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Greta Tomlinson – RIP
Dan Dare comedian artist Greta Tomlinson has passed away.
Greta Edwards (neé Tomlinson)
1927 – September 4, 2021
Greta Tomlinson’s diary gave a sign of how onerous she needed to work as an illustrator on the Eagle journal from 1950. “Monday. Labored until 3am. Tuesday. Labored until 5am. Wednesday. Labored all evening. Thursday. Labored until 3am (given the remainder of the day without work).”
Inside a minute of arriving on the lean-to former bakehouse in Southport, Merseyside, which served because the Eagle’s workplace, the latest graduate of the Slade Faculty of Superb Artwork noticed drawings of a comic book strip referred to as Dan Dare and knew she needed to have the job. “The entrance web page of the Eagle was on the board. I fell in love with it. I needed to have the job.”
Greta Edwards (nee Tomlinson) was born in Burnley Lancashire. She studied at Burnley Artwork Faculty and the Slade Faculty of Superb Artwork in Oxford and London, graduating in 1949. Looking for work, she utilized for a job marketed within the Advertisers Journal, which proved to be working for Frank Hampson’s studio on EAGLE, which was then nonetheless in improvement.
She was taken on and initially paid £4 10s per week. Initially primarily based in an outdated lean-to bakehouse in Churchtown, Southport, Hampson’s small crew produced “Dan Dare”, “Rob Conway”, “Tommy Partitions” and “The Lifetime of St. Paul” for the early problems with the forthcoming weekly. As a determine artist, Greta initially drew figures which Frank Hampson would then use to develop the characters, however as this was a protracted course of, photograph reference started for use and along with her different work on the strips, Greta grew to become the mannequin for the principal feminine character, Professor Peabody.
Greta was a part of the Frank Hampson Studio from 1950 to 1953.
When Hampson fell in poor health in the summertime of 1952, she and Harold Johns produced the artwork for the “Marooned on Mercury” storyline, from scripts written by Chad Varah. She and Johns have been sacked in 1953 for moonlighting on different comics, regardless of having beforehand cleared it with Marcus Morris. She later labored in trend and promoting, earlier than marrying Richard Edwards, who labored for BP, and transferring to Iraq with him. She grew to become the native rep for the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics firm, and the couple had their solely youngster, Francesca, in Baghdad. They spent a while in Iran and Kuwait earlier than returning to England in 1969, settling in Haslemere, Surrey. She nonetheless paints and attracts, and has been exhibited in lots of galleries.
Greta’s later art can be viewed at her website.
