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Bob Layton (born September 25, 1953) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles such as Iron Man and Hercules, and for co-founding Valiant Comics with Jim Shooter.
After leaving high school, Layton began "playing comics dealer ... selling them out of his apartment in Indianapolis," through which he met Roger Stern in 1973, while the latter was working for a radio station in Indianapolis.
Stern recalls that, " CPL started out as Bob's sale catalog. Bob was drawing the covers and including little reviews written by some of his customers. By issue #5, it turned into a small 'zine with a catalog insert, and I started writing short articles for it. I eventually became an editor of sorts."
CPL rapidly became a popular fan publication, and led to the two forming an alliance with Charlton Comics to produce and publish "the now-famous Charlton Bullseye magazine." During the mid-1970s, both Marvel and DC were publishing in-house "fan" publications ( FOOM and The Amazing World of DC Comics respectively), and Charlton wished to make inroads into the superhero market, as well as "establish a fan presence", leading to the alliance with CPL to produce the Charlton Bullseye. This led to Charlton giving Layton and Stern "access to unpublished material from their vaults by the likes of Steve Ditko, Jeff Jones and a host of others." This association with Charlton (and Bill Pearson, production manager) in turn led to Layton becoming acquainted with Wally Wood, with whom he apprenticed."All-Star Comments," All-Star Comics #66 (May/June 1977). This apprenticeship led to work for Charlton on anthology titles, but not working from the Charlton offices, Marvel Comics and DC Comics, while still publishing fanzines.
Part of Layton's role as Wally Wood's apprentice included him occasionally delivering artwork to "NYC from Connecticut." Layton recalls that:
Layton's reaction was one of panic, and his search for help to meet the deadline led him to Dick Giordano and Neal Adams' Continuity Associates where his "fledgling contemporaries," the Crusty Bunkers ("Terry Austin, Bob Wiacek, Josef Rubinstein, Bob McLeod, Joe Brozowski, Carl Potts and a host of others") were able to lend a hand and help him finish the book.
A month later, Layton received a package containing "an entire issue of pencils on the Champions", and discovered that he was "the new regular inker on the book." He worked for Marvel "for about a year, then signed an exclusive one-year contract with DC — after they made me 'an offer I couldn't refuse'."
Layton began work for DC Comics in early 1977, taking up regular inking duties on All Star Comics, as well as inking multiple issues of Secret Society of Super Villains, DC Super Stars, and DC Special, among others. In Nov./Dec. 1977, he inked the first issue of David Michelinie's Star Hunters, and after a number of other shorter inking jobs, moved back to Marvel in 1978, to ultimately take up one of his best remembered roles.
In 1978, Layton reunited with Michelinie, to co-write Iron Man. The two would become regular creative partners, and began their collaboration on Iron Man with #116 (November 1978). (2026). 9780756641238, Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 9780756641238 Micheline and Layton established Tony Stark's alcoholism with the story "Demon in a Bottle", and introduced several supporting characters, including Stark's bodyguard girlfriend Bethany Cabe;Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 187: "In December 1978, co-plotters David Michelinie and Bob Layton, and penciler John Romita Jr. ... came up with Bethany Cabe, a highly capable professional bodyguard and a different sort of leading lady." Stark's personal pilot and confidant James Rhodes, who later became the superhero War Machine;Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 188: "Writer David Michelinie and artists John Byrne and Bob Layton introduced James Rhodes Tony Stark's best friend and future super hero War Machine in The Invincible Iron Man #118." and rival industrialist Justin Hammer,Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 189: "Tony Stark's billionaire nemesis Justin Hammer made his first appearance in The Invincible Iron Man #120 by writer David Michelinie and artist John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton." who was revealed to be the employer of numerous high-tech armed enemies Iron Man fought over the years. The duo introduced the concept of Stark's specialized armorsTom DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 202: "In The Invincible Iron Man #152, Iron Man unveiled his all-black stealth armor." The two collaborated on the title until #154 and then returned for a second run from #215 (Feb. 1987) to #250 (Dec. 1989).
Layton continued to ink and work on covers for titles such as The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Power Man and Iron Fist, and Micronauts. In September 1982, he launched one of Marvel's first limited series, writing and drawing the four-issue .DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 208: "Written and drawn by Bob Layton, Hercules, Prince of Power was a four-issue limited series set in the twenty-fourth century." Its success spawned a four-issue sequel in 1984DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 216: "The first Hercules: Prince of Power limited series (1982) sold so well that writer/artist Bob Layton was commissioned to do another." and a 1988 graphic novel (#37 in the "Marvel Graphic Novel" series) - Full Circle. Around this time, he designed the highly successful Marvel Secret Wars toy line for Mattel, which formed the impetus behind the 1984 Secret Wars event. Layton was one of the inkers on The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #18 (1984) which featured the wedding of Spider-Man supporting characters J. Jonah Jameson and Marla Madison in a story written by Stan Lee. (2026). 9780756692360, Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 9780756692360 He was scheduled to work on a Spider-Man graphic novel with Paul Smith in late 1985, but it was never completed.
