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Dear
Mike,
This
month, I want to turn the tables on “Mike¹s Monthly Missives” and ask
YOU the questions!
1. Mike, in all my years of working in the business, I¹ve never
encountered a comics fan who was as informed and devoted to a single
character than you are to Iron Man. Could you explain the origin of your
fascination with that particular super-hero?
I fell in love with Iron Man back in the 1960’s after reading a reprint
of AVENGERS #2, drawn by Jack Kirby, which featured old Shellhead in his
gold 'clunk' armor. Shortly thereafter, I became a big Captain America
fan, enjoying his adventures in TALES OF SUSPENSE, a Marvel mag
co-starring Iron Man, whose stories teamed Stan Lee with Gene Colan. The
infatuation with IM continued! For a number of years, I lost interest in
comics until your and David Michelinie¹s first run on IM hit the stands
in the late 1970's. Afterwards, I dropped out of comics again until in a
convenience store I spied IM #205, featuring Iron Man in his red and
silver armor. I was hooked once more, and little did I know that you had
designed that particular armor! I stayed with Iron Man on a steady basis
until "The Crossing" storyline in the early 1990's and then lost
the majority of my affection for the character until IRON MAN: BAD BLOOD.
These days, comic-wise, I primarily seek out and read back issues of the
various books and stories you and Michelinie have produced, along with any
new IM stuff that links to the Shellhead story arcs from your and David's
two runs on IRON MAN, such as the current IRON MAN: THE INEVITABLE. I¹m
also totally addicted to your new IM armor designs that you post on
boblayton.com. Finally, I hope some day that you and David get a shot at
completing your Iron Man/Doc Doom ‘Camelot Trilogy’, as I
affectionately call it.
Writing ‘Mike¹s Missives', therefore, is a fanboy’s dream come true.
And, before I forget, I was a long-time columnist for ADVANCED IRON.
2. We¹ve been working together for a
while now, and our correspondence goes back as far as I can remember.
However, I know absolutely nothing about you on a personal level. Where
do you hail from and what do you do for a living? Family?
I live in Chisholm, Minnesota, a small mining town and the former home of
Doc ‘Moonlight’ Graham, the fellow played by Burt Lancaster in the
now-classic baseball film, FIELD OF DREAMS. Yep, Graham WAS a real guy! I
started a scholarship fund in his name by selling a series of baseball
cards I designed and created, featuring various aspects of his life and
baseball career. To date, we¹ve awarded twenty-three $500 scholarships to
graduating seniors of Chisholm High School. Originally, I’m from
Hibbing, Minnesota, just seven miles from Chisholm. Hibbing is also the
home of Bob Dylan. (Not that I¹m making any type of comparison between
him and me!)
The 2005 Graham Scholarship winners threw out the first pitch at the
Minnesota Twins game in Minneapolis on June 29, 2005, which commemorated
the 100th anniversary of Graham¹s first and only appearance in major
league baseball.
My wife and I worked for a mining company--in these parts, these days,
companies mine taconite, a low-grade iron ore; formerly, high grade
natural iron ore was both taken from the ground via strip mining and
underground mining -- and we made enough money, and subsequently invested
it, to retire at age 50. I turn 51 this November. My wife was a purchasing
agent, while I worked in data processing as a programmer.
Currently,
I write a weekly humor column for our local newspaper (2006 will be my
10th year) and supply various photographs of the goings-on in our
community. As a volunteer, I help teach computer basics to first, second,
and third graders on a weekly basis. I’ve been doing this for nine
years. I also use the hallways of Chisholm's three schools to display
photos I take of school activities -- sports, etc. So far this year I¹ve
posted well over 3,000. Thank goodness for Nikon D70 digital cameras!
(I’ve used their film cameras from 1978 until around 2001 and cannot
imagine ever dealing with film again.)
I’ve
self-published three books over the years: THE PROMISE, a children¹s book
about the Great Chisholm Fire of 1908; a humorous booklet of Iron Range
dialect, HAWDAW TALK RAYNCHER; and a book of cartoons, OZ LIGHT, which
features the ‘Wizard of Oz’ characters coping with life in the real
world.
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(I’m
also a HUGE Oz fan and in fact helped the folks at the Judy Garland Museum
in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, start a scholarship fund of their own.) In
the summer of 2005 I edited and designed GREYHOUND HUMOR, a book of
Greyhound bus stories and cartoons for the Greyhound Bus Museum in
Hibbing.
Let
me back up a second. The area I live in is called the Mesabi Iron Ore
Range. The people here are called Iron Rangers (or, ‘raynchers’, as
the old-timers pronounced it). The word ‘mesabi’ is an Ojibway
(native American) word meaning ‘red giant’, which personifies the
red iron ore body that was mined from the early 1900’s through the
1960’s. My children’s book digs into the legend of the red giant
Mesabi, a bona fide legend, who was said to ‘awaken’ during the first
two world wars -- mining production was stepped-up during those two
conflicts. Finally, anyone who saw the film NORTH COUNTRY got a feel for
the Iron Range, although the movie was a fictional depiction of the book
CLASS ACTION, the story of a landmark sexual harassment case at Eveleth
Mines back in the 1970s. (Eveleth, Minnesota, is approximately 24 miles
from Chisholm.) It¹s unfortunate the film couldn’t just simply
follow the book, instead of adding a lot of fictitious junk.
Before I forget, Chisholm has an ‘Iron Man' of its own: an 85-foot high
bronze statue of an underground miner which serves as a memorial. In my
kids’ book, he comes alive and meets Mesabi, who has awakened for the
second time. Both Mesabi and the Iron Man appear on the book’s cover.
I’ve also supplied several one-panel cartoon series for a number of
local newspapers with artist friends: “Hawdaw Talk Rayncher” (based
on the book); “Tales of the Love Worn” (men vs.women/relationships);
“Oz Light”; and my current one, “Rabid Rabbit”, featuring an irate
bunny who rants about everything.
At the moment I¹m working with artist Allen Del Caro to produce a 12-page
story which will debut our pride and joy, War Wabbit -- an armored hare
clad in nanite armor, comprised of sentient nanites that don’t really
like the rabbit and cause all kinds of mischief; the nanites turn
Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” right on its ear. Al calls it a
‘funny Frankenstein’ story. I liken the relationship of the nanites to
the rabbit--their creator -- to the one between the Wicked Witch of the
West and her winged monkeys, which is a hilarious arrangement!
As
if ANYONE could control winged monkeys! And, yes, METALLIX was one of my
inspirations in helping Al develop War Wabbit. We¹re also a pair of big
Captain Carrot fans. (With all of this in mind, Bob, you can see why I
enjoyed your THE BAD EGGS run so much.)
3. If you could change the current direction of the comics industry,
where do you think it should go?
In my opinion, the comics industry, at least the
mainstream portion of it, needs to grow and develop a younger readership,
by first creating a good product and then placing it where kids can easily
find it. Easier said than done, unfortunately. Comics by far, to me, are
the WORST value for the entertainment dollar; read them once and no need
to read them again. And who even NEEDS comics when DVDs and video games
are available? Why READ about Spider-Man when you can BE Spider-Man by
playing a video game? Young kids DO read a lot though, which I¹ve seen
during my eight years in the Chisholm schools. (Or, does that just mean
Chisholm kids enjoy reading?) So, kids not reading isn¹t the problem
with comics by itself. In fact, Scholastic Books offers a SPIDER-GIRL
trade paperback to kids. I bought one, in fact, at the Chisholm schools¹
2005 fall book fair.
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Or
is the problem American superhero comics? I think so. The various and
numerous MANGA-based trades in major bookstores seem to sell well to kids.
If they didn’t, those collections--which commonly retail for $7.99 each!
– wouldn’t be on store shelves for long.
I think, Bob, that your idea of moving comics-related product via
bookstores was solid from the get-go several years ago and now has been
proven effective.
Perhaps, then, the mainstream people should take a hard look at manga¹s
success in this country and learn from it.
And as we all know, American comics are still looked down upon by our
culture. Case in point: It¹s all right for me to wear a Minnesota Vikings
jersey anywhere and, as a result, be accepted, but if I were to don an
Iron Man t-shirt, I¹d be branded an idiot in about 1.5 seconds.
My favorite manga is ASTRO-BOY. I have, and still enjoy, the entire
23-volume Dark Horse run. The story and art within are wonderful.
4. In your opinion, which comic character,
that hasn¹t made it to the screen yet, should be a major motion picture ?
Why?
I basically don’t like superhero films and don’t support them,
although I have the first four seasons of SMALLVILLE on DVD and love Œem
to death. I’m two discs into Season Four, and I have to pace myself. I
have the first two BLADE movies on DVD as well and re-watch them at least
once a year. The third film stunk. I didn¹t like the first SPIDEY movie
at all. After the third BLADE, I refused to view any of the subsequent
Marvel films: DAREDEVIL, HULK, SPIDEY II, ELECTRA, FF, etc. I didn¹t see
BATMAN BEGINS, either, which I heard was decent. I think it¹s an age
thing, Bob. I just know the story will be weak, the dialogue cliché and
too many CGI effects that are painful to the eyes.
I even fear an IRON MAN flick...unless you and Michelinie have a hand in
it. (Oh: And did David even receive a speck of recognition from the
movie people for all his work on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN? No. But the artists
who worked with him on the title did. Pretty sick and very disrespectful.
David created VENOM, for crying out loud!)
The new upcoming Superman film already makes me cringe after I saw a still
of the Man of Steel¹s new costume. Bleh.
I dunno. Maybe your Hercules would do well as a movie, although Hercules,
at least in the 1960’s, was no stranger to the silver screen. Hercules
makes me laugh; the world needs more humor, Bob.
5. You're probably the one person in
fandom who has followed my career the closest. I'm very interested in your
opinion concerning what you believe has been my biggest success and
my largest failure?
‘Success’ and ‘failure’ are tricky words. Both notions define a
person, yet I hesitate to use them when discussing someone’s
accomplishments or lack of them.
Your biggest career success? Leading Valiant to become the Publisher
of the Year in 1993 immediately comes to mind. That had to be sweet, Bob,
acing out The Big Two for the title, during a time when the American
comics industry was BOOMING and both Marvel and DC had the financial
wherewithal to crush all comers in terms of possible product volume.
Or, is your greatest success having helped define Iron Man for a
still-appreciative audience? Shoot, and how many times have current
creative teams borrowed from your and Michelinie¹s story ideas? Lots!
Either way, both successes are solid, and reflect two venues: one as a
creator and the other as a businessman AND mentor to budding creators.
Biggest failure... begs the questioning of the creation of Future Comics,
but I don¹t look at it that way. NOT to have TRIED launching Future
Comics would have been a failure, to my way of thinking. A guy -- for the
love of his craft and for his very being -- has to continue to try, even
in the worst of times, and in this case the current state of the comics
industry.
I know you’ve often said that you¹ll never again work in mainstream
comics, and so far you haven’t, although you¹ve produced a number of
covers for John Taddeo’s ZOOM SUIT.
I
hope some day you and Michelinie get another shot at IRON MAN in some
manner, and that you guys take it. Not doing so would constitute failure
in my mind--failing your fans AND, worse, failing the character that you¹re
so often identified with.
That’s it, that¹s all. Answering questions is hard. Next month, back to
my regular gig.
Mike Kalibabky
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