13 SPLASH PAGES: A DON NEWTON Birthday Celebration

One of the all-time great Batman artists was born 86 years ago…

The late Don Newton — born Nov. 12, 1934 — was hands down one of the best Batman artists to ever put pencil to paper, even if I didn’t recognize that when I was a young teen. But age and maturity have a way of opening your eyes and that’s certainly the case with Newton.

Normally, we’d do a 13 COVERS birthday salute, but Newton was not really a Batman cover artist. So instead, we bring you 13 SPLASH PAGES — all from Detective Comics.

Right on.

Detective Comics #519

Detective #494

Detective #520

Detective #490

Detective #480

Detective #484

Detective #491

Detective #493

Detective #504

Detective #487

Detective #499

Detective #486

Detective #526

MORE

— Don Newton’s DETECTIVE COMICS #526 Cover: Forever an Electrifying Masterpiece. Click here.

— 13 COVERS: A DON NEWTON Birthday Celebration. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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9 Comments

  1. Newton’s Batman is seminal to me. I still consider him to be vastly underrated. He doesn’t come up in the “greatest” conversation enough. I also wish DC had let him do more covers. I think they would have sold more comics!

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  2. Don Newton is indeed a vastly underrated & underappreciated artist. People gush about the likes of Neal Adams, Frank Miller & Jim Lee when talking about “the Great Batman Artists” so why not Don Newton. No offense to the aforementioned three, however, in all seriousness, I recognise Dick Giordano’s great inking skills when referring to early Neal Adams (heck! Giordano was an incredible artisr in his own right & I also recognize him as an unsung Batman Artist!). Frank Miller’s contribution to Batman is relatively only small, in all honesty. And Jim Lee, whilst a truly nice guy & a great artist, I feel he is not a “consummate artist” – his backgrounds can have a tendency to be underdeveloped, some of his characters not as well detailed as others, etc. Which brings me back to Don Newton. He is a CONSUMMATE ARTIST. His pages are chock full of dynamic detail & menacing mood! The way he draws Batman is amongst the VERY BEST! When he draws a cityscape it really comes alive – you can practically smell the car exhaust fumes & hear the honking of horns & police sirens!

    I never tire of looking at his pages.

    He wasn’t a show-offy artist (& maybe that’s part of why he’s so underrated?) but he also wasn’t a lazy artist.

    The fact that this Site recognises his value & that there are people like myself & others who wish to discuss him is proof of his contribution to the Batman World & how it will never be forgotten!

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  3. What can I say? Tec’ #526 was my first ever Batman comic and the pencils of Newton dragged me into that world…from then until this very day! It remains my favourite splash page too. A fantastic arc along with Gerry Conway’s writing too. Happy Birthday Don & thanks for for your rendition of Batman, Gotham etc being my gateway into the world of Comics.

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  4. Thanks for this–by 1979 or so I had finished college, moved out of the parents’ home, lived with friends in our own rental shared home in SF and I was keeping busy with work, though comics at this point were less appealing. Consequently, I missed out on Don Newton’s work, only having briefly noted it positively on Charlton’s Phantom title.

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  5. Thanks for this great Don Newton compendium! As glad as I was to see him move to DC, I was sorry to see the end of his run on Charlton’s Phantom, which was truly stunning.

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  6. Love Don’s work to this day. Thanks for the memories.

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  7. Well, that sure was fun. Thanks! It reminds me of what a great inker Dan Adkins is. I’m watching for him, next, please.

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  8. My Favorite Bat-Artist.
    Newton’s Batman was Majestic.
    Plus he drew the Best Looking Batgirl.

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