Greta Tomlinson was born in Burnley, Lancashire and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, graduating in 1949. She specialised in the figure, and took her portfolio around various studios and fashion houses, before replying to an ad in the Advertisers Journal which turned out to be for the Eagle comic, then in development. She joined Frank Hampson's studio, working on "Dan Dare, initially to draw figures which Hampson would then work on to produce the characters, but this process took too long and photo reference was used instead. Tomlinson was the model for the character Professor Peabody.
When Hampson fell ill in the summer of 1952, she and Harold Johns produced the art for the "Marooned on Mercury" storyline, from scripts written by Chad Varah. She and Johns were sacked in 1953 for moonlighting on other comics, despite having previously cleared it with Marcus Morris, the Eagle's editor. She later worked in fashion, advertising and television, before marrying and moving to Iraq, where she became the local rep for the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics company. She and her husband returned to England in 1969. She still paints and draws, and has been exhibited in many galleries.
References[]
- Daniel Tatarksy, Dan Dare: The Biography, Orion Books, 2010
- Eagle Archive: The Artists (via Internet Archive)
- Alan Clarke, Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors, The British Library, 1998, p. 164