I actually gasped when I read the announcement!  It speaks volumes that Joe and Tom would look to you to save Iron Man in light of the upcoming movie!!!

I will support both the monthlies AND the trades they do of your upcoming work!

Good Luck!!!

Drew Geraci

(who still owes you a dinner!)

This is great news, Bob, thanks for sharing!  Of course, I think they need to drop Michelinie in the writer's chair, with you both co- plotting.  Throw JRJR in the mix, and I smell hit!

Heath McKnight

Hi Bob,

First, I'm very excited to see your Iron Man project Iron Man: The End will be coming soon, I will definitely pick that up. I had a question; obviously I don't know the workings of the comic book field, so I was wondering why the departure of the current Iron Man penciller means you won't be working on the main Iron Man book? Any reason why you just couldn't ink whoever the new artist on that book would be? It might be a dumb question, but I'd love to see your work every month on the main book.

Anyway, congratulations on the new relationship with Marvel and I'll be looking out for your work!

Best Wishes,

Joe Piechota Jr.

Hey Bob, 

Fantastic news and well-deserved.  Can’t wait to read “The End” when it comes out.  Take care.

Tim Lo

YEEEHAW! For the first time in years, I'll have a reason to buy Iron Man! On the other hand, seeing how the Big Fat Q begged you to come back to make himself look good, I suppose that with Central Texas trying to ice over, this probably satisfies the "Hell Freezes Over" requirement.

Congrats, Bob! The book has never been worth a frack without you or David on it.

OM

Hello Mr. Layton,

I wanted to write to say a big "THANK YOU!" for coming back to Iron Man. I do not usually write letters to comics or artists but I had just bought the Armor Wars TPB and as I reread that classic and thought about how unhappy I am about current state of ol' Shellhead I realized just how much I missed you and all the other classic talent that has graced the comic in the past. Let me just say that you have a buyer here of any project you undertake with that character.

I just have one small favor to ask. Is there any way you could arrange it to give the Ghost his old costume back? It pains me to see one of my all time favorite villains reduced to wearing a plain, white body suit with black dots. If you can pull it off you'll be even more of a legend in my eyes. Legend-Squared. :)

Once again, thank you very much for returning to my favorite hero around! 

David Rodriguez

Bob,

Just read the news on your site and while I never thought it would happen I’m thrilled you will be back at Marvel and working on Iron Man! I wouldn’t care if you were just editing the fan mail for IM since it would be a step in the right direction for a character Marvel has all but destroyed and one that not only do you care about but seem to know how to bring to life.

Kudos on the arrangement and wishing you an enjoyable ride with it and hopefully you’ll be able to restore some former glory to one of the pillars of the Marvel (and comics) Universe.

Stay well,

Jason Versaggi

Hello Bob,

I hope everything’s going well and you had a fantastic holiday season!

First of all, I wanted to say I am excited to see you back at Marvel! I wish it was as the regular inker for Iron Man, but I’ll definitely take the story you and Michelinie came up with! I loved your run on Iron Man, and it will be great to see you working on that again! Now if only you would agree to work on Captain America, that would be even better!!!

Hopefully everything will go ok with Marvel this time and they won’t screw it up! J

Also, I just saw they added your name to the list of artists at the NY Comic Con next month! It will be my first major con, so I’m excited that I’ll be able to make it, and hopefully your table won’t be super busy and I’ll be able to stop by and say hello!!

Anyway, just wanted to say how happy I was about the news, and hope all is well.

Alberto Gonzalez

Hi Bob:

Congrats on working things out with Marvel and getting back on Iron Man in some capacity if not the regular series. 

My question is what about David Michelinie?  I know Marvel is going to put out

Iron Man:The End, but is David returning to Marvel to do new work as well? 

Besides Iron Man, I would love to see him on an Avengers project. 

Regards,

Zung Ly

Hi Bob!  What an announcement!  Glad to see you will be back on Iron man related books, as well as others.  Do you think Marvel will give you some kind of free reign on the characters, in that a new Hercules book would be ideal.  Are there any other characters you have some ideas for?

