 |
| Don Newton, sometime in the early 70s. One of only a TINY handful of pics I could dig up of the man! AND---yes, that IS a (home-made!) 'Captain Marvel' costume he's wearing! 'Cap was apparently Mr. Newton's favorite comics character. More about that, down below! |
It's time once again, gang--- to hop into the 'way-back' time machine, and have a peek at just what I was REALLY digging and groovin' on, circa 1984-1986 or so! That GOOF-BALL time, between graduating high school, and my enlistment into the USAF!
Among the more positive things that happened to me during that time-period (trust me, there weren't that many! Let's just say it was a pretty miserable spell for me--- trying to figure out what to DO with my life, and all that kinda stuff!--- and leave it at THAT!)-- was my re-discovery of the JOY of reading and collecting comics!
During high school, I'd moved away from reading / following the adventures of my childhood heroes, to more of the things--- DOPEY high-school kid that I was--- that I felt were more 'adult' in nature! Things like: pursuing relationships with young ladies, dreaming of my first car, what jobs / 'careers' to look for / look into, after high school, etc...! ( In other words, BORING 'ol 'grown-up stuff'!) Man, was I in a big, hot rush to be 'all grown-up'!-----
 |
| The then-19-year-old Loydster and his FIRST ride! A '73 Mercury. (Just look at the GIANT pile of HAIR on my already OVER-SIZED noggin!) A short year-or-so before re-discovering my passion for comic books and the heroes of my little-tot days! Working for my first 'real' paychecks, as well as saving-up for that first vehicle, took a BIG priority, over following the adventures of the heroes from my childhood! |
It was fairly shortly--maybe a year or two--after high school, and during my first steps into the world of 'trying to earn my own living' / trying to venture out on my own--- that I fell back into the habit of reading the exploits of the characters I'd ALWAYS loved! ---Even during that silly 'high-school-semi-adult' period! (Just didn't stay up with the comics!)
It turned out that all of that 'earning a living' stuff, was a pretty GRINDING and fairly TEDIOUS experience! Comics were the PERFECT 'antidote', or --- a temporary escape-- from at least SOME of all of that!
SO---I began to try, (as stated above, around early-1984 or thereabouts!) for really the FIRST time, to build a 'serious collection' of comics, focusing on those aforementioned 'childhood favorites'. Batman (of COURSE!) was my MAIN focus, as he'd ALWAYS Been my number ONE favorite character (well--DUH! he STILL IS!)!
It was during that 'slow-build-up' of my 'Bat-collection', that I also discovered the absolute WONDER, that was the artwork of Mr. Don Newton! A guy who VERY quickly became one of my ALL-TIME favorite 'Bat-artists'! Oh, but it would take years--- no DECADES--- before I would learn just how much More versatile, talented, and yes-- downright PROLIFIC--- this artist REALLY was!
 |
| The apparently RARELY photographed Mr. Newton, (apologies for the CRUMMY pic-quality! Again, it's one of the very FEW images I could find of him!) and a Newton-penciled image of the guy I most associated him with, back in the late 70s / early 80s! It would take me DECADES to realize how much MORE (and just how MANY more characters!) the man had actually drawn! |
Let's jump in and move forward with our trusty time-machine for a bit--- to just a couple of years ago, in fact--- when it's the current era of the-GRAY-whiskered Loydster! I stumbled across some fairly extensive coverage, in one of my FAVORITE comics-related mags 'Back Issue'-- of Mr. Newton!
Issue number 19 of that eye-opening magazine, gave details of the artist's life, his (pre-comics) career as BOTH a high school art teacher, and nearly LIFE-LONG comics-fan & 'fan-artist'! He drew HUNDREDS of images for the covers of a number of 'fan-published' magazines, before finally breaking into comics as a pro.
I was also ignorant of a number of his early art-assignments as a pro! One of his earliest 'pro-gigs', was as the regular penciler / cover-artist, on 'The Phantom' for Charlton comics. Amazing fact: for NO extra pay, he PAINTED the covers of every issue he penciled! For eight issues, from 1975 thru 1977, fans of 'The Ghost who walks' were treated to BEAUTIFUL covers, like THIS one!! (The FIRST issue featuring Don's art, by the way!)---
Now, SOME of the info about Mr. Newton's association with the character of Captain Marvel, I knew about. Like him being the artist on the character from around '78 - '82, for example (the SAME period of time he was also drawing all those 'Bat-tales' I was DIGGING on so much! Like I said, the guy was PROLIFIC!). What I wasn't aware of, 'til reading that 'Back Issue' article, was that he was also a LIFE-LONG 'Cap-fanatic'
Along with producing numerous pretty SNAZZY pieces of 'fan-art' of the good Captain, (see below!) Don also created his own Captain Marvel costume, wearing it proudly to comics conventions and other fan-gatherings! From what it says in the article, the gig drawing 'ol Cap, as well as the rest of the 'Marvel family' & related characters, was INDEED a dream come true for the artist!
