Interview with Bob Layton

[SouthernComicGeek]

Check out the interview with Bob Layton. Live Monday 3/10/25 at 8:00 PM Central Time. Or the rewind is good too.

https://youtube.com/live/a4Xp0sPsnaQ

[ManofTheAtom]

Cool.

[magnusr]

Check out the interview with Bob Layton. Live Monday 3/10/25 at 8:00 PM Central Time.

/Magnus

[Juki]

That was a fun watch. Thanks for posting.

It is interesting to hear the way everyone interacted during VH1. Such as, Bob Layton bringing Barry-Windsor-Smith onboard (even though BWS did not want to work directly with Shooter). And… how Layton and BWS basically wrote Archer & Armstrong while rooming together in a woodsy-bungalow. Then, Shooter rewrote Archer & Armstrong leaving Bob Layton uncredited.

And, how Layton felt like X-O Manowar was his comic (and not a copy-cat version of Iron Man). While, Harbinger was Shooter’s comic book (and Layton didn’t have much to do with it feeling like it was a copy-cat version of X-Men).

Then there was the occasional co-mingling of Rock and Roll stars since Steve was an attorney that represented them.

And, payment for HARD Corps #1 Jim Lee cover being U2 tickets.

And, Fred Pierce being the “enforcer.”

Great stuff.

[nycjadie]

Agreed. I very much enjoyed the interview and hearing about Bob's time at Valiant. He seems to really enjoy life. Living a life in a Korean apartment for next to nothing (I couldn't quite catch his rent price), walking around town and buying his food for the day, etc. I liked that life as well in NYC (although after working 12 hour days).

One of the things I wanted to hear more about was the production/marketing art Valiant did. Bob mentioned box art for Land of the Lost. Was it this, which has some of the same look and feel of Valiant art?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145962298115?_ ... p_homepage

The discussion of the snow issue cracked me up (Doctor Mirage).

I have lived in 4 states, and I have always wanted a license plate that says L8AGIN, or as close as I can get. No such luck. I had no idea it was based on Jim Shooter's inability to meet deadlines.

Some of the amounts of money that the Valiant guys got was a bit surprising to me as well. I would have assumed the investors would have gotten almost all of it.

The relationships burned and comments about enemies. Oh my god. I can't tell you how that resonates in my career. Things you are blamed for where you have no control (and sometimes no participation in!).

Thanks for doing this guys.

[SouthernComicGeek]

That was a fun watch. Thanks for posting.

It is interesting to hear the way everyone interacted during VH1. Such as, Bob Layton bringing Barry-Windsor-Smith onboard (even though BWS did not want to work directly with Shooter). And… how Layton and BWS basically wrote Archer & Armstrong while rooming together in a woodsy-bungalow. Then, Shooter rewrote Archer & Armstrong leaving Bob Layton uncredited.

And, how Layton felt like X-O Manowar was his comic (and not a copy-cat version of Iron Man). While, Harbinger was Shooter’s comic book (and Layton didn’t have much to do with it feeling like it was a copy-cat version of X-Men).

Then there was the occasional co-mingling of Rock and Roll stars since Steve was an attorney that represented them.

And, payment for HARD Corps #1 Jim Lee cover being U2 tickets.

And, Fred Pierce being the “enforcer.”

Great stuff.

Thanks for watching.

[SouthernComicGeek]

Agreed. I very much enjoyed the interview and hearing about Bob's time at Valiant. He seems to really enjoy life. Living a life in a Korean apartment for next to nothing (I couldn't quite catch his rent price), walking around town and buying his food for the day, etc. I liked that life as well in NYC (although after working 12 hour days).

One of the things I wanted to hear more about was the production/marketing art Valiant did. Bob mentioned box art for Land of the Lost. Was it this, which has some of the same look and feel of Valiant art?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145962298115?_ ... p_homepage

The discussion of the snow issue cracked me up (Doctor Mirage).

I have lived in 4 states, and I have always wanted a license plate that says L8AGIN, or as close as I can get. No such luck. I had no idea it was based on Jim Shooter's inability to meet deadlines.

Some of the amounts of money that the Valiant guys got was a bit surprising to me as well. I would have assumed the investors would have gotten almost all of it.

