Greta Edwards, née Tomlinson was born in Burnley, Lancashire, in 1927, daughter of pharmacist James Tomlinson and his wife Doris, née Driver. She studied at Burnley Art School before winning a place at the Slade School of Fine Art in Oxford, 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, 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 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. She later worked in fashion and advertising, before marrying Richard Edwards, who worked for BP, and moving to Iraq with him. She became the local rep for the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics company, and the couple had their only child, Francesca, in Baghdad. They spent some time in Iran and Kuwait before returning to England in 1969, settling in Haslemere, Surrey. She still paints and draws, and has been exhibited in many galleries.
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References[]
- Dominic Collis, Greta draws on her memories of Dan Dare, Burnley Express, 16 February 2015
- Daniel Tatarksy, Dan Dare: The Biography, Orion Books, 2010
- Eagle Archive: The Artists (via Internet Archive)