Thomas K. Dye

Thomas K. Dye (born 18 April 1969) is an American webcomic artist, most noted for creating "Newshounds", "Something Happens" and "Manifestations". Dye was born in Reno, Nevada and currently lives in Washington state.

History

He started creating cartoons in 1984, when he created "Newshounds" characters Kevin J. Dog and Alistair Katt (This stage is known as Mark I). In 1991, he created the strip "Pet Sounds" (which was published in "Montclarion") and later a comic book "The Boy Shop Pets", which were his first attempts to make a proper comic (Mark II). "Pet Sounds" was dropped in 1992. After this, Dye started to create new characters, such as Wolfram Blitzen, Sam Shepherd and Ferris the Rat. This steadly lead to the creation of "Newshounds".

In his early "Newshounds" comics, Renata Fayre was a secretary and a cat called Abigail was the owner of "KPET" news. This was later changed so Renata was a co-anchor and Lorna Dilbrook, a human, was "KPET's" manager.

In 1997, with a new style (Mark III), and after several failed attempts to get "Newshounds" published in the printed media, he turned it into a webcomic, with the help of another web cartoonist, Albert Temple.

In 2003, the style of "Newshounds" was changed again (Mark IV), and is so far in this current style. In the same year, he created the online graphic novel "Manifestations", with the help of Tim Tylor. "Manifestations" is a darker work, using a character called Manny the Mink who appeared in "Newshounds", who "died" when he was sucked into the internet.

In 2006, he started another webcomic, the satirical "Something Happens", a series of unrelated cartoons. At the moment, Dye is concentrating on "Newshounds".

On August 13 2006, Dye announced on the "Newshounds" website that we would "Start working towards using art in a professional career." [ [http://www.newshounds.com/announcement.html "Newshounds.com"] August 13 2006, The official ending of "Newshounds".] "Newshounds" would therefore start running as a Sunday-strip, though "Something Happens" will still be running normally.

Other

Dye has previously tried to be an actor, a musician and a novelist. He can play the keyboard, and is fan of the rock band Kansas. He also likes the band Jethro Tull, using the lyrics from "Another Christmas Song" in a Christmas edition of "Newshounds". [ [http://www.newshounds.com/d/20041225.html "Newshounds" 25 December 2004] Another Christmas Song.]

Of all of his characters, Kevin is one that Dye identifies with most, whereas he considers Renata to be his favorite. He also considers Wolfram and Sam to be the hardest characters to write for.

Dye is said to be, "Influenced by Hanna-Barbera's "Tom and Jerry" and Charles Schulz's "Peanuts"." [ [http://comixpedia.com/node/1920 Comixpedia interview with Thomas K. Dye.] ] Apart from Albert Temple, he also admires D. C. Simpson, "Bloom County", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Monty Python".

References

See also

*"The Boy Shop Pets"
*"Newshounds"
*"Manifestations"
*"Something Happens"

External links

* [http://www.newshounds.com/toonist.html "Newshounds" website] , history of Thomas K Dye.
* [http://www.newshounds.com/history.html "Newshounds" website] , history of "Newshounds".
* [http://comixpedia.com/node/1920 Comixpedia interview with Thomas K. Dye.]