The relationships burned and comments about enemies. Oh my god. I can't tell you how that resonates in my career. Things you are blamed for where you have no control (and sometimes no participation in!).

Thanks for doing this guys.

Yeah I was surprised how cheap the apartment was. It's hard to get something like that in Mississippi where real estate prices are still reasonable in certain areas.

Great question on the land of the Lost. I'm going to reach back out to him and see what he says.

[magnusr]

this, which has some of the same look and feel of Valiant art?

I see what you mean.

/Magnus

[SouthernComicGeek]

Agreed. I very much enjoyed the interview and hearing about Bob's time at Valiant. He seems to really enjoy life. Living a life in a Korean apartment for next to nothing (I couldn't quite catch his rent price), walking around town and buying his food for the day, etc. I liked that life as well in NYC (although after working 12 hour days).

One of the things I wanted to hear more about was the production/marketing art Valiant did. Bob mentioned box art for Land of the Lost. Was it this, which has some of the same look and feel of Valiant art?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145962298115?_ ... p_homepage

The discussion of the snow issue cracked me up (Doctor Mirage).

I have lived in 4 states, and I have always wanted a license plate that says L8AGIN, or as close as I can get. No such luck. I had no idea it was based on Jim Shooter's inability to meet deadlines.

Some of the amounts of money that the Valiant guys got was a bit surprising to me as well. I would have assumed the investors would have gotten almost all of it.

The relationships burned and comments about enemies. Oh my god. I can't tell you how that resonates in my career. Things you are blamed for where you have no control (and sometimes no participation in!).

Thanks for doing this guys.

What I sent to Bob:
Thanks again for doing the interview yesterday, it was a lot of fun!
Follow up question based on what you mentioned yesterday. On the Land of the Lost was this one of the items that Valiant did? (I listed the link)

His Response:

It is. Great to see it again!

BL

[magnusr]

It is.

So one more item to try and find at a reasonable price. Good eye Stephen!

/Magnus

[magnusr]

Or the rewind is good too.

So massive it took a while to listen. Done that now and really liked it. Good job.

Some of the amounts of money that the Valiant guys got was a bit surprising to me as well

I think I've read somewhere that part of the money was stock options that became worthless.

/Magnus

[nycjadie]

Agreed. I very much enjoyed the interview and hearing about Bob's time at Valiant. He seems to really enjoy life. Living a life in a Korean apartment for next to nothing (I couldn't quite catch his rent price), walking around town and buying his food for the day, etc. I liked that life as well in NYC (although after working 12 hour days).

One of the things I wanted to hear more about was the production/marketing art Valiant did. Bob mentioned box art for Land of the Lost. Was it this, which has some of the same look and feel of Valiant art?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145962298115?_ ... p_homepage

The discussion of the snow issue cracked me up (Doctor Mirage).

I have lived in 4 states, and I have always wanted a license plate that says L8AGIN, or as close as I can get. No such luck. I had no idea it was based on Jim Shooter's inability to meet deadlines.

Some of the amounts of money that the Valiant guys got was a bit surprising to me as well. I would have assumed the investors would have gotten almost all of it.

The relationships burned and comments about enemies. Oh my god. I can't tell you how that resonates in my career. Things you are blamed for where you have no control (and sometimes no participation in!).

Thanks for doing this guys.

What I sent to Bob:
Thanks again for doing the interview yesterday, it was a lot of fun!
Follow up question based on what you mentioned yesterday. On the Land of the Lost was this one of the items that Valiant did? (I listed the link)

His Response:

It is. Great to see it again!

BL

Well what do you know! Thanks!

[nycjadie]

It is.

So one more item to try and find at a reasonable price. Good eye Stephen!

/Magnus

Hah! Yes, probably.

[nycjadie]

Or the rewind is good too.

So massive it took a while to listen. Done that now and really liked it. Good job.

Some of the amounts of money that the Valiant guys got was a bit surprising to me as well

I think I've read somewhere that part of the money was stock options that became worthless.

/Magnus

Such is life with these things.

[aj583]

Thanks for doing this interview. Finally had a chance to listen to it last night and really enjoyed it. Some great Valiant history insights. Bob seems like a great guy.


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