Legendary Iron Man artist, Bob Layton, is asking for the help of comic book fandom after five recently commissioned sketch covers that he drew were stolen during transit. Layton is hoping that fans can keep an eye out on the secondary market (like auction sites and comic book stores) to see if these five covers find their way on to the market.

Layton, working with scripter and co-plotter David Michelinie, had two iconic runs on Iron Man in the 1980s. The first time around, he and Michelinie (working mostly with John Romita Jr. on layouts, and Layton finishing Romita’s artwork) introduced Tony Stark’s alcoholism into the Iron Man mythos in the classic “Demon in a Bottle” storyline. They also introduced James Rhodes into the Iron Man supporting cast. Years later, they returned to the series for the acclaimed “Armor Wars” epic event, where Tony Stark decided to eliminate any armors that used his technology, even if those armors belonged to superheroes or the United States government.

What happened to Bob Layton’s covers?

Bob Layton explained to CBR, “Two weeks ago, I shipped out five completed sketch covers from Korea to my CGC rep in the states, along with some of my comic page art. The page art made it to my agent but the five sketch covers were gone.”

He continued, “Apparently, someone at the Fed Ex International Inspection Station opened the package and removed the comic protector with completed five sketch covers going to CGC. After two weeks, no one has been able to find the comic protector and Fed Ex has declared them as officially “missing.'”

This was at the Memphis, Tennessee International Inspection Station.

What does Layton want comic fandom to do?

What Layton is hoping for is that if anyone sees the covers shown above (that Layton scanned before shipping) at any local comic book stores in the Memphs area, or any comic book stores PERIOD, as well as any auction sites, like eBay, to please report the items as stolen.

These covers represent a week’s worth of Layton’s work, and he would really like to see whoever stole them face the consequences of their actions. Comic book fandom has a wide reach, and so it would be nice to see that reach used to help out a comic book legend like Bob Layton, who has meant so much to comic book fandom through his Iron Man work (as well as his other excellent comic book work, like co-creating Scott Lang, Ant-Man, his work at Valiant Comics, his work on Hercules: Prince of Power, his co-creation of Huntress, and many more areas where he made his mark on comic book history).

Source: Bob Layton