Friends of THWAK - Dave Newton

I truly have been so fortunate to not only have met so may wonderful artists and writers but also to befriend many of them. One such individual is my buddy Dave Newton who I met about 10 years ago at the short lived Atlanta Comic Convention (not to be mistaken for the ongoing Atlanta Comic Con that takes place once a quarter at the same hotel we do the JOElanta Action Figure and Toy Show www.joelanta.com ). I was set up with fellow THWAK (comic book) publisher and editor and another great friend Buddy Finethy, promoting the brand new THWAK comic book. I had already decided that I was going to take the publication in a new direction and change it to a magazine format and was actively looking for new artists when this guy comes up to the table and asks me if I would like to see his portfolio. I was immediately taken aback by how talented he was. Great line work, humor based illustrations and he could do a continuity too!

Starting with THWAK #1 magazine Dave not only started contributing but also helped lay out the 1st 2 issues and 5th entirely, something I could not have done at the time. Dave's 1st piece was a spectacular homage to Movie Monsters. He captured so many terrific monsters from past to present. His love for the genre really came through. In one instance after his parody poster of the Wolfman and Frankenstein for our Monster themed Great Atlanta Toy Show back in 2005
Dave was asked to do some work for Atlanta's best known Halloween Haunted House "NetherWorld". Dave's love of the Creature also found him contributing to the horror film fanzine SCARY MONSTERS.

Dave would go on to contribute multi page stories for the whole run of THWAK , JOKESTER(even illustrating a piece written by underground comix legend Jay Lynch) and CRACKED magazines as well as edit the original art collectors publication CFAAPA. Dave's artwork and designs can be seen on hundreds of T-shirts around the country.