OCTOBER 2005

Dear Mike,

I wasn't party to the decision-making process between Dynamic Forces and the license holders. 

That particular project was handled by my trusty art agent, Spencer Beck.

I presume that the approvals must have been given by the proper authorities--or else D.F. is going to be in a mess of legal trouble down the road.

Dear Mr. Layton,

Long-time fan here; first time writer. I started collecting comics in 1978 and got hooked on two titles very fast--Star Wars, because I was a rabid fan of the movie, and Iron Man, cause of the collective talents of you, David M., and JR JR.

 These days I read and collect comics, and I also write and draw my own projects thru Top Shelf Productions. The reason I write you today is because of an interview I listened to this afternoon on World Talk Radio's Comic Zone. I've been going thru their interview archive and was delighted to see an interview with you, who I regard as being the best inker ever to work on Iron Man. Even at age 13, when I first saw your work I realized that you (and Terry Austin) were doing stuff that was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the embellishers in the field. Your use of tones and the reflective qualities you added to the armor were, and still are, awesome. Today, those effects are achieved through computer enhancement, but in my humble opinion, no amount of Photoshop effects can hold a candle to what you do. It is a craft, and you are a master craftsperson.

I enjoyed listening to your reflections with regard to your Marvel and Valiant days, and was wondering if you recall any other interviews that I might be able to track down--perhaps in Comics Journal, Comic Book Artist, or Amazing Heroes? I'm sure there's a lot more to your career than you were able to relate in the sixty-minutes on World Talk Radio.

Bob, I'm really blown away by the amount of terrific artwork on your site. Your commission pieces and unpublished covers are really stunning. I was wondering if you've ever considered collecting the pieces into an art book (an Art of Bob Layton, so to speak). I think fans of your work would certainly enjoy it; I certainly would. I think that, even something self-produced on 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper would be very popular with fans. David Spurlock has been producing some interesting collections, as has Two Morrows. Anyway, it would be a real treat to see something like that. Meanwhile, I'll be visiting your site and checking the updates each month. 

Best to you,

David Yurkovich

Venice, CA

Dear David,

There are a myriad of interviews on this site, if you go to the archives page and snoop around.  I also completed an interview for Jeff Jensen of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY that should be published in that periodical sometime in the near future. As soon as it comes out, I'll post that complete transcript here on the site, as well.

And--don't forget that I'll be chatting live on October 13 at 9 p.m. at Comic Book Resources.com.

In answer to your last question: Although I haven't been approached by anyone to do an "Art of Bob Layton" book yet,  I wouldn't say "no" if asked.

Dear Todd,

I was very touched by the great post on your site to commemorate my birthday celebration. Well done. But, what do you mean by 'liking my tightness'?   (No gay or being cheap jokes, please)

Seriously, I'm honored by your comments and glad that my work aided you to pursue your dreams of becoming an illustrator.  There is no greater reward that that, Todd.

As a longtime fan of your art, I recently rediscovered your site and read your new interview and felt I needed to reply. I am 31 and started reading comics in the 70's. Established characters like Star Wars and Conan and those 3/$1 comics got me and my mom into it. I agree reading comics helps kids learn or want to read and I use myself as an example. I read comics regularly up until the 90's but still was interested in what was going on. Around 4 years ago I started buying comics again (thanks to GI Joe, a childhood favorite). I agree with you that people writing comics today are writing for people who already read comics-- that’s totally true. I have to disagree with you that comics today are generally unreadable-- just the opposite. Storylines are better, more thought-out and interesting. The art is overall definitely better. As a longtime fan of Conan, I have to say that it is definitely good. And The Ultimates and Identity Crisis were decent, Kingdom Gone (going back a little ) was excellent. If you compare the average Marvel/DC book today with something from the mid 80's to late 90's (the worst period in comics in my opinion), today is definitely better. As for independents, I think on the whole, they stink... bad. It's so self-indulgent. Somebody thinks they have a great idea and its revolutionary but only to them and maybe Image Comics. Its just so easy to make your own comic now. Sometimes you read about a good idea and the art stinks.

