MIKE DOREY

Tell us a little about yourself as an artist, how you got started, and a bit about your career so far.

The comics I read as a child were the Sun and the Comet (both featuring action stories). Drawing was never a problem for me and I would enjoy copying some of the artists of the day and learning how to frame the pictures. So when the time came to work professionally I was already familiar with what was required.

After being thrown out of Brighton Art College it was necessary to get a job, so I took some samples of my work to Fleetway Publications (soon to become IPC). They advised me to get an agent – so I did.

My first regular strip was for DC Thomson in a girl’s comic named Diana. But a year later I worked for both Victor and Warlord. I worked regularly on these two for about 20 years. Pat Mills, who worked for IPC, had seen my work and asked me to draw Hellman of Hammer Force for a new comic – Action. From there it was but a small leap to Battle and 2000 AD.

In the early nineties I discovered the exciting and very remunerative world of film and TV storyboarding. But it is only recently that I became aware of the interest that many have for the old comics, and for that I am very grateful because I now remember how much I enjoyed drawing them.

I am currently working on stories for Rebellion and various TV adverts and computer games.

What’s your relationship to comics and 2000 AD specifically? Are there any key characters or stories that you feel epitomise what 2000 AD is all about?

I can’t remember the first story I drew for 2000 AD. It may have been Invasion, Ro-busters or Rogue Trooper. I was asked if I would draw some Judge Dredd but, having then an aversion to drawing what I thought would be a sci-fi space story, I said I wasn’t interested! Judge Dredd is obviously the main reason for the success of 2000 AD but the stories I liked best, probably because I worked on them, were Invasion and Mach Zero.

Name any favourite writers or artists that inspire or entertain you, and tell us what it is about them that you love.

Favourite writers were Gerry Finleyday and Pat Mills. Gerry wrote a lot of the war stories I drew but Pat wrote Ro-jaws Memoirs, which had not only pathos but also a lot of humour too.

What is it about comic art that you enjoy most, as both a consumer and creator?

The thing I most enjoy about comic art is the telling of a story by