Cheers,

Mike Cross

To all of you who wrote in support of the Iron Man: The End project:

I thank you for your votes of confidence and unwavering support!  I'll do my best not to let you down and I know I speak for David Michelinie as well when I say that we'll do our best to give you the most entertaining Iron Man adventure possible.

Next month, I'll be announcing the penciller on the project and, if all goes well, some more Iron Man-related news that'll make you jump for joy!

Hi Bob!

That's great news about your return to Marvel! I'm excited about the "Iron Man: The End" book, as well as whatever else you may end up working on. I had emailed you a while back to ask what you thought of the Civil War story and how Tony Stark was being handled. They have turned him into a character that I'm starting to dislike! Along with Mr. Fantastic--one of my favorite Marvel characters. I had said to my buddy Ivan in Italy that the only way they can "fix" Iron Man after all of this is if they get Bob Layton back on the book.

Also, I mostly collect splash pages, and covers if I can afford them.

But the one thing that is missing from my collection is a published Iron Man splash page by you! So maybe now I'll be able to get one! Save a splash page for me!!

Thanks again for the site update Bob! I have been waiting on it!!! I hope you had a nice holiday!

One last thing... I picked up the new Armor Wars trade paperback, so I hope to have you autograph it the next time you are working on some art together! BTW, what did you think of the cover? When it arrived I briefly thought they sent me a copy of the recent Demon in a Bottle trade. BTW, the cover on the original trade collection is so superior.

It's like Marvel isn't even trying to do anything great.

Take care,

Gary Sella

Dear Gary,

To be honest, I kinda like the new Iron Man Armor Wars TPB cover (see this month's Bloglayton.com).  I think I understand that Marvel is trying to create a uniformed look to the series of trades and, like it or not, I think it makes good business sense.

As far as the current take on Iron Man: As I stated last month, Marvel seems to be of a mind that there's room for more than one interpretation in their line.  Also keep ion mind that our "Iron Man :The End" tale takes place 50 years in the future--far after all the goings-on of the Civil War storyline.

I appreciate the kind words about my art and when I have a new Shellhead splash page for sale, I'll be sure to let you know about it..

Bob,

First off let me say that I am glad to see that you are going to be working on Iron Man again. :)  I can see why Marvel would want your help promoting the Iron Man movie given your rich history with the character. I hope that this will lead to more opportunities both at Marvel and other companies for you!

Now on to my questions... I see that you are listed in artist alley at the NY Comic Con. Are you really  going to be there? I am only a 3 hour train ride away as I live in upstate NY so it is much more convenient than going to San Diego.  I will do my absolute best to get there - especially if you are attending.

If you are attending the show, are you going to the Valiant panel, as well?

I also noticed that Jim Shooter is listed in the artist alley section. Being a HUGE fan of the early Valiant work just seeing both your names at the same show brings back memories... I know Valiant Entertainment has not started publishing any books (probably due at least in part to the ongoing trademark dispute), but I can still dream that you guys might work together again in the future, right? My "Valiant Dream Team" would be Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith and yourself working together on a monthly title. I realize that is not very realistic, but I know at the very least it would make a lot of fans happy on the ValiantFans.com message board!

I'm sorry for rambling on Bob.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Your friend,

Chris Gould

Dear Chris,

In answer to your question: I WILL be attending the New York show this year.  Hopefully, I'll be able to send out an update to all my boblayton.com regulars prior to the show date with addition info and schedules.  I have not finalize anything about participating in a Valiant panel, but you know I'll be there if duty calls.  I looking forward to 'pressing the flesh' with as many of my fans as possible at the Con.  So--get those bagged comics ready to  be signed, guys!

As far as getting Barry, Jim and me on a comic title again-?  I like you a lot, Chris-- so I won't tell you to hold your breath waiting for that to happen.  Although I'd work with Barry again without hesitation, the same is NOT true for Jim.  

I think you've seen the last of our collaborative efforts.