While hunting around for those elusive actual pictures of Mr. Newton, (kinda hopeless! There's just NOT hardly ANY in existence!) I instead stumbled across a number of VERY cool pieces of art he created over his life time! Including the NIFTY Captain Marvel piece below! Also amazing, is that this is apparently a 'private piece', not done for a comics cover or anything! Cap looks like he's about to just leap right off the canvas!-----
 |
| While not having the 'photo-realism' of the paintings of Alex Ross, Don Newton's paintings still pack a powerful punch all their own! There's a sense of action that's 'about to happen' in this Captain Marvel piece! This and the Phantom painted cover above, give you a sense that the characters are 'poised and ready for ACTION'! Even though those characters may be standing completely STILL in the moment captured in the paintings! |
Once again, the 'way-back' machine zooms us back to the days of a MUCH younger Loydster-- with a LOT more (darker) hair! Back when I discovered this 'Newton guy,' who was penciling the Dark Knight's adventures when I'd dived back into actively collecting comics. Something about the artist's drawings just reached out and grabbed me back then!
His Batman seemed just a bit more dynamic, his women were ALL beautiful! Even Robin seemed to be more of a 'real' young man, under Mr. Newton's pencil. Other artists have done an excellent job of penciling the Caped Crusader, some with a LOT more flash and 'showiness' than others! But--- Don Newton? The man made my ALL-TIME favorite character just feel more 'alive' to me! Just check out this NEAT-O panel, from a Newton penciled / Dan Adkins-inked Bats story!----
 |
| It's like a 'still-frame' from a movie, RIGHT? Don Newton's Batman was graceful, sleek, and athletic! Yet he also retained a 'classic', almost 'Golden Age' look! |
AND--- here's a couple of my favorite covers, from Newton's run on 'Batman' and 'Detective Comics'! Sadly, the artist did only a small handful of covers during his time penciling the slightly less than 80 or so 'Bat-stories' he produced! That's kind of a shame, 'cause it's OBVIOUS that he had a real knack for composing an 'action-packed' cover image!---
Yet again, let's look at more samples of Mr. Newton's Batman. This time within the comic's pages themselves! The full-page 'final panel' image below, is actually STILL one of my ALL-TIME favorite drawings--- by ANY artist--- of the 'Dynamic Duo'! (Inks by Alfredo Alcala, by the way!) ---
I think I've pretty much proved my point! That Mr. Don Newton was INDEED a talented artist, who did an OUTSTANDING job as penciler on the tales he produced--- for all TOO brief a time--- of the Gotham Guardian!
Sadly, shortly after I discovered this wonderful craftsman, and his equally beautiful art--- Mr. Newton passed away, at the ALL-too-YOUNG age of only 50 years old--- in August of 1984. BUT--- he left behind a good-sized body of work, that is STILL just as fun to look at and be amazed by! Even nearly 40 YEARS after his passing! I just recently re-read a good-sized chunk of his run on the Batman series, and, needless to say--- his art's just as much of a BLAST to look at now, as it was all of those DECADES ago!
I'm also planning on--- in the hopefully fairly NEAR future, tracking down more of the other comics featuring his craftsmanship-- in particular, his runs on the Phantom & Captain Marvel! I wonder what he would think, of comics fans enjoying his art nearly 4 decades after he left us? I'd like to think--- since he was such a BIG fan of comics himself--- Mr. Don Newton would be proud of THAT kind of legacy!
One MORE image of this man's AWESOME artistic skill! One that's MOST appropriate to finish-off this post, considering how much I closely associate Mr. Newton with that guy in the 'Bat-suit'! Another 'private piece', done before he broke into 'the pros'. This one featuring a 'Golden Age' version of the character! Here's hoping it inspires even MORE comic-art fans to hunt down the work, of this kind-of-UNDER-appreciated artist! He was INDEED a TRUE comic-art MASTER!----
 |
| This post is dedicated to the memory of Don Newton (1934-1984). May his art CONTINUE to be enjoyed and cherished for GENERATIONS to come! |
No comments:
Post a Comment