All e-mails sent to Bob may be published on this Letters Page unless withholding is specifically requested.

Hey Bob,

It was really great to meet you at the Florida SuperCon in November. I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to hang out and talk.

If you’re ever in the area again, let’s grab dinner.

During your q&a, I was rather impressed by your ability to field questions from an adult dressed as “The Thing” in a lucid and professional manner.

I guess you’re used to that kinda stuff.

What’s the strangest moment you’ve ever had at a convention?

Cary Appel

Dear Cary,

I really enjoyed meeting you as well and if I am ever in your neck of the woods again, I'll take you up on that dinner offer.

As far as my strangest experience, they're probably too numerous to mention. However, I do recall at one convention, I believe it was in San Diego, a guy came up to my table with a industrial push cart, filled with every comic book I had ever done in my thirty years in the business (and if you look at my checklist at the features page, you know that is a lot of freaking comics!). Although I told him there was no way I was going to sign them all in one sitting, I did have him come back in the course of three days and autographed them in increments until I got the job done. Fifteen long boxes of comic books with wheels?!  Strange enough for me.

Florida SuperCon panel

Hi Mr. Layton,

Sorry to bother you, but I was thinking of buying a cover you did with Mr. Romita Jr. but noticed a few differences between the printed version and the original artwork. Would it be okay to send you scans to get your opinions/history of the art?

The art to  me looks the same, but you have the force lines at the top that were erased or obscured in the published version.

I noticed that the Action in Atlantic City box in the lower left is gone but I was told that there is no glue stain, so maybe it was not a stat. Would they have put some of these things on a photocopy? Do you think this is the original to the Iron Man #124 cover?

Thanks again for any information.

Michael O'Halloran

Michael,

It looks like the real deal to me.  I examined the jpeg at an enlarged size and the pen lines are definitely mine. As was the case in those days at Marvel, a lot of changes were made in covers in post-production. I can only presume that the force lines were eliminated on a photostat copy and that copy was used instead of the original to make the final plate. That's probably why there is no paste-up marks on the original cover.

Dear Bob,

Like a lot of people, I first became a fan of your work through Iron Man, specifically the classic Sunturion/Space Armour issues. To this day, Demon in a Bottle and Armour Wars stand out as two of the finest comic stories ever produced. Like a lot of fans, I also lament over Marvel’s treatment of Tony, especially in the face of his sudden transformation to megalomaniacal super-villain in the pages of Civil War.

Funny enough, the character I most empathized with during your Iron Man runs was actually Scott Lang. There was something about this ex-con/single father that resonated with me. Being raised by a single parent myself (my mother), I think I could relate more to Scott and Cassie than I could to the Millionaire Tony. Scott’s world seemed more “real” than Tony’s, and much more like my own.

Scott made an instant impression on my 10-year-old mind. I followed Scott through every Iron Man and Avengers appearance he made, and was fortunate enough to track down his Marvel Premiere appearances as well. He is one of the few characters that had me rushing to my local store every time I knew he was making an appearance. He remains one of my favourite characters, despite Marvel’s mistreatment of the character. The nonchalant and insulting way in which they recently killed him left me angry, and is one of the reasons why I refuse to read New Avengers. Apparently, great “lesser” characters like Scott Lang are fair game at Marvel nowadays.

Anyway, trying to keep this email positive, I just wanted to thank you and David for creating and developing Scott Lang, and making him such an incredible character. I was wondering if you could share a little insight into the creation and development of Scott Lang.

Regards,

David Richardson

Melbourne, Australia

Dear David,

Here's a little insight that you probably aren't aware of...I had nothing to do with the creation of Scott Lang. As much as I'd like to take credit for the development of Marvel's new Ant Man, it was all the delightful David Michelinie's doing. I was just the fortunate pair of hands that got to work with David on the project as one of the artists. Though I haven't read the issues myself, it pains me to hear of the death of such a fun character. Fortunately, no one who dies in comics ever stays dead for long, eh? So-- who knows?

 1. You once compared the mission-specific Iron Man armors to the need for  specialty cars in the world of auto racing. (It was in the preface to the MANY ARMORS OF IRON MAN trade paperback.) So, tell us, are you a NASCAR or racing fan as well as a New York Jets enthusiast? Side note for old-time Jets fans: A new biography on Joe Namath, simply entitled JOE NAMATH, published by Rugged Land, was released in mid-November. This superb hardcover, chock full of photos, also includes a DVD of Broadway Joe¹s career. I have the BRETT FAVRE edition, and the DVD is fabulous.

1. Nascar? Hahahahahahaha...no. "They're going left!.....they're still going left!" Not my idea of a good way to spend three hours of my life. The analogy that I used about specialty cars was simply an appropriate comparison of machinery. Thanks for the heads-up on the bio on "Broadway Joe".

 2. Do you think that if you hadn¹t decided to make the move to successfully shape the Valiant universe, you ultimately might have become the editor-in-chief at Marvel?

2. Editor-in-Chief at Marvel? Hahahahahahahahaha...no.

The truth of the matter is, Mike, there were many people still at Marvel during that time who were much more qualified than me. In my judgment, it made more sense to be a big fish in a smaller pond by moving to Valiant. Obviously, that turned out to be true. Had I stayed at Marvel, I probably would have become an editor at some point, but there was no way that I could've fit in to the corporate structure there. Like I didn't have a hard enough time dealing with corrupt scumbags at Acclaim?! Sheesh!

 3. What type of comic-book research library do you have? Or, where during your career did you research the various characters you either wrote or drew? I ask this because you provided a number of illustrations for the OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, such as the Guardsman, Mandroid, and The Mauler.
 

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