Bob Layton

• Born 1953-09-25

Bob Layton 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. Layton, together with Roger Stern, published a fanzine called CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature). The publisher Charlton wished to make inroads into the superhero market, which lead to an alliance with CPL to produce the Charlton Bullseye. This association with Charlton led to Layton becoming acquainted with Wally Wood, with whom he apprenticed. This apprenticeship led to work for Charlton on anthology titles. From 1976 on, he was an inker at Marvel and DC. Layton worked on series such as Champions or All Star Comics. In 1978, Layton collaborated with David Michelinie to co-write Iron Man. The two would become regular creative partners. Micheline and Layton established Tony Stark's alcoholism with the story "Demon in a Bottle", and introduced several supporting characters. The duo introduced the concept of Stark's specialized armors. 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. Bob Layton was one of the chief architects of the Valiant Universe, along with Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith, Steven J. Massarsky, and Jon Hartz. He co-created a number of the core characters including X-O Manowar, and later became Editor-in-Chief and Senior Vice President, during which time he controlled the company during its most profitable period.