Hey Bob,

I hope that Wilma didn't even give you a drop of rain.  I don't think so, as I believe you were way North of it.  The storm knocked out my car again, but State Farm is right there on top of things.  Luckily, there was no damage to myself, home or your Hercules and Iron Man masterpieces I own!  They survive!  I hope things are good with your present projects.

Take care,

Lynch Lee Hymn

Dear Lynch,

I'd like to take a moment to thank you and the score of other fans who took the time to write me about their concern for my welfare during the Hurricane Wilma situation.  I'm happy to report that we went through the ordeal without sustaining any serious damage.  Unfortunately, not everyone in South Florida can make that claim.  I hope that my regular readers will find it in their hearts to donate to hurricane relief--whether it's damage caused by Rita, Katrina or Wilma.  The victims of each one of those storms need our help--today.

Ok,

So I really, really remember your Iron Man run that was some of the best comics ever. You took him from being a guy in a cool suit to a guy who rivaled Reed for creative inventiveness.

Ok, my question: Exclusive contracts? Why? What good are they doing the industry? What good are they even doing the company? And more importantly and above and beyond all other questions, isn't it at some point the fan who is going to have to pay monetarily for the exclusivity?

Ron Lake

Dear Ron,

The question concerning exclusive creator contracts is a good one. 

Having been on both sides of the desk, I do have a little understanding concerning contracts. The answer is two-fold:

One:  Keep in mind that an exclusive contract is akin to being a salaried employee--therefore making the freelancer eligible for medical benefits.  That can be a huge incentive for artists with families--given the industry does nothing and cares little about the health and welfare of the freelance community. Are the costs of health care and high page rates passed on to the consumer?  You bet!

Two: The industry is plagued with artists who have very little company loyalty.  Five more bucks per page will generally guarantee a departure of a top creative talent from one company to another. The Big Two companies compete fiercely on a regular monthly basis--and raiding each other's talent pool has been a standard procedure for as long as I can remember.

More of a depressing side of the equation is that artistic attention spans have grown increasingly shorter.  The average run on a title by a creator these days is less than six months. A contract insures continued output from today's A.D.D.-stricken contract player--with penalties built into the contract for failure to comply.  Generally speaking, contracts are designed only to protect the company.  The freelancers who signs gets certain guarantees--but all of them can be rendered null and void at any time by the company, if they so desire to terminate the agreement.

Thanks for the kind words concerning my work in comics.

Mr. Layton,
You probably don't remember me from my time with Advanced Iron, but I had a (small) hand in designing the Iron Man armor for Kurt Busiek's run. 
I recently read your chat transcript at Comic Book Resources, and I just wanted to say that it's a real shame that you cannot do one last Iron Man run.  Your story for Iron Man "The End" was great, and I was especially intrigued in your comments about Iron Man resembling the Silver Surfer ideally.  Ever since reading "The Engineer" in The Authority, a compact, sleek armor has become a better and better idea to me.  I wholeheartedly agree that sleeker is better where technology is concerned and I, too, think that Iron Man's armor has become too clunky of late.  The Silver Centurion and it's successor (in Iron Man #231) are still the best armor's I've ever seen.  In light of your comments, I was wondering if you'd mind doing a Nano-armor Iron Man for your web page.  I'm extremely interested in what your ideal, perfect Iron Man would be.  Please consider this, and please keep up the excellent website.  It's a nice reminder of the days when the story came first (days increasingly rare in comics).  Thanks for your time!
Allen Bujak

Dear Allen,

How is this for fulfilling a request?

Hello Bob,
I'm a big fan of your X-O Manowar series. (Obviously) lol!
I know chances of seeing X-O in action again are just high hopes at this
time. So I had to fantasize about the idea of seeing another X-O Manowar comic in
press.  I have some fan art here and I really wanted you to see it. (that's right! Woo-Hoo! It's X-O) Well, I kind of made my own version of X-O Manowar. It was really fun trying to come up with a X-O armor. Like in the comic, the armor adjusts to its individual owner.
This image serves absolutely NO PURPOSE! It is not going to be used for anything other than for my own fun and to show you. I thought it was cool, so I wanted to share with you an imagination you have helped shape with Iron Man/ X-O Manowar since I was in my mid teens.
And may the world once again one day see a REAL X-O Manowar 2 Series. WOO-HOO!
Two thumbs up here!
I came up with that X-O sword in less than 3 minutes. lol! That’s one of my talents. I haven't quite mastered the 3D dynamic poses in comics, but my conceptual are very extreme.  I can only hope my skills will someday advance to your
level of outstanding perfection.
Thank you BOB for your influence. Hope you enjoy my version of X-O Manowar.
Sincerely,
Graham F. Ganson

Graham,
Thank you so much for sharing your illustration with me. I have to
say--that's a wild take of the costume.
Would you mind if I used the drawing and your letter on next month's Bob
Layton .com letters page?  I think it would be fun to share with everyone. I'd like to encourage more fans to send in their BL-related
illustrations.
Best wishes, 

Bob:

Saw your chat transcript on CBR, and wasn’t aware until then that you’d had a website up. Very nice layout, and it’s pretty much how *I* would have designed a site for an artist. Kudos to whoever did your web design!

