Biography
Newton was born in St. Charles, Virginia, but after being diagnosed with asthma at the age of four, the Newton family moved to Arizona. Newton began drawing at a young age, with comic books being a major influence on his early artwork. He was a big fan of Batman and Daredevil, and an even bigger Captain Marvel fan.
By the mid 1960s, Newton was teaching art in Phoenix. He also worked part-time as a student art reviewer for the mail order "Master Artist's Painting Course." Newton eventually discovered comic book fandom, while searching for a source to purchase old comics. Newton became involved with the Science Fiction and Comics Association (SFCA) and became an artistic staple in the organization's publications. Between 1968 and 1973 he produced almost two-dozen covers for the Rocket's Blast/ComiCollector (RBCC). Newton did not limit himself exclusively to the publications of the SFCA; he also worked for most of the major fanzines during these years. In all Newton’s work appeared in over one hundred fanzines.
Newton did one major strip during this time, which ran for more than a year in the RBCC called The Savage Earth. Over a period stretching from 1968 to 1970 the science fiction strip appeared in issues 60-70 of the RBCC'. Issue #65 of the RBCC sported a Newton Savage Earth painting as its cover.
Newton tried for years to leverage his connections in fandom into work at DC Comics or Marvel Comics, but he was at a distinct disadvantage living in Arizona. Marvel in particular wanted their artists close at hand. Newton finally set his sights a little lower and sent some sample pages to Nicola Cuti at Charlton Comics where his first professional comic book work was published.
Read more about this topic: Don Newton
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