Apr 10
21
Where Did It All Start?
Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1970, Greg Staples started illustrating as soon as he could pick up a pencil.
From a very young age, Greg had an interest in comics and drew anything and everything. Although Greg was highly credited at school for his artistic accomplishments, when it was time to train formally he was told ‘there was no money in illustration’ by his tutors. So on leaving school, he decided to train as an architect. However, his ambition to become an illustrator was so strong, he decided to quit after three years to pursue his passion.
Over the next eighteen months, whilst managing two part-time jobs, Greg worked hard to put together a portfolio that he felt would impress the editors of British comic 2000AD.
The hard work paid off. In 1990 he got his first break when well-known fantasy artist Simon Bisley spotted his talent and introduced him to the then editor of 2000AD Richard Burton. A week later, Greg received a try-out script which was well received and he was then offered the chance to draw Britain’s premier comic strip character Judge Dredd.
His work on Judge Dredd marked the beginning of Greg’s career as an artist and illustrator and over the past fifteen years Greg has worked on many projects ranging from War of the Worlds with Jeff Wayne to Magic: The Gathering and is also the co-founder of visual effects company Ark VFX.