What I’m curious about, though, is what happened to that reported regular Hercules In Space series that was supposed to have followed the success of the first mini. The reason I’m interested is that the first mini was the subject of a major term paper I did for a Greek mythology class at Texas U. back in the mid-80’s(*). The mini was always one of my favorites, and why Marvel didn’t pick up this particular ball and run with it still escapes me. Was this simply a case of Shooter screwing things up from the editorial end, or were you simply not available for the regular series?

Thanks for the great art over the years, Bob. Here’s hoping that the idiots in charge of either of the asylums finally figure out that clean art with substance is far more enduring than giant shoulder pads, tiny heads, anorexic waists and super-massive boobs, and put you back to work on a regular title!

OM

Dear OM,

I was blown away when I read that you actually wrote a term paper on my Hercules mini series.  I'd really like to read it sometime.

As far as I know, there was never a plan to do a regular Hercules: Prince of Power comic series.  Shortly after doing the second Herc series, I returned to Iron Man for my second run on that title. Shooter was guilty of a lot of things, but killing the Herc regular series wasn't one of them.

Believe me, if there had been talk of doing Herc regularly, I would have probably stayed with it instead of going back to Shellhead.  But then--there wouldn't have been an Armor Wars, would there?

I appreciate your enthusiasm and support and hope I never let you down.

Thanks for writing.

Hello Mr. Layton, :-)
We are two comic draftsmen from Germany.
Perhaps would you be interested to have further contact with us?
We always are great America-fans and are happy about new contacts with Americans.
Do you still actually work for Marvel or so?
We always liked to read your work on Iron Man. Excellent.
What do you work on today?
All best from Germany
Klaus & Wolfgang Schwandt

Klaus und Wolfgang,

Danke soviel für die freundlichen wörter über meine arbeit über Iron Man. In beantwortung ihrer frage: No -- ich arbeite nicht mehr für Marvel Comics. Z.Z. handhabe ich meine persönliche web site und ich arbeite mit einigen einzelpersonen in Hollywood, um einige meiner
konzepte zum film und zum fernsehen zu holen.
Beste Wünsche,

Dear Mr. Layton;
I am a younger comics fan (24), and I wasn't reading during your run on Iron Man.  My first exposure to your work would have been through Valiant.  I loved X-O, I think he was a truly inspired creation and it's a shame that there isn't a monthly out there starring him right now. Being an aspiring creator myself (and who isn't these days?), I was particularly inspired by Future Comics.  I have every issue of Freemind and Metallix that were published and I think both were great concepts that should have legs in other media.  I found your site today through your chat on CBR.  I had been checking the former futurecomicsonline.com site on an off since the books stopped being published, but I was not aware of your site until today.
Needless to say, I was very happy to see Metallix #7 (part one) online.  I actually read through my Metallix run only a few days ago (simply because I ran across them in my collection) so the whole book was fresh on my mind, and it's great to see another issue out there to enjoy.  I wanted to thank you for posting it, and for Future Comics in general.  I really did enjoy those books. I was also curious as to if there is a future for the characters online...is there ANY possibility of new stories staring the Metallix team, or Freemind?  It seems to me that a lot of people are downloading comics these days, reading them on their computers, on their PSPs and new media machines for casual browsing while sitting in your living room are just around the corner.  With the comics printed online there would be no "printing" cost, and it would create new content that could spike more interest from other media outlets, and there might be a way to make a buck or two in there as well.  Anyway, I'm rambling.
I just wanted to say that I'm glad I found your site, I will be checking in regularly, and one of these days I'm going to commission an X-O vs. Metallix drawing (as soon as I can save my pennies.) Thank you for all your great work.
Sincerely,
Michael Murphey 

Dear Michael,

I'm pleased that you continue to support David, Ron and my work on Metallix.  It was truly a labor of love for us.

Currently, we don't have plans to do any other new material for the title, online or otherwise.  However, I'm currently working with an independent publisher to put together a Metallix trade paperback.  Hopefully, that deal will get done soon and we'll see Team Metallix back on the newsstands.

BTW: There was a eighth issue of the series created. Fifteen pages were drawn, scripted  and inked but never published. It was a charming story that featured Blue and Stu in a solo adventure. Perhaps, if the TPB goes well, we'll get an opportunity to finish that lost chapter.

Hello,

Hope you are doing well. I recently saw a chat transcript of yours online, which prompted me to get in touch with you. My writing partner and I have long admired your work, and wanted to see if you’d be interested in chatting about a few industry-related topics.

To give you some reference on our own previous professional work, we’ve sold several million copies of our comic-related projects since 2003 (including Top 50 hits like Transformers and Devil May Cry), and we've also done adaptations and toy/animation development work for companies like Nintendo and Hasbro.

Basically, we were just looking to gauge the opinions of someone who’s seen the highs and lows of the modern comic industry, to see where you think things are headed (and if there’s any way to improve the current situation).

I noticed that you expressed some concerns about many of the things that we ran into during our comparatively brief time in the industry so far, such as the surprising lack of professionalism and marketing tactics that seem to keep focusing onto an ever-dwindling, older audience, with no serious attempts to appeal to the all-important youth demographic that once drove comic stories and sales. Since you and your collaborators have had such strong careers creating effective and lasting comic work, do you think there’s anything that creators can do today to help reverse this decline? Right now, with such a uniformly negative storytelling tone and a near-total lack of stories that can be enjoyed equally by both young and old readers, it doesn’t feel like the industry itself wants to provide the amount of variety that might help it.

Anyway, I’d be glad to hear some of your thoughts on the above. Take care, and talk to you soon.

Adam Patyk

Adam,
The major problem, as I see it, is that the current crop of mainstream titles are totally inaccessible to the general public. The analogy I commonly use is that if Star Trek movies were written by hardcore Trekkers, the general film going public would be totally alienated by all of the insider references. That's what's going on in comics at the moment. Comics are written by former fans, for current fans.
That's why there isn't a huge sales spike in the Spider-Man titles when a movie is released.
In my opinion, accessibility to the product is something that has to change in order for the comics industry, and the monthly periodical, to succeed in the long term.  That's what my Future Comics venture attempted to do--create a line of characters that would be easily accessible to the general public, defying the convoluted continuity and trendy storytelling techniques that make today's products confusing.
So--Stage One to the road to recovery for the monthly periodical:
Fix the friggin' content of the books. Like you said--less negative characters and storytelling tone.
Also, quite a large number of comic shops are dingy, poorly managed venues, akin to XXX porn shops.
Stage Two to recovery:
The comic industry (Diamond and the Big Two specifically) needs to take a very hard look at some good retail business models, like Midtown Comics and Jim Hanley's in NYC, and strive to help the Direct Market create easily accessible venues where young people can casually find and purchase comics, either through subsidies or discount incentives.
At various times, Future looked at mall kiosks, movie theaters and similar venues to sell our comics and related merchandise, places where there can be walk-in business in a clean, attractive environment.
All the best,

Hi Bob,

How are you? Hope you Jillian are doing well. Lu and I are doing well and a week away from calibrating our 12-year anniversary.

By the way, I read this month’s blog on your site and sympathize with your NY JETS. That's tough knowing so early in the season that your team hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of making it to the Super Bowl. I'm still rooting for the Eagles, big surprise from a South Philly boy, but I don't think they will make it back to the bowl this year. We got tough competition within our own division and it's only a matter of time before McNabb's injuries won't allow him to play. I'm picking the Steelers to go all the way this year. I have no ideal that the Eagles will play in the Super bowl.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Mike Leeke

Mike,

It's great to hear from you, Buddy.  It's been too long since the fun days that we worked together at Valiant and Future Comics. You're still one of my favorite pencillers in the biz.

You might have changed that Steelers pick after Big Ben's injury that Monday night, eh?  How about those Jets stomping the Bucs?!  It was great to see Vinnie back in a Jets uniform again.

You might be interested to know that I'm working on a deal with an independent publisher to reprint the Future material as trade paperbacks.  I'll keep you informed, since you contributed some terrific issues of Freemind.

Keep in touch, my friend.

Hi Bob,

In connection with the Captain Atom article I've written for CHARLTON SPOTLIGHT #5, I'm writing a sidebar about the Question story by Alex Toth that appeared in CHARLTON BULLSEYE #5.

I have quotes from Roger Stern from an interview in COMIC BOOK ARTIST and Toth from tothfans.com about how that story came to be.

STERN:

CBA: How did you guys get Toth to do "The Question" story?
Roger: Dumb luck, I guess. Somehow, we'd gotten Toth's address and sent him a complimentary copy of CPL. Then, we managed to get him to draw a cover for issue # 11.  When Bob launched Charlton Bullseye, one of the things we both really wanted to do was run a new Question story—and since we weren't sure how to get in touch with Steve Ditko, we hit on the idea of asking Toth. I think Bob called him. Anyway, Toth said yes.

TOTH:

Charlie Roberts and his co-editor (whose name forever eludes me, my apologies), out of the blue, phoned/wrote of their in house fanzine and need of a follow-up cartoonist to do the Ditko-created character's story set for not much money -- and the boys sold me on the idea.  The script was good, the characters okay, and I was in a rare good mood to do it -- low rate or not -- wot th' hell -and it was fun!  Stepping out of myself to do it -- somehow -- I had Ditko's version to guide me -- so it went smoothly -- I worked close to -- or half-up-from -- printed size -- for black n' white
repro -- right?  If ever run in color, I don't recall it!  It sank out of sight with hardly a ripple -- which, as I look back over almost 60 years of pen and inkling-ism et al -- is a talent I honed to
perfection -- yup -- in quiet desperation!

So there—What is your memory of how this story came to be?   And who is Charlie Roberts?

Thanks,

Mark Burbey

Mark,

I believe that Alex's memory has faltered a bit. 

I was the one at CPL who initially corresponded with Toth on a regular basis--I received quite a few of those felt pen postcards of his. I even visited him at his home once back in the 70's. 

I'm fairly confident that I am "Charlie Roberts". I am NOT changing my name to prevent Mr. Toth any embarrassment, however. :)

The rest is like Roger said.

BY MIKE KALIBABKY

1. Justin Hammer is one of Marvel¹s classic villains created by you and David Michelinie. You¹ve publicly stated that Peter Cushing of the old Hammer horror films fame (and STAR WARS for the young buckaroos) was the model for Justin Hammer¹s look, and that his name -- Hammer -- likewise was borrowed from those old popular 1960s flicks. How did you and David arrive at Hammer, i.e., his particular ‘ingredients’ as a villain, being Tony Stark¹s business rival and adversary? (By the way, my favorite Hammer Films actor was Christopher Lee, who portrayed perhaps the most all-time frightening rendition of Dracula.)

THE GREAT PETER CUSHING

1. As I stated in my web chat, Justin Hammer was an older Tony Stark, but without scruples...a dark mirror of what Tony might have become if he had taken a wrong turn somewhere in his professional life. Hammer is driven and prideful like Tony Stark, but totally without remorse or conscience.

2. Any particular reason you designed Hammer to be a foreign -- in his case, British – nemesis rather than an American one, or was that just a carryover from Peter Cushing being a Brit.

CUSHING IN "STAR WARS: EPISODE 4"

2. For my part, It was definitely a carryover from being ENGLISH and from being really cool in all those Hammer flicks and the first STAR WARS movie.

3. Unlike Lex Luthor, Hammer never created and donned a special gadget-rich suit of armor to battle the meddlesome good guy in his life. Certainly Hammer easily could have done so after obtaining the plans for Iron Man¹s original red-and-gold armor. Why did you and David opt for Hammer¹s hands-off approach in battling Iron Man? Certainly the heavies he hired, such as The Beetle, Blizzard, and Whiplash, weren¹t the baddest on the block, resulting in some humorous situations -- although I¹m guessing that was the point.

JUSTIN HAMMER from IRON MAN #126

3. He never became a super-villain himself because we wanted him to be (here comes the magic word--) believable.  I believe David and I were trying to explain away where all of those absolutely silly Marvel bad guys were coming from.  That's when we came up with the notion that they were being manufactured--literally. Hammer financed and equipped various costumed criminals in exchange for a hefty percentage of their profits. And yes, there were some elements that were played strictly for humorous content.

Water Wizard..? 

I rest my case, your Honor.

4. In the original ‘Armor Wars’ (‘Stark Wars’), Hammer was actually the one responsible for the entire ordeal, yet he never made an appearance in the storyline. Why? In fact, how come Tony/Iron Man didn¹t attempt to seek out Mr. Hammer for a little face-to-face retribution?

 HAMMER'S ICY END from BAD BLOOD #4

4. I think that is one of the beautiful elements of that particular storyline. Sometime, there are consequences to actions that go unpunished.  Think of it like the U.S. government--who do awful things that affect our everyday lives in deleterious ways. Yet, there is very little accountability for the individual members  of Congress. With Hammer's  involvement in the Armor Wars--it was strictly business...not personal.

5. In IRON MAN: BAD BLOOD, Hammer was left cast adrift in the vacuum of space. Was that done intentionally so he couldn¹t be used elsewhere in the Marvel Universe without a future writer resolving Hammer¹s return? (Prior to BAD BLOOD, Hammer¹s last MU appearance, as far as I know, was in THUNDERBOLTS. Meanwhile, his Ultimate version appeared -- and was killed off--in ULTIMATE SPIDEY.)

Thanks, Bob.
Mike Kalibabky

5. I'd like to avoid the term "intentional", Mike.

Granted, I haven't been blown away by other writers' handling of Hammer in the Marvel universe.  To me, it just seemed like a nifty way to end the story.

And--let's face it--David and I created him.  We should be the ones to kill him off, if that's what the tale demands.

  THE SOON-TO-BE LATE JUSTIN HAMMER