I live in Connecticut and there are 2 stores near me. One is a small store in Colchester that is very friendly and I buy all my comics there. One is a big store in New London that has everything and is also friendly but the people are so geeky that I don't like going there. Both had big hoopla for Free Comic Book Day, something the industry is doing right.

The one thing I strongly disagree on is that comics are to complicated to get in on. Except for X-Men-- which nobody knows what it’s about. I mean--Spiderman, Batman, Superman, etc. They’re superheroes, they fight crime and have superpowers, what’s not to get. If you want to get in on anything you have to put a little effort to learn about it. If anything keeps kids from reading comics its the Internet and video games. And that they're too short so I guess trades are the future.

Diamond is definitely bad for comics but I don't see really what can be done about them. I noticed my grocery store has a spinner rack. As a kid, when I went shopping with my mom, I always go to comics section until she was ready to leave. When I look back on my collection and remember where I got what, most are from spinner rack stores. I remember riding my bike 2 miles to one store and 4 uphill to another just to get comics. And these were just gas stations with little country stores in them.

As to your Future Comics line: When I first heard about it, I was interested in you, David and Terry Austin. But my comic store didn't get them and, frankly, the concepts just weren't that interesting to me to hunt them down before they were cancelled. I think what creators are forgetting is that people buy comics because they like the characters. People buy Spiderman because they like Spiderman. They may have favorite artists and writers but when they go and try and start a whole new universe, people are like well I already like this one over here.

Bottom line: your interview seemed a little angry, a little jaded. Comics today aren't that bad. It seems creators today are getting good deals. You have plenty of fans out there that support what you do. But underneath, I think all fans would rather see their favorite creators do established characters.

Sincerely,

Frank Miceli

Frank,

Wow...I don't know where to begin.

I certainly don't want to sour anyone's enthusiasm on the current crop of comics.  However, I answer the questions, posed to me by the interviewers, in the context of an overall discussion.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion--as am I.  And, that is exactly what I was espousing--my personal opinion.

Let's not forget that there's a body of evidence to back-up my claims concerning the industry's decline. The numbers don't lie--no matter how hard glad handers like Joe Quesada proclaim that they are the 'second coming of the comics industry'.

And--I AM one of those guys who tries to read the current crop of books--only to find them generally shallow and confusing. Again--that's my opinion--which is what the interviewer was asking for. 

I love the comics medium and I've had a lot of experience working in all aspects of it.  I can say with certainty that the qualifications of writers, editors and artists has declined tremendously over the last decade.  Yes--there are many good comics still being produced today. But the ratio of good-to-bad has changed radically in favor of the latter. And, as far as your assessment of Independent comics--I totally disagree.  Thank goodness that there are a few brave souls willing to put it all 'on the line' to pursue their individual visions.

Ultimately, my concerns are with the industry as a whole--not the individual product.  I hope you can see that and not let anything I say sway you from enjoying the medium.

MIKE'S MONTHLY MISSIVE  

1. In December, the first installment of writer Joe Casey’s IRON MAN: THE INEVITABLE six-issue miniseries will debut. Casey has publicly declared that this new story arc was largely inspired by the two Michelinie/Layton runs on IRON MAN. Casey has also revealed that two classic villains you and David created and made popular --namely Spymaster and The Ghost – will be central figures in IM: TI.
I find it curious and disturbing that Marvel could have hired the definitive Iron Man team -- Layton and Michelinie -- instead of a ’knock-off’, but didn¹t. And this is not a slam on Mr. Casey by any means. In fact, I’m very much looking forward to his miniseries. In addition, Mr. Casey HAS A TRUE SENSE OF HUMOR. Something both you and David sincerely have, and something sorrowfully missing in superhero comics these days--agonizing cutesy dialogue and inane references to popular culture are not humor.
I’m also SHOCKED to the core that Mr. Quesada would even allow Casey to utter the L- and M- words in the recent interview with Newsarama.com, announcing the Iron Man miniseries.

So my question is: Is it at all satisfying that a modern comics writer has, it seems, picked up where you and Michelinie left off in terms of bringing back the REAL Iron Man?

Mike,

I've only met Mr. Casey briefly at a San Diego Con a few years back. He seemed like a very pleasant fellow. I know that my creative partner David Michelinie has had dealings with Joe on many occasions and they are friendly acquaintances.

That being said, it would be hard to say whether he'll do us proud or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Joe will bring back some excitement to the series.  It certainly needs it.

And as far as hiring us to go back to Iron Man--you already know the answer to that, Mike.  It's not going to happen as long as Joe Q is running the joint.

So--I'll be picking up Joe Casey's Iron Man and rooting for him to give us a return to greatness.

2. And speaking of Spymaster, why did you redesign the character’s costume for IRON MAN: BAD BLOOD rather than continuing on with the outfit used by Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen in the regular IRON MAN series at that time. Truth be told, the Busiek/Chen look of a trench coat and goggles didn’t, in my opinion, suit the character one bit.

 

UNPUBLISHED COVER PENCILS TO

IRON MAN: BAD BLOOD #2

I actually used the goggles and trench coat on the original cover to IRON MAN: BAD BLOOD #2--even though I wasn't a big fan of the look myself.  (Check out the unpublished cover on this page.) It was Bobbie Chase, in her infinite wisdom, who suggested that I redesign that character.

After careful consideration, I decided to research various real-life body armors and used several of those designs to refashion the Spymaster's new costume.

3. Back in 1984, Jim Shooter teamed with artist Mike Zeck to create the 12-issue MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS epic. You penciled the guts and produced the covers for issues 4 and 5. Because artists who need fill-in help are one of my pet peeves, I need to ask: Why were you called in for those two issues?

It was because of your pet peeve, Mike.

I was working on a variety of projects at that particular time--none of which were scheduled (Like my taking over as writer/inker of Power Man & Iron Fist--which never came to fruition.)

(cont--)

As a result, I got drafted. Pure and simple.

However, in defense of Mike Zeck, that series was a nightmare to pencil, due the vast number of characters and the constant redraws that Jim Shooter would insist on having done.  Jim decided to layout the series himself, scribbling the panel layouts on 81/2 x 11 typing paper--that's why everything tended to look like a diagram. Jim liked to tell the story in 6 panel grids with everything as a medium shot.  That is a nightmare for any artist--especially someone as versatile and talented as Mike Zeck.  So--try to cut him some slack, Mike.

It wasn't his fault.

4. You designed the action figures which accompanied the above mentioned SECRET WARS series. How did you get the nod for this and how did you go about designing the individual pieces? Whose idea was it to include the ‘shields’ for each character? I find it ironic that Jim Rhodes was Iron Man at that time. Both you and David Michelinie were never crazy about Rhodey wearing the armor. Interestingly, Tony Stark¹s image appears on the Iron Man shield. Did you draw this image?

Again--as a result of not doing a scheduled monthly book at the time, I got drafted. Jim and I flew out to L.A. to Mattel's corporate offices to meet with the folks in charge of the Secret Wars toy line. (BTW: I would bet that security at the Pentagon is not as tight as it is at Mattel.)

We were told what their limitations on designs were and asked to create vehicles and a headquarters.  My artistic contributions were to the basic figure designs, the vehicles and playsets.  I have no idea who came up with those funky shields.

5. I recently watched ROBOCOP 2, written by Frank Miller, and the final battle between Robocop and the crazed new Robocop, powered by the brain of a sadistic killer, always reminds me of the Iron Man vs.Firepower finale of the original Armor Wars. Question: Any updates you can share on the Future Comics properties -- especially Metallix -- and Hollywood?

As you can imagine, everyone in Hollywood is very tight-lipped concerning projects that are not yet slated.  I can tell you that we've recently joined forces with a huge A-List writer and we're presently preparing the storyline for studio meetings next month.  So--stand by.

Thanks, Bob.

Mike Kalibabky