In February 1986, Layton revived the original X-Men characters in the series X-Factor,DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 227: "Like many older fans, writer/artist Bob Layton longed for the good old days. He missed the original five X-Men and wanted to do a book that featured Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Marvel Girl." which he wrote and Jackson Guice drew. Layton wrote the first five issues before handing over the series to Louise Simonson. Michelinie and Layton became the creative team on Iron Man once again in issue #215 (Feb. 1987) They crafted the "Armor Wars" storyline which ran from #225 (Dec. 1987)DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 233: "Although actually called 'Stark Wars', the story arc that became known as 'Armor Wars began in this issue and ran until June 1988." through #231 (June 1988). After Michelinie and Layton finished their second Iron Man run with issue #250, Layton returned to the title briefly to write and draw #254 and write #256 before leaving Marvel. A year later, he returned to the comics industry to ink Jim Shooter's Magnus, Robot Fighter #1, from Valiant Comics.
His first Valiant work appeared in Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 (May 1991), in which he inked Art Nichols' artwork from Jim Shooter's script. He would continue with Magnus for five issues and produce covers to issue #9, while inking the inaugural issues of Solar, Man of the Atom, which he edited. In February 1992, he co-created with Shooter and Steve Englehart and penciled the first issue of X-O Manowar, after which he handed over the core art duties to Sal Velluto, but provided inks for #2. The following month he drew the cover to David Michelinie's Rai.
In August 1992, he co-wrote, edited and inked Archer & Armstrong #1, edited and provided pencilwork on Eternal Warrior #1, and inked Barry Windsor-Smith on Unity #0. Starting in November 1992, he co-edited with Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson the Predator/Magnus, Robot Fighter two-issue crossover, and in December was again inking and editing a Michelinie-written comic book series: H.A.R.D. Corps. Layton edited Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, Deathmate and Secret Weapons before writing the first of thirteen issues of The Second Life of Doctor Mirage. He was editing a vast array of titles during this time, for which he won the Editor of the Year award in 1993, as voted by the readers of the comics magazine, Wizard.
His workload decreased greatly towards the end of 1994, in large part due to the sale of Valiant (Voyager Communications, Inc.) to video game giant Acclaim Entertainment for $65,000,000.00 USD, a deal in which Layton played an instrumental part. His story concepts and design work on Turok, Dinosaur Hunter was utilized to great effect by Acclaim when the video game became the largest selling title in Acclaim's history, with over 1.5 million units sold. He continued to work editorially, largely for the new Acclaim imprint Armada Comics, for which he edited a number of comics during 1995-96. He edited Bob Hall's four-issue Armed & Dangerous (April–July 1996), and returned to X-O Manowar for which he wrote the final three issues.
After a several-year association with Valiant/Acclaim, Layton moved to Florida for a short retirement. Although he found time to write the first eleven (of twelve) issues of Acclaim's Doctor Tomorrow between 1997 and 1998, inking a couple of issues, notably #6 which was drawn by Dick Giordano, who resided in Florida as well and was something of a mentor to Layton.
Between Elseworlds, Layton worked with Marvel Comics on an Iron Man reunion, which saw him produce the four-part limited series Iron Man: Bad Blood with his long-term collaborator David Michelinie. The series ran from September to December 2000, with art by Layton and, as previously, the plot was a joint effort, and the final script by Michelinie. Layton then stayed at Marvel for a short time, teaming with Dan Jurgens as inker on Captain America (#38-50), as well as inking a short run on The Avengers (#44-47). He inked the Dan Jurgens-drawn The Power Company: Manhunter and part of Just Imagine Stan Lee ... Secret Files and Origins for DC in March 2002.
In August 2002, Freemind #0 was released. Edited and inked by Layton, written by Layton and Michelinie, and with pencils by Giordano, it was followed by another title, Metallix, before the company bowed to pressure and signed with distributor Diamond Comics Distribution in an attempt to maximize sales while maintaining their independent approach. Ultimately, after three titles the third was Deathmask, and seventeen total issues, the company was not making enough money to survive, and it folded, with one announced title — Peacekeeper — unpublished.
Layton's work continues to be collected in multiple trade paperback collections. In 2006, he produced a number of variant covers to issues of Superverse Comics' Zoom Suit, written by John Taddeo, and in 2007 his work was featured in issues of Marvel's encyclopedic All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update. Layton worked for Marvel as a freelance artist and writer on several projects including the miniseries Iron Man: Legacy of Doom and Iron Man: The End.
He continues to enjoy doing commission work, writing:
Layton has been quoted as saying that he "misses telling stories," and to that end has showcased unpublished issues of Future Comics properties on his website, where he presented his serialized comic" Colony, with art by Giordano, and which "is a project that Layton been developing for over 10 years and is currently making the rounds in Hollywood." As of 2007, other potential film deals for the Future Comics characters were reportedly semi-ongoing.
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