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All e-mails sent to Bob may be published on this Letters Page unless withholding is specifically requested.
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Dear
Mr. Layton: As
a longtime DC comics fan, I am currently working on a project (which I
hope to turn into a website) that will, when completed, provide a full
database for every costumed super-villain in the DC universe. One
of the things I would like to provide (if at all possible) is insights
from the writers who created these villains as to what makes these bad
guys tick...any aspects of their origins that have not made it into
stories yet for one reason or another, and psychological make-up. Obviously,
this will not be possible for many of the villains created during the
Golden Age, as many of the writers and creators from that era are no
longer with us. But I would like to provide such things for those
villains whose creators are still alive. It's not a mandatory part
of the project, but I think it would be great to have. I
realize that you are very busy with your current writing projects, but
would it be possible for you to spare some time as I work on this so that
I could ask a question or two regarding some of your own villain creations
for DC? I promise not to rush you (I have no deadlines on this)
or to push you in any way. Virtually any information you can provide
along the way would be absolutely wonderful! And, if you feel that you simply can't spare the time, that's okay too. I completely understand. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? (1)
I recall from the L.A.W. story that on his way to becoming Avatar, Tiger (former
Judomaster sidekick) had to track down the legendary weapons of the
Hindu mythological figure Parashrama. One was an ax belonging to
Shiva, another was an all-seeing eye that originated with someone called
Andakhar (I think that was the name; did Agamotto ever sue for
copyright infringement?) And the third was the serum of immortality
from Soma. Anyway, I was thinking...if those weapons were considered
myths by most Hindus, or at the very least long-hidden religious
artifacts, then just how did Tiger manage to track them down? Wasn't
that a pretty colossal undertaking for him, given that his resources were
a tad on the meager side? Did he have help? And if so, who
helped him...and how did he get them to cooperate with him? (2)
I also had a question or two regarding his motives. I understand
that the Soma serum was at least partially to blame for his insanity (though
it sounds like he had a head start in that regard, if he was able to
convince himself that Judomaster resented him) but what were his plans
for after he succeeded in his goals? Did he assume that once he'd
essentially caused all war to stop that everyone would simply accept his
benign dictatorship? (Assuming that the people of the world really
thought he was all that benign, that is.) Or did he plan to spend the
rest of his eternal life as a watchdog for humanity, ensuring that they
would never try to wage war again? Thank you for your time, David
Peattie Las Vegas, NV
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Dear David, A
few words about The L.A.W. before I answer your questions: It
was extremely nostalgic to reconnect with the Charlton characters after my
years of fan association with them as publisher of the Charlton Bullseye. However,
I feel that the entire project was a big mistake and was doomed from
square one. However,
the powers-that-be convinced Dick Giordano (penciler/co-plotter)
and me that it would sell best if we created a storyline that tied into
the regular DC Universe. In order to do
Subsequently, it started
getting edited by committee, with each editorial department insisting we "Do
this" or "Don't do that". As a result, the content became diluted to the point that I no longer
recognized it as the story I had created.
At DC, a creator has to deal with an extraordinary amount of
bureaucracy and red tape. Unfortunately, it began to simply beat the enthusiasm out of me and
Dickie. We were told, at the beginning of the project, that we were going to get
some big promotions for the series but it never materialized. Without any promotion or crossover push, the books didn't pull in the
numbers we had hoped for. It's too bad it wound up the way it did. We had big plans for those characters down the road in the
proposed regular series. Now--
to your questions:
(1) Of course Tiger had help. As I stated in the comic (issue#4),
it was the original ancient text that he uncovered that led him to the
other Hindu relics. I believe
I showed him with lackeys as he explored the various ancient sites. I also
insinuated that Tiger killed them to keep the relics existence secret. What I wanted to do with him was to show how driven and obsessed he had
become in order to step out of Judomaster’s shadow. Keep in mind that Tiger learned from example.
After the war, when Tiger was denied entry to the country he risked
his life to defend, Judomaster dragged him around Southeast Asia for
almost a decade in his obsession to find the legendary city of Nanda
Parbat. (2) That is the nature of megalomania and insanity.
I don’t believe that any would-be conqueror actually thinks out
the big picture. It’s all
about ‘getting there’. Look
at Iraq.
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Hi
Mr. Layton, Just
visiting your site and wanted to drop a note about how much I enjoy
reading the letters section and seeing all the concept art and commission
pages. When reading the letters section I have come to the conclusion that
you truly are a class act. It
would have been great to see you in Toronto along with three of my
favorite artists (Sears, Smith, and Grummett). Not such a fan of
Bart’ work on Warlord but his work on the Justice League Europe will
remain a favorite of mine--always. Just
a quick question about an artist I always liked that I
never hear about these days, Pat Broderick. I know he worked with you
during the Future Comics venture, and I wondered if you still kept in
touch? I sure would love to see him come back and do something in the
realm of comics again. Man, I would be broke if a publisher was putting
out a group of comics with Layton, Grummett, Sears, Smith, and Broderick
doing art duties. That would be a dream come true! Thanks
for your time Bob, and all the best in the future. Best
regards, Chris
Ellis Vancouver B.C.
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UNPUBLISHED COVER TO FUTURE COMICS' MICRONAUTS #1
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Dear Chris, I have no idea where Pat Broderick is today…and apparently--no one else does either. He
has literally dropped off the face of the earth. Allow me to explain: While
Pat was working at Future, we were approached by Micronauts license holder
Ken Abrams about creating new comic series with Broderick as the artist. Dick Giordano, David Michelinie and I started Future Comics with the idea of creating new intellectual properties, not managing other people’s characters. My interest was more motivated by doing Broderick a service as a fellow artist. I kept thinking how I would feel if Marvel offered David and me the rights to Iron Man. This was the series Pat was best known for and I bent over backwards to try to make it work for him. But, unfortunately, it was a sentimental decision and not motivated by anything resembling business logic. So,
to make a long story short—the principles of the company debated the
offer, crunched the numbers based on Image’s current existing version
and, ultimately, made the decision to pass on the project. Unfortunately,
Pat leaked the news of the potential project on the Internet prematurely.
As a result, the Micronauts deal became a huge public embarrassment for
Future Comics (and probably for Devil’s Due, as well—who were still
publishing the title at that time.).
As a result, I wound-up having to apologize to Mr. Abrams
profusely. However,
in hindsight, passing on the Micronauts project was the right thing to do. Nor,
it seems, has anyone else. |
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Hey
Bob, I’ve
got a question that’s been driving me batty for a few years. Why
is it every single page of Valiant art I see for sale has NO LETTERS on
the pages, BUT the outline of a word balloon is present? What
happened to all the letters? Did someone scrape them all off before given
back to the artists? Please
solve this mystery for me. Larry
Clay |
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Larry Ol' Pal, It was because of Jim Shooter. He
was a classic procrastinator. Jim was late on every single issue he ever
wrote at Valiant. I mean--he was the worst at making deadlines of anyone I've
ever worked with in over 30 years of being in comics. I
offer simple proof: Those stupid blank balloons you mentioned. One
needs only to look at any Valiant art page, see the pasted-up balloons and
conclude that there must have been a reason for lettering the pages that
way. There
was. The writing was always late. Late…late…incredibly late..! We
(Valiant's Production Department) pasted-up the lettering from
overlays because the scripts were always the last thing to be completed. The
humorous side of this was that the guys in the production department (who
were not dyed-in-wool comic guys) continued the practice of pasting-up
the balloons for quite a while after Shooter’s departure from the
company. One
day, about a year after Jim left, I was walking through Knob Row and
noticed that the production guys were pasting up balloons on a book I KNEW
wasn’t late. Because
no one ever told them that paste-ups were anything but the norm, the
practice continued. Also, because the Valiant coloring was painted onto watercolor board with Doc Martin dyes, an individual black plate was needed to insure that the lettering didn't get separated in the printing process, because it would create registration problems. So much over the lettering continued to be done on overlays although the balloons were lettered directly onto the art. Does
that answer your question, Larry? |
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Bob,
I hope that the comic medium will be around for years to come but with the way things are going, I wonder if they will be around in the next ten or so years. I
am 39 years old and still reading...and here's to 39 more years of comics.
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Dear Chris, It must be "Missing Cartoonists Month" here at Bob Layton.Com! First---Pat Broderick...and now--Art Nichols! I want you, and all the readers out there, to know that I will ALWAYS make my time available for a charitable cause. I was proud to donate my services to you last season and I'm prepared to roll up my sleeves once again. When you're ready, let me know what you require from me and I'll get to work--pronto! I have absolutely no idea how to contact Mr. Nichols. Sorry, but perhaps someone reading this might. That's why I decided to publish your e-mail this month. C'mon, gang--help this brother out! I'd like to urge all of my readers to do what they can to aid in this worthy cause. Buy an autographed book, make a private donation or just spread the word. Anything you can do will be appreciated by me, Chris, Alyssa and all those afflicted with this terrible malady. Thanks,
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1.‘The
Camelot Trilogy,’ as I call it, featuring ol’ Shellhead and Doctor
Doom in IRON MAN, Vol. 1, #¹s 149-150, Part 1, and #¹s 250-251, Part 2,
is an unfinished work. In Part 1, Iron Man and Doom time-travel back to
the days of King Arthur, while in Part 2 they journey to Camelot of the
future. David Michelinie once commented that Part 3, if it ever were to be
written, the overall story would conclude in the present day.
Mike, David and I went so far as to actually plot the bloody thing! The story took place in present day (instead of the past or future) and brought the entire Arthurian storyline to a logical conclusion. We submitted a detailed outline of the third Camelot saga in 2002—but, unfortunately, Marvel was less than interested in pursuing it as a possible mini-series. In spite of the clamor from hordes of Iron Man fans to allow David and I to do the occasional special or mini-series, Tom Brevoort seems to have something against the possibility of that ever happening. I do you think he believes that the material his office is currently producing is superior to anything David and I could ever accomplish? Gosh--I
hope not! As
far as a new armor—I’m not saying.
Who knows…? I may want to post the third Camelot plot here in the
future and I wouldn't want to spoil anything.
2. No—we had no plans for anything like that. Tony is a modern guy and belongs exactly where he’s at. I inked that issue of ‘What If’ as a favor to my pal, Uncle Don Perlin. That’s the long and short of it! |
3. You penciled and inked IRON MAN #¹s 249-250 (#250, by the way was double-sized, as was #150), whereas you inked John Romita Jr.’s pencils in #’s 149-150. Was JRJR ever considered for the penciling gig on 249-250, or was the labor of love too great for you not to produce all the artwork? Your rendition of Doc Doom, I must say, is one of The Best ever.
3. No—I was the regular Iron Man penciller at the time that #250 was produced. JRJR was busy elsewhere at that time (although I would have welcomed his contribution in a heartbeat!). Unfortunately, that particular issue created some very bad blood between me and the editor Howard Mackie. Howard, fearing that I wouldn’t be able to make the tight deadline, took several pages of my pencils (which were rough layouts—the way I work when I’m inking myself) and passed them out in to the Bullpen to ink. He didn’t bother to inform me that he was doing that, nor did he give me an option to double my efforts or recruit someone more competent to assist. The end results were disastrous—with a bunch of very amateur-looking pages mixed in with my work. After that, my relationship with Mackie was tense at best. However, I did press on with the plans to continue the series with JRJR when his schedule opened up. But that—is another story.
4.Nope...but
you’ve just given me a great idea for a commission piece!
5
Simply an amalgam. Actually, there’s a lot of David Michelinie’s
personality in his version of Merlin.
6.
I’ll take that statement as an unabashed plug for Mr. David’s novels,
Mike. See you next month!
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IF YOU WISH TO CONTRIBUTE A LETTER OF COMMENT TO THIS PAGE, PLEASE SEND YOUR E-MAILS TO: BOB.LAYTON@BOBLAYTON